Designing Pet Food Displays That Actually Work in 2025
Shoppers love their pets - but they don’t love shopping for their food. Bulky bags, endless SKUs, confusing signage, and a lack of staff support turn a simple errand into an aisle-floor research project.
We’ve seen it firsthand. Two from our team recently set out to change their dogs’ diets. One needed a new formula. The other switched brands entirely. Both walked into different stores and ended up with the same experience: frustration, fatigue, and sitting on the floor comparing ingredient panels and vague claims. And they’re not alone.
Why Pet Food Shopping Still Sucks
The pet category is full of love and loyalty—but the in-store experience rarely reflects that. Retailers face legitimate challenges:
Heavy, hard-to-handle packaging
Visually similar SKUs with different ingredients
Limited floor space and small footprint sections
Little space for education or display variety
Minimal staff training or inconsistent customer support
In-store signage that’s often too generic or too dense
A wide range of customers, many seeking deep product knowledge
For shoppers trying to buy the “right” food, it’s a mess. Confusion slows them down. Doubt makes them delay. And messy signage? That just sends them straight to Google or Amazon.
The SOLUTION: DISPLAYS BUILT FOR THE WAY PEOPLE BUY NOW
When our team got back from those frustrating shopping trips, we got to work.
We mapped out key pain points. We studied shopping behaviors. Then we challenged ourselves to design dog food displays that simplify choice, respect shopper intent, and perform across retail formats.
Here’s what we focused on:
Clarifying choices through icons, color coding, and bundle logic
Supporting decisions with messaging that builds confidence without overwhelming
Adapting to any footprint with modular layouts and scalable parts
Educating quickly through simple, digestible content
Encouraging discovery with QR codes and video integrations
Reducing staff burden through built-in shopper guidance
Highlighting product attributes—from therapeutic diets to ingredient sourcing
The goal? Remove friction. Add clarity. Keep people moving forward in the aisle, not backward in their decision.
Why This Matters More Now Than Ever
Pet industry spending is projected to hit $280B by 2030 (Statista, 2024), with the average owner now spending over $500 a year on food and treats—a 30% jump since 2020. While more than 60% of purchases still happen in-store, DTC brands like Chewy, The Farmer’s Dog, and Open Farm continue to gain ground.
The customer has changed, too. Millennials and Gen Z now lead pet ownership—and they treat dogs like family. They research. They compare. They expect transparency, and they expect retail to keep up.
As premium diets, raw food, and supplements flood shelves, the pressure is on. More choices, less space, higher expectations. Displays need to do more than hold product—they need to justify physical retail’s role in the pet care journey.
What Good Displays Actually Do
The best displays today:
Preempt shopper questions before they’re asked
Surface key information quickly and clearly
Differentiate products through value-first messaging
Adapt easily to SKU changes, promos, and brand refreshes
Reflect modern research behavior with QR codes, review modules, and digital prompts
Work within spatial limitations without compromising function
Minimize staff dependency while maintaining a high-quality experience
Great display design isn’t just visual—it’s strategic.
Our POV
You don’t need a brand-new store. You just need fixtures that work smarter, flex better, and adapt with consumer demands.
At AXIS, we design retail systems that work in real conditions. Our pet food display concepts are made to be retrofit-ready, adaptable to layout constraints, and built with flexibility in mind.
EXPLORE CONCEPTS - Modular Display Systems for Pet Retail
These aren’t flashy fixtures for a trade show floor. They’re built for the friction, fatigue, and expectations of today’s real-world shoppers.
Let’s Make It Easier to Feed the Dog
If your pet category feels like it’s underperforming, we can help. It doesn’t take a total overhaul—just better systems that guide, clarify, and support.
Let’s build displays that work harder—so your customers don’t have to.