You run a specialty pet store. You stock better brands, you know the customer's dog by name, and you're pretty sure the supermarket down the street can't touch your service. So why are half the pet owners in Chile buying food there instead of at stores like yours?
Here's what just happened
A new survey of 1,381 Chilean pet owners shows that supermarkets and grocery stores capture 48% of pet food purchases. They're also the first choice for grooming products, treats and snacks, toys, and accessories. Specialty pet stores and veterinary clinics still lead in supplements, medicines, and vitamins, but supermarkets are the preferred channel across multiple categories. The research, conducted by Chilean market research firm Cadem in August 2025, also found that younger pet owners (18-34) use the internet (14%) and social media (3%) for purchases at higher rates than those 35-54 (7% and 2%) and those over 55 (5% and 1%). Social media also shows up as a discovery channel, with 40% of respondents using it to find information about food options.
Why this is actually a big deal
This isn't a story about Chile. It's a preview of what happens when convenience and digital discovery start pulling traffic away from specialty retail, and price isn't the primary driver. The survey found that 52% of Chilean pet owners kept buying the same food through recent inflation and economic difficulty. A quarter stayed brand-loyal but changed format or purchase location. Only 17% traded down to a cheaper brand. The shift to supermarkets isn't a race to the bottom; it's a migration toward breadth of assortment, one-stop shopping, and the ability to grab pet food in the same trip as groceries. Meanwhile, social media is becoming the place pet owners go to learn about food options (40% of respondents), even if they don't yet buy there frequently. Specialty stores that assume service alone will hold the customer are watching traffic leak to channels that own convenience and digital discovery. If US independents don't own one of those two things, convenience or digital presence, supermarkets and DTC brands will.
What this means for the shelf
For the store owner: The categories you think are safe, treats, toys, grooming, are the ones supermarkets are already winning in Chile. Food is the anchor, but the basket follows. If your value proposition is "better service" without a convenience hook (curbside, local delivery, SMS reorder reminders), you're banking on a loyalty that this data shows erodes. The supermarket's advantage isn't always price; it's not making the customer plan a separate trip.
For the buyer: Supplements, medicines, and vitamins are the categories where specialty and veterinary clinics still lead in Chile. That's your defensible ground, the stuff that requires expertise, a conversation, or a vet relationship. Double down there. The categories where supermarkets are the first choice are vulnerable unless you make buying them from you demonstrably easier than the supermarket run.
For the brand/DTC operator: Social media is already a discovery channel for 40% of Chilean pet owners, and younger cohorts are starting to buy there at higher rates than older ones. If supermarkets are locking up physical distribution and specialty stores are losing traffic, your path to the customer might not be through either channel, it's direct, and it starts on Instagram or TikTok.
How we're thinking about it
The easy read on this data is "supermarkets win on price." The harder, more useful read is that they win on not making the customer think. One trip, predictable assortment, no special stop required. Specialty stores have assumed that product knowledge and personalized service would be enough to hold the customer. This survey says it's not, at least not without also owning convenience or digital discovery. The 25% of Chilean pet owners who stayed brand-loyal but changed where or how they bought are the canary. They didn't leave because you lost them on quality. They left because someone else made it easier.
We're also watching the age split. Owners 18-34 are using the internet and social media to buy food at notably higher rates than those over 55, and the gap is wide. That's not a fad; that's the next decade of customers telling you where they want to meet you. If your store's digital presence ends at a Facebook page you update twice a month, you're not in that conversation.
Specialty stores that assume service alone will hold the customer are watching traffic leak to channels that own convenience and digital discovery.
What to do about it
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If you run a single-location store... pick ONE convenience lever and own it this quarter. Curbside pickup, SMS reorder reminders, or local same-day delivery for orders over $40. Make buying from you easier than the supermarket trip, or accept that you're competing on service alone against a channel that doesn't need to.
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If you're a category buyer at a small chain... pull your sales mix by category and compare it to the Chilean data. If treats, toys, and grooming are flat or declining as a percentage of your basket, that's your early warning. Shift floor space and margin toward the categories where specialty still has a moat: supplements, Rx diets, and anything that requires a conversation.
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If you're a DTC brand trying to crack independent distribution... don't wait for the specialty channel to wake up. Build your own discovery and purchase loop on social, then use that traction as proof when you pitch independents. The stores that survive the next five years will be the ones that see your direct customer base as an asset, not a threat.
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If you run a store in a market with strong supermarket pet sections... audit your Google Business Profile, your Instagram, and your website this week. When a 28-year-old new dog owner searches "best puppy food near me," do you show up? If the answer is no, the supermarket does.
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If you're watching this from the US... the migration from specialty to supermarket doesn't happen all at once, and it's not always price-driven. It's a slow leak of convenience-seeking customers who still care about quality but won't make a special trip for it. The time to plug that leak is now, not after half your traffic is gone.
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The Bottom Line
Chilean pet owners are choosing supermarkets over specialty stores for nearly half their food purchases, and it's not a price story, it's a convenience story. US independents who think service alone will hold the customer are ignoring the early-warning data.