Shoprite is catching Woolies fast in the battle for pets

Shoprite’s onslaught into the pet category with its Petshop Science brand has been incredibly relentless.

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It entered the category in 2021 with standalone stores with its push into what it terms “adjacent categories” to grocery, including baby products (Little Me), pharmacy (Medirite), outdoor goods (Checkers Outdoor), clothing (Uniq by Checkers) and pets (Petshop Science).

As at the end of June, it had a total of 231 outlets in these segments, with these so-called “djacencies” gaining traction, with customer visits growing by 67% in the last year. These stores, offering a narrow, specialist range, are all targeted at the more affluent shopper.

Within four years, Shoprite's Petshop Science now has 144 stores (by the end of June 2025). This compares incredibly favourably with the “more than 150” Absolute Pets stores acquired by Woolworths in 2024 for R609 million.

Shoprite continues to add far more Petshop Science stores than it says it plans to.

In FY2022, for example, it planned to add 19 stores but opened 31 in the 12 months between July and June. The next year, it aimed for 31 and added 33.