2000 PDT Competitors in the crowded online pet supply business are realizing that the market might not have room for everyone. Wired News delivered to your inbox or hand-held device. Dot-Coms Getting to Domain Argument Is It Too Late for Sex. It's 1999 About Those Debt Offerings. . . Sources close to the company said the layoffs represented a sizeable portion of its staff, which numbered more than 200 earlier this year.
Market analysts blame the pet sector's troubles in part on an oversupply of well-funded players.
Approximately 60 percent of U.S. households own a pet and 40 percent of those households own more than one pet. Still, the fact that several well-financed startups entered the arena at virtually the same time hasn't helped matters for online pet supply retailers. That's left companies that target the coveted U.S. pet owner struggling for ways to differentiate themselves. She predicts there will be further consolidation in the industry, as weaker rivals are weeded out. In the meantime, online pet companies are adjusting to the fact that support from Wall Street and the venture community is harder to get than it used to be.