Declining Pet Adoptions and Sluggish Hard Good Sales Weigh on Chewy Results

The pet care industry is quite attractive, with brand loyalty, sticky purchase habits, pet humanization, and minimal cyclicality representing just a handful of alluring structural features in an $137 billion U.S. market (American Pet Products Association). While a slew of players jockey for manufacturing and retail market share, Chewy's service-intensive subscription-driven platform looks poised to capture a disproportionate share of online sales, with the firm building a strong brand around customer service and perceived quality.