Italy’s pet industry puts digital transformation at the center
Bottom line
Zoomark Days’ latest Industry Insights session in Milan put a spotlight on where Italy’s pet sector is heading next: more digitalization, more omnichannel retail, and more pressure on companies to modernize supply chains and customer experience. More than 100 representatives from the Italian pet market attended the September 30 event, organized by Zoomark with Pet B2B, where speakers pointed to a market that is still growing but also becoming more complex. Organizers and trade coverage highlighted familiar themes: fragmented e-commerce, the need for stronger data and logistics capabilities, and a retail model that has to serve a new generation of pet parents across both physical and digital channels. Italy’s broader pet food and pet care market reached €5.3 billion in 2025, according to the 2026 Assalco-Zoomark report, giving the discussion a sizable commercial backdrop. (petfoodmedia.com)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the conversation is less about trade-show optimism and more about how the pet care ecosystem is changing around the clinic. As specialized retail and e-commerce gain share in Italy, and as companies push further into health, wellness, hygiene, and personalized nutrition, veterinarians may see more informed pet parents, more product choices, and more overlap between clinical guidance and consumer-facing wellness claims. The Assalco-Zoomark data also suggest that health- and hygiene-related categories are growing, which could create new opportunities, but also more need for evidence-based communication from veterinary teams. (assalco.it)
What to watch: Zoomark Days now shifts to Retail Labs in Salerno on October 19, 2026, and Bari on November 9, 2026, where the industry’s retail and grooming priorities should come into sharper focus. (petfoodmedia.com)
Italy’s pet industry is using Zoomark Days to send a clear message: growth alone isn’t enough anymore. At the latest Industry Insights event in Milan on September 30, more than 100 representatives from across the Italian pet market gathered to discuss what comes next, with the conversation centering on digital maturity, supply-chain adaptation, omnichannel retail, and the expectations of a newer generation of pet parents. Trade coverage of the event framed Italy as a market trying to move faster, not just get bigger. (petfoodmedia.com)
That message lands against a market that remains solid by the numbers. The 2026 Assalco-Zoomark report, released on May 14, 2026, said Italy’s pet food and pet care market reached €5.3 billion in 2025, up 2.5% year over year. Pet food accounted for €4.2 billion, while pet care represented €1.1 billion. The report also showed continued channel shift: online sales reached 11.5% of the market by value, specialized chains and pet-focused formats continued to strengthen, and supermarkets and hypermarkets declined modestly. In other words, the structural changes discussed at Zoomark Days are already showing up in the market data. (assalco.it)
Coverage tied to Zoomark Days suggests the industry sees those shifts as both opportunity and warning sign. A separate report on the 2026 roadshow’s first Milan stop described a fragmented e-commerce landscape, with more than 350 active pet e-commerce sites in Italy and a large majority of operators still at small scale. That same coverage emphasized a broader move toward data-driven marketing, personalization, AI-enabled tools, loyalty integration, and stores that function more as service and relationship hubs than simple product outlets. (mark-up.it)
The most pointed operational takeaway from the latest Industry Insights event may have been the digital gap. According to event coverage, Luigi D’Alessandro of Omnipet by Guttadauro Network said only 14 out of 100 Italian companies have reached digital maturity. He argued that stronger digitalization is essential for increasing production capacity, improving warehouse organization, and streamlining orders and shipments. Panels later in the day extended that logic to distribution and the “pet shop of the future,” where price pressure remains real, but differentiated services may be what keeps physical retail relevant. (petfoodmedia.com)
Industry reaction appears to be converging around the same themes rather than debating them. Trade and business coverage described a sector in transformation, with competitiveness increasingly tied to technology, omnichannel execution, and the ability to interpret changing consumer expectations. One recurring thread is that pet companies are repositioning themselves less as product vendors and more as health-and-wellness partners, a framing that could pull veterinary medicine closer to broader commercial conversations about preventive care, nutrition, hygiene, and everyday support for pet parents. (mark-up.it)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, this kind of industry event matters because it signals what pet parents may soon encounter in the marketplace before they bring questions into the exam room. As more retail and brand strategies lean into personalization, functional ingredients, wellness positioning, and omnichannel education, clinics may face a growing need to help clients separate useful innovation from marketing noise. The expansion of specialized channels and online sales also means veterinary teams are operating in a more crowded information environment, where trust, clarity, and evidence-based recommendations become even more valuable. (assalco.it)
There’s also a more practical business angle. If Italy’s pet sector is investing in better logistics, digital tools, and customer experience, veterinary practices may feel pressure to do the same, whether through online pharmacy workflows, client communication tools, wellness plans, or more integrated retail and nutrition support. The broader market trend toward health and hygiene categories could support stronger preventive care engagement, but only if veterinary professionals remain visible and credible within that ecosystem. (assalco.it)
What to watch: The next Zoomark Days stops are Retail Labs in Salerno on October 19, 2026, and Bari on November 9, 2026. Those sessions should offer a more concrete read on how retailers and grooming businesses plan to respond to the same forces raised in Milan, and whether the industry’s talk about digital transformation turns into measurable operational change ahead of Zoomark 2027. (petfoodmedia.com)