Amazon now takes more US pet-care dollars than any other channel. LISTED. is a 2026 field guide for pet brands new to Amazon: what to check before you list, what the product page has to do, how to earn the first reviews and spend the first ad dollars, and how to turn a first order into a repeat one.

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TL;DR

• Amazon took 21.4% of US pet-care dollars in 2025, more than any other channel, and 59.1% of pet-care buyers in NIQ's panel bought pet care there.

• Third-party sellers took slightly more than half of that: 11.3 points against 10.1 for Amazon's own retail business.

• Some aisles are closed. Amazon itself sold 92% to 98% of the top 50 in dry dog food, wet cat food and cat litter. Dog beds were wide open, with 35 brands sharing the top 50.

• 97% of top-50 pet best sellers had A+ content and 89% had video. That's the minimum, not the edge.

• 159 of the 160 top-20 best sellers had more than 1,000 ratings. A new product starts at zero.

• Repeat orders carry pet. At Chewy, Autoship customers drove 84.6% of net sales last quarter.

The Numbers to Bring to Your Next Planning Meeting

• 21.4%: Amazon's share of US pet-care dollars, the largest of any channel (NIQ, 52 weeks to Dec 27, 2025)

• 45%: online share of US pet-care dollars, up 3.2 points (NIQ Omnisales+)

• 59.1%: pet-care buyers who bought pet care on Amazon, up 5.6 points (NIQ Omnishopper panel)

• 97% and 89%: top-50 pet best sellers with A+ content and with video (Bigeye observation, Oct 12, 2026)

• 159 of 160: top-20 pet best sellers with more than 1,000 ratings (Bigeye observation, Oct 12, 2026)

• 84.6%: share of Chewy's net sales from Autoship customers (Chewy fiscal Q2 2026)

Why We Ran This Study

Pet brands keep asking us the same question: should our first product go on Amazon, and if so, how? The money already answered the first half. Online took 45% of US pet-care dollars in 2025 while in-store sales fell, and Amazon took the biggest slice of any single channel.

The second half is harder. Getting listed is easy. Getting a second order is not.

So on October 12, 2026, our team recorded Amazon.com directly: the top 100 Best Sellers in 8 pet subcategories, the product pages of the top 50 in each, and the first page of search results for 8 common pet terms. We set that against NIQ's 2025 channel data, Chewy's latest earnings and the advice of 7 guests from IN CLEAR FOCUS, our weekly podcast, who work on Amazon selling, reviews, creators and retail.

"If you're going to be on Amazon, you might as well get on earlier because it's only getting more and more competitive. It's getting more and more expensive." Nik Hall, Founder and CEO, REViVE Marketing Partners, on IN CLEAR FOCUS (S22 E13)

What's Inside the Report

Where the Pet-Care Dollars Went

Amazon.com took 21.4% of US pet-care dollars in the 52 weeks ending December 27, 2025, up 1.7 points. Mass retailers other than Amazon took 17.3% and lost ground. Pet specialists lost share both in stores (15.0%) and online (13.0%).

Reach grew too. Amazon reached 59.1% of pet-care buyers in NIQ's panel, up 5.6 points. Mass (69.0%) and grocery (62.4%) still reached more people. Each took fewer dollars. National brands are winning in pet supplies: their dollar sales grew 7.0% while store-brand supplies fell 3.3%.

Know the Aisle Before You List

Every pet aisle on Amazon has its own leaders and its own seller mix. Which one you're walking into changes the plan.

• Closed aisles: in dry dog food, wet cat food and cat litter, Amazon.com was the seller on 92% to 98% of the top 50. Fancy Feast and Friskies alone held 30 of the top 50 spots in wet cat food.

• Open aisles: dog beds had 35 brands in the top 50, led by Bedsure with 6, and Amazon was the seller on only 10%.

• In between: dog toys had 25 brands in the top 50 and dog supplements had 28.

• Amazon's own brands: Amazon Basics held 7 of the top 100 spots in dog flea and tick control, the highest at #15. They held no spots in dry dog food, wet cat food, cat litter or dog toys.

Most brands also skip the fee math. Carolyn Lowe, founder and CEO of ROI Swift, checks every product and pack size after Amazon's fees before anything gets listed. For one natural cleaning brand, she found products losing money on every unit shipped. Her call was to stop selling them.

"Amazon can just slap Amazon Basics on it. And that's where you really sort of have to differentiate yourself." Carolyn Lowe, Founder and CEO, ROI Swift, on IN CLEAR FOCUS (S17 E8)

The Page Does the Selling

Of the 400 top-50 pet best sellers we recorded, 97% had A+ content and 89% had at least one video. Products ranked 1 to 10 and products ranked 41 to 50 looked almost identical on those two measures. So having A+ and video won't separate you from the pack. What the images and copy actually say will.

Lowe builds every page for a shopper on a phone. Assume they see six images and one video. Her set includes a comparison chart against the alternatives and a 30-second video with on-screen titles, since most people scroll with the sound off. For a fence-post maker in a look-alike category, her team rebuilt the images, copy and A+ content. Sales tripled in about 18 months on ad spend in the single percentage points.

Brand Stores varied by aisle: 18% of the top 50 in wet cat food linked to one, against 82% in dog beds.

Reviews First, Then Ads You Can Judge

The review gap is the hardest wall for a new product. The median ratings count for top-20 pet products ran from about 6,000 in dog beds to about 34,000 in dog flea and tick control. Only 3 of 378 rated first-page search results sat below 4.0 stars.

The report lays out two ways to earn the first 100 reviews inside Amazon's rules:

• Amazon Vine, for products with fewer than 30 reviews that are fulfilled by Amazon and Brand Registry enrolled. Fees in October 2026 ran $0 to $200 per parent product depending on units offered.

• Amazon's own review request, sent after every order.

Paying for or rewarding reviews breaks Amazon's terms. Michael Begg of AMZ Advisers calls it a fast way to get an account shut down.

Once reviews are building, the ad question changes. Lowe's rule of thumb: below about 15% conversion, fix the page. Above 15% to 20% with few visitors, buy traffic. Set budgets product by product against each product's own margin, start with shoppers already searching for the product and your brand name, and put the money behind what converts. One of Hall's clients gets about $85,000 of roughly $95,000 in monthly sales from 1 of its 10 products.

"Figure out what works really well. Invest there." Nik Hall, Founder and CEO, REViVE Marketing Partners

Price Once, Sell Again

Repeat orders are where pet economics live. At least 74% of the top 50 in cat litter were available on Subscribe & Save, along with 62% in flea and tick and 46% in wet cat food. In dog beds, 2%.

Two things protect the repeat order:

• A price that holds. Deep discounts bring buyers who don't come back, and shoppers compare prices across sites in seconds. A different pack size for each marketplace gives each one its own price.

• Stock that's there. A stockout sends a subscriber straight to a competitor's listing, and Amazon charges sellers for holding too much inventory and for holding too little.

The 5 Recommendations

1. Choose the product and pack on fee math. Resize or bundle what doesn't make money after fees, and leave the losers off the launch list.

2. Read the top 50 in your subcategory before you list: who sells them, how many brands share the list, and whether Amazon's own brand is on it.

3. Build the page, then buy the traffic. Below about 15% conversion, fix the page before spending more.

4. Earn the first 100 reviews inside the rules through Vine and Amazon's review request, and fix whatever your competitors' 1-star reviews keep naming.

5. Hold one price you can keep on every site, turn on Subscribe & Save, and plan inventory for repeat orders.

Who This Research Is For

• CMOs and VPs of marketing at pet brands planning a first Amazon launch

• Brand leaders at DTC pet companies weighing Amazon against Chewy, Walmart.com or their own site

• Ecommerce and retail media teams building the business case for a marketplace budget

• Founders who want the fee math and review plan before they spend a dollar on ads

About the Research

The data window covers 18 months to October 2026 and is US-focused.

• Marketplace observation: Bigeye recorded Amazon.com on October 12, 2026, logged out, with delivery set to Orlando, FL. That covered the top 100 Best Sellers in 8 pet subcategories (800 listings), product pages for the top 50 in each, and first-page results for 8 search terms (384 listings with product pages). Subscribe & Save shares were matched by product ID and are minimums.

• Market data: NIQ Pet Industry Outlook: Guide to 2026, NIQ Omnishopper and Omnisales+ data for the 52 weeks ending December 27, 2025, and Chewy's fiscal Q2 2026 results.

• Expert interviews: 7 guests from IN CLEAR FOCUS, quoted verbatim. Michael Begg (AMZ Advisers), Carolyn Lowe (ROI Swift), Nik Hall (REViVE Marketing Partners), George Swetlitz (RightResponse AI), Sarah Montano (University of Birmingham Business School), Chelsea Clark (Momfluence) and Hannah Rugar (Bigeye strategy team).

Best Sellers rank, ratings counts and badges are marketplace signals at the time of capture, not sales data. Amazon doesn't disclose pet-category sales, so NIQ's Amazon figures are panel estimates.

Download the Full Report

LISTED. is a free mini study from Bigeye. Download it for the full charts, the aisle-by-aisle data and every expert quote.

Launching a pet product on Amazon? The report gives you the checklist. We can help you run it, from audience research and brand strategy to product page creative, testing and media across Amazon, Chewy, Walmart and other retail media networks. Talk to our team.

Frequently Asked Questions

What share of US pet-care spending goes to Amazon?

Amazon.com took 21.4% of US pet-care dollars in the 52 weeks ending December 27, 2025, according to NIQ's Omnishopper panel. That's more than any other channel and up 1.7 points on the year before.

Is it worth launching a new pet brand on Amazon?

It depends on the aisle and the margins. In dry dog food, wet cat food and cat litter, Amazon itself sold 92% to 98% of the top 50, and a few big brands held most spots. Dog beds, toys and supplements were far more open. Run the fee math for every product and pack size first.

Which Amazon pet categories are easiest for new brands to enter?

In our October 2026 observation, dog beds were the most open, with 35 brands in the top 50 and Amazon as the seller on only 10%. Dog supplements (28 brands) and dog toys (25 brands) were also relatively open.

How many reviews does a pet product need to compete on Amazon?

159 of the 160 top-20 pet best sellers we recorded had more than 1,000 ratings. The report recommends planning the first 90 days around reaching 100 reviews through Amazon Vine and Amazon's own review requests.

How much does Amazon Vine cost for a pet product?

Amazon's seller pages in October 2026 listed $200 per parent product for 11 to 30 units, $75 for 3 to 10 units and nothing for 2 or fewer. The product needs fewer than 30 reviews, must be fulfilled by Amazon, and the brand must be enrolled in Brand Registry.

When should a pet brand start spending on Amazon ads?

After the page converts. Carolyn Lowe's rule of thumb is that below about 15% conversion, the page needs fixing. Above 15% to 20% with few visitors, it's worth buying traffic. Start with shoppers already searching for the product and for your brand name.

Does Subscribe & Save matter for pet brands?

Yes, for anything a household uses up. At least 74% of the top 50 in cat litter were on Subscribe & Save. At Chewy, Autoship customers made up 84.6% of net sales in the quarter ended August 2, 2026.

Who published this report?

Bigeye, a full-service consumer brand agency in Orlando, Florida. LISTED. is Vol. 07 in Bigeye's mini study series, published October 2026.