During the Chinese Labour Day holiday Su, a resident in Beijing, went on a trip and left two pet cats at home: "With the real-time monitors and automatic feeding machines and water fountains, I'm not concerned about cats being left alone for a few days."
In recent years, people with pets in China have increased rapidly. By 2018, pet owners in Chinese cities numbered 73.6 million and consumption in the pet market had reached 170.8 billion yuan (NZ$38.65 billion), according to the 2018 Chinese Pet Industry White Paper.
Besides pet food and medicine, new demand for household pet goods has risen following the emergence of intelligent household industries. Nowadays, pet owners can get smart home products for their pets via e-commerce platforms such as Taobao.
The automatic pet feeder allows the owner to feed a pet on a mobile phone from afar; the automatic water fountain provides clean water for the animal. With the pet camera, the owner can see his pet even when away from home.
The growth of pets is related to the expanding number of singles and aged people in China, who like pets to keep them company.
With the role of pets changing, the needs of owners are also changing. More young people don't just want to have pets around, but hope to raise them well. Intelligent pet products can satisfy such demands because they are both functional and good-looking.
Statistics released by Tmall global shows the number of pet products consumers purchased increased three times from 2016-2018, with the total amount spent rising by more than 10 times.
Despite that momentum, smart pet products are questioned by many people. For example, according to previous reports, there was an instance where a smart cat bed malfunctioned and the cat sleeping in it was asphyxiated.
But there are plenty of successful products. An intelligent stray cat cattery was developed at the beginning of this year. Besides being able to conduct temperature control and run a camera, the product is equipped with cat face recognition technology so as to ensure the healthy reproduction of stray cats.
Content sourced from the People's Daily Online here