Visa Data Shows UK Pet Spending Shifting Online in 2026 as Pet Food Delivery and Care Subscriptions Become Routine

Executive Summary. New Visa research published in London on 29 September 2026 shows about 5% of UK payment cards now carry regular pet-merchant spending, up 1.5 points since 2019, while 26% of domestic payment volume moves online, a combination that pushes pet food, grooming and care toward subscription models. Cards making ten or more online purchases a month have doubled to 28% since 2018.

Key Facts

Company

Visa (Visa Business and Economic Insights)

Country

United Kingdom

Industry

Pet retail and consumer payments

Category

Consumer spending research

Event

Release of The Great Indoors: How the ‘Couch Economy’ Is Redefining Consumer Spending Habits

Date

2026-09-29

Location

London, United Kingdom

Source

Visa via Merchant’s Eye

What Happened

Visa published research in London on 29 September 2026 showing that regular spending at pet merchants now appears on around 5% of UK payment cards, up roughly 1.5 percentage points since 2019. The finding comes from Visa Business and Economic Insights’ report, The Great Indoors: How the ‘Couch Economy’ Is Redefining Consumer Spending Habits, which tracks how home-centred lifestyles are reshaping British household budgets.

The pet numbers sit inside a broader digital shift. Nearly three in ten UK payment cards, 28%, now make ten or more online or in-app purchases each month, up from 15% in 2018. Digital channels carry 26% of UK domestic payment volume, up from 20% in 2019. Around 15% of cards regularly pay on food delivery platforms. Rob Cameron, CEO of Visa UK & Ireland, tied the threads together: “Pets have always been an important part of family life, but our data suggests they are also playing a growing role in household spending. Regular demand for everything from food and grooming to care and other services shows how changing lifestyles are influencing where our money goes.”

Background

Visa’s category read is straightforward: pet spending is recurring by nature. Food runs out, grooming appointments recur, and insurance and medication renew on schedules, which makes a pet household one of the stickiest customer relationships a retailer can hold. The report argues that as convenience becomes the default expectation, consumers gravitate to products and services that fit around home routines, and it identifies growing pet-related spending as one of the trends shaping Britain’s so-called couch economy.

The trajectory matters more than the level. A 1.5 percentage point gain in cards showing regular pet-merchant spend since 2019 implies millions of additional households with a standing pet line item, layered on top of an online-purchase frequency that has almost doubled since 2018.

Industry Context

Pet Food Delivery Near Me, Grooming and the Recurring-Spend Machine

For the UK pet trade, the report reads as a channel map. The categories Visa names, food, grooming, care and other services, are exactly the categories that subscription and auto-replenishment models were built for, and recurring pet food delivery sits at the centre of that machine. A shopper who starts with a search for pet food delivery near me ends up, months later, on a standing schedule that the same retailer can extend into treats, hygiene and over-the-counter health products.

The counterpoint is physical retail. Merchant’s Eye’s analysis of the release argues the entrenched couch economy puts pressure on brick-and-mortar retailers to justify their physical footprint, and questions whether smaller merchants can match the convenience and loyalty tooling of large delivery platforms. UK pet specialty has been investing in services precisely because services are harder to ship than a bag of kibble.

Market & Business Impact

Three numbers frame the commercial stakes. First, 5% of all UK cards with regular pet-merchant spending defines the size of the recurring base. Second, 28% of cards making ten or more online purchases a month defines how normal high-frequency e-commerce has become. Third, 26% of domestic payment volume moving online defines the share of wallet at risk for any merchant still relying on footfall.

For a searcher typing pet stores near me, the practical question is whether the local shop can match online pricing and scheduled replenishment; for the stores themselves, the answer increasingly lies in service revenue. Visa’s own category data shows grooming and care sitting alongside food in the recurring basket, which is why pet grooming bookings, weigh-ins and vet clinics inside stores have become the defensive play for UK pet retail. Suppliers and brands should read the same data as a distribution signal: recurring online volume rewards brands that can support subscription SKUs, steady case sizes and promotion calendars that fit auto-replenishment cycles.

Companies & Brands Involved

Visa is the source of both the data and the framing, through its Visa Business and Economic Insights unit. The report does not name individual pet retailers, but the UK market it describes is anchored by Pets at Home, Jollyes, Pets Corner and the grocery majors’ pet aisles, alongside subscription-native online sellers. Merchant’s Eye carried the release with independent analysis on retail implications.

Data & Evidence

All figures below come from the Visa research as published on 29 September 2026: around 5% of UK payment cards show regular spending at pet merchants, up approximately 1.5 percentage points since 2019; 28% of UK cards make ten or more online or in-app purchases each month, up from 15% in 2018; 26% of UK domestic payment volume takes place online or in-app, up from 20% in 2019; and around 15% of UK cards regularly use food delivery platforms. The figures describe the United Kingdom and reflect Visa network data as reported in The Great Indoors report.

What This Means for the Pet Industry

GPI’s take: the pet category has quietly become a payments-data benchmark for the subscription economy, and that changes how pet businesses should plan. A category where 5% of all cards transact regularly, inside a market where a quarter of payment volume is already digital, does not need another price war; it needs retention infrastructure. The UK operators that win the next phase will be the ones that own the recurring relationship, whether that is scheduled pet food delivery, a grooming membership or a care plan, because Visa’s numbers show the demand already behaves that way.

Key Takeaways

• Visa research published on 29 September 2026 shows around 5% of UK payment cards carry regular pet-merchant spending, up about 1.5 percentage points since 2019.
• UK cards making ten or more online purchases per month have doubled to 28% since 2018, and 26% of domestic payment volume is now online or in-app.
• The report identifies recurring pet spending on food, grooming and care as a defining habit of Britain’s home-centred couch economy.
• The findings pressure physical pet retail to build service and subscription revenue as digital channels take a larger share of wallet.

Frequently Asked Questions

Sources

1. Primary — Visa Business and Economic Insights via Merchant’s Eye, UK Pet Spending and Digital Habits Fuel the Growing ‘Couch Economy’, https://www.merchantseye.com/news/media-alert-rise-in-uk-pet-spending-adds-to-changing-couch-economy-habits-visa-r-4abd3441, 2026-09-29

Related News & GPI Data

• Follow the UK retail beat in GPI’s news archive.
• Benchmark subscription-led sellers against store chains via company directory.
• See where UK players sit in GPI rankings.
• Model recurring-revenue mixes on GPI Compare.