Pets at Home sales rise driven by loyalty scheme and subscriptions

The retailer said like-for-like sales rose 6% across the group in the 16 weeks to July 21. Compared with pre-pandemic levels, like-for-likes surged 37.9%. Total sales advanced 7.1% to £404.7m.

Like-for-likes in Pets at Home’s core retail business increased 5.6% year on year and 36.4% on a two-year basis.

In its veterinary division, like-for-likes grew 8.6% and surged 59.3% compared with the same period in 2020.

Pets at Home said the number of active VIPs in its loyalty scheme climbed 10.7% year on year to a record 7.4 million customers. More than a quarter of those shopped across more than one channel during the period.

Sign-ups to the retailer’s Puppy & Kitten Club averaged 25,000 every week during the quarter, outstripping pre-pandemic growth threefold.

The number of subscription plans grew 16% to more than 1.5 million, generating £135m in annualised revenue and accounting for 8% of group customer revenue.

Pets at Home boss Lyssa McGowan, who succeeded Peter Pritchard in the top job earlier this year, said: “Our performance has remained strong in the first quarter, underpinned by continued customer growth and high levels of retention.

“We operate a unique omnichannel model in a market in structural growth, where the passion and expertise of our colleagues and partners is a key competitive advantage.

“I would like to thank them for their warm welcome, their continued efforts in helping our record number of customers care for their pets in these challenging times and their ongoing commitment to building the best pet care business in the world.”

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