Pet Holiday Spending, New Year’s Reset, & Why Pet Brands Need Deeper Consumer Insight
January 24, 2026
Holiday spending has become one of the clearest behavioral signals of pet humanization in the U.S. – proof that pets are treated as full family members and intentionally included in household rituals and budgets. Recent consumer data shows that this humanized relationship increasingly shapes when and why pet parents spend, particularly during the holidays and into the New Year. The U.S. pet industry now exceeds $150 billion in annual spending, underscoring the scale of opportunity tied to these seasonal behaviors.
Holiday gifting is a major driver of discretionary pet spend. According to a 2023 SoFi consumer survey, 70% of pet owners buy holiday gifts for their pets, and 27% of those spend more than $100 specifically on pet gifts. Importantly, these purchases increasingly go beyond low-cost novelty items. In SSG’s recent 2025 research, 80% of pet owners agree that pets deserve to be pampered, helping explain why holiday spending often extends into premium food, specialty treats, toys, and services. Industry analysis suggests that pet parents allocate their holiday dollars toward premium offerings, reflecting gifting behavior that mirrors how consumers shop for their human family members.
Service categories also benefit from holiday-driven demand. A 2024 pet industry spotlight report notes that grooming and boarding services experience seasonal spikes during the winter holidays, driven by travel, social events, and heightened attention to pet appearance and care during family gatherings. Supporting this trend, Deloitte consumer research found that approximately 23% of pet owners planned to purchase pet food or treats as holiday gifts, with a similar share purchasing toys and accessories, despite broader economic caution.
What makes holiday spending particularly strategic is what follows next. As the calendar turns, pet parents increasingly apply a New Year’s wellness mindset to their pets, extending human health frameworks, such as prevention, optimization, and long-term planning, into pet care decisions. This mindset is reinforced by financial reality: in SSG’s study, 76% of pet owners cite concern about veterinary costs, increasing interest in preventive behaviors and cost-offsetting solutions. The American Pet Products Association (APPA) identifies continued growth in premium nutrition and functional wellness products as a core industry trend, reflecting consumer willingness to invest in proactive pet health rather than reactive care alone.
Strategic Implication: Consumer Research as a Growth Lever
While these patterns are well documented at a category level, they mask critical variations in motivation. Holiday pet spending is often emotionally driven, focused on inclusion, celebration, and indulgence, while New Year spending is more functional, centered on health, responsibility, and improvement. This distinction is implied in both consumer and industry research but requires primary consumer insight to operationalize effectively. For pet brands, targeted consumer research enables:
- Motivational segmentation between emotional gifters and wellness-driven planners helps brands tailor products and messaging to serve these distinct groups more effectively
- Timing optimization to align messaging with shifts from holiday indulgence to New Year’s health goals.
- Wellness priority identification, clarifying which benefits (e.g., nutrition quality, preventive care, anxiety reduction) matter most at year-start, guiding product development and innovation toward what consumers value
- Smarter portfolio and bundle design that reflects seasonal intent rather than static product assumptions, allows brands to create offerings that resonate with consumers’ challenging needs and aspirations.
As pets become more humanized and seasonal spending rises, brands that invest in deeper consumer insight, understanding why consumers spend (not just how much), will best convert holiday momentum into sustained growth in the New Year.
