Cute pets have become "sharp weapons" for platforms such as Douyin, Kuaishou and Taobao to attract users, boosting the rapid development of pet-related e-commerce and even the entire pet economy.

（Photo/pixabay.com)

According to a recent report released by Kuaishou, a Chinese video-sharing mobile app, as of May 2020, there is one live-streaming video on pets every 5.4 seconds on Kuaishou, with more than 100 million viewers.

A miniature pig can sit on the toilet and use it by itself! As soon as this short video was posted on a Douyin account, it immediately received 4.38 million likes and quickly gained 3 million followers. "This is so cute!” said one fan, with others leaving comments such as "It is like a child!"

Another miniature pig, as an anchor, was mainly responsible for eating in front of the camera, with netizens believing that such videos could "relieve their sense of burden" and even bring a sense of calm to their day.

In addition to being cute, pets' ability to help sell commodities should not be underestimated. During the "June 18" promotion period, the amount of commodities sold by a Douyin pet anchor "Wang Xiaoyin Yanxuan" reached 2.08 million yuan ( over $309,000), with a total of nearly 1 million viewers.

In fact, the upgrading of pet consumption has become an indisputable fact for pet owners. In addition to dog and cat food, along with food for other pets, health products and pet entertainment facilities are also indispensable.

"Vitamins, probiotics, potassium iodide, lactoferrin, fish oil, nutritional powder... I also plan to buy a bigger cat crawl rack," a women surnamed Peng shared while introducing her spending related to pets.

Peng said she buys about 2,000 yuan worth of pet supplies in a pet live-streaming studio every month, with the average cost per cat nearly five times higher than when she had her first cat.

Behind the upgrade of pet consumption is the change of the consumption concept and the need to meet the emotional demand. Most of the people who keep pets are post-80s and post-90s. They not only have a certain spending power, but also regard pets as family members.

According to a report from 2019 on China's pet industry, 59.1 percent of pet owners regard pets as their children. Consumption for pets is not only a material form of love for "family,” but can also meet their own emotional needs and alleviate life anxiety.

The report also shows that the number of dogs and cats in cities and towns nationwide was 99.15 million in 2019, with a consumption scale of more than 200 billion yuan (over $29 billion), with the market continuing to grow.