Amazon Launches Private Label Dog Food For Prime Customers

Amazon is getting into the pet supplies market, rolling out a brand of pet products dubbed Wag, with dry dog food launching Wednesday (May 3).

Bloomberg, citing Amazon, reported the brand is only available to Prime subscribers and is the latest in its private label offerings — which already includes batteries, baby products, household items and apparel. According to Bloomberg, the entrance into pet supplies could be a threat to Petco Animal Supplies and PetSmart, which acquired Chewy.com in 2017. It could also put pressure on big-box retailers like Target and Walmart and grocery stores that also sell pet food. Offering pet food makes sense to Amazon because it’s an item pet owners purchase often. Wag.com was owned by Quidsi previously, which Amazon closed down last year because it wasn’t profitable. Quidsi owns Diapers.com and Soap.com and was acquired by Amazon in 2011 for $545 million, noted Bloomberg.

The pet supply market in the U.S. is projected to hit $72.1 billion this year — with $30 billion spent on pet food — reported Bloomberg, citing the American Pet Products Association, which is likely why Amazon is going after the market. The company’s other private label recent launches include furniture and the reintroduction of diapers under the Mama Bear brand, noted the report.

Amazon’s move to launch a slew of private label brands appears to be paying off, with the eCommerce giant seeing growth in all of its categories. According to a recent report from One Click Retail, a researcher that provides retailer insights, sales from Amazon’s private label brands that include apparel, electronics, baby wipes, vitamins, supplements and home care good are around $450 million for the year, with the lion’s share coming from AmazonBasics. AmazonBasics, which includes batteries and other everyday essentials, represented 85 percent of Amazon’s total private label revenue this year.  “For years, Amazon’s private brands have been spearheaded by AmazonBasics. Our estimates show sales have grown almost linearly at a rate of 10 percent year over year, with 2017 set to finish with sales over $400 million, according to our estimates,” wrote One Click Retail in the report. “That makes up about 85 percent of Amazon’s total private brand sales. Amazon private brands are primarily known for home tech, such as various affordable computer cables, batteries and home office supplies, but also include an assortment of products from linens and luggage to pet supplies and water filters.”