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Visa’s latest UK indicator suggests more payment cards are being used regularly at pet merchants: around 5% of UK cards showed this activity in 2026, about 1.5 percentage points higher than in 2019. The figure is a card-spending proxy, not a count of pet owners or a measure of all household pet spending.
What Visa’s pet-spending figures show
Visa Business and Economic Insights (VBEI) describes the pattern as part of a broader move toward home-centered consumption. UK reporting attributed to Visa says around 5% of UK payment cards showed regular spending at pet merchants in 2026, approximately 1.5 percentage points above the 2019 level. The categories cited include pet food, grooming, care and related services; the figures do not break out growth for each category. Visa UK coverage
For the United States, VBEI reported that roughly 8% of domestic cards showed regular pet-related spending in 2026. That is a separate country-level indicator, and should not be treated as directly comparable with the UK’s 5%: the available reporting does not establish that the country figures use identical category definitions or methods. Visa’s analysis
What “couch economy” means
Visa uses “couch economy” to describe more than online shopping. It refers to home-centered consumption enabled by digital channels, including e-commerce, in-app purchases, subscriptions and delivery. Visa chief economist Wayne Best said the shift “extends far beyond e-commerce,” as technology reduces friction in everyday activities and consumers prioritize convenience. Visa’s analysis
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Other UK indicators in Visa-linked reporting provide context for that broader shift, but measure different things from pet-merchant activity:
- Nearly 28% of UK cards made 10 or more online or in-app purchases a month in 2026, compared with 15% in 2018. Retail Times
- Online and in-app payments accounted for 26% of UK domestic payment volume in 2026, up from 20% in 2019. This is a share of payment volume, not a share of cards. Visa UK coverage
- In the U.S., online and in-app transactions rose from 48% of domestic payment volume in 2019 to 58% in 2026. Visa also reported active streaming subscriptions on more than 17% of U.S. cards, compared with roughly 6% associated with cinema and concert spending. These are U.S. measures, not UK pet-spending statistics. Visa’s analysis
How Visa measures pet activity—and what the number cannot tell you
VBEI says its analysis uses anonymized VisaNet transaction data across Australia, Brazil, Poland, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and the United States. Unless otherwise noted, the release’s analyses cover Visa credit, debit and prepaid card transactions. For pet ownership, Visa uses the share of domestic cards with active, regular spending at pet merchants as a proxy. Visa’s methodology and analysis
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That proxy indicates recurring card activity in a merchant category; it does not directly count pets or owners, capture cash and non-Visa payments, or estimate total household expenditure on pets. Nor does the rise establish why the activity increased. The published UK details name food, grooming, care and related services but do not supply separate category-level growth rates. Visa UK coverage
What the trend means for readers and businesses
The data supports a limited but useful conclusion: regular spending at pet merchants is visible on a larger share of UK payment cards than in 2019, within a wider environment of more frequent online purchases and a greater online/in-app share of payment volume. It does not show that every household is spending more, identify which pet products are driving the change, or measure the whole UK pet market.
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For businesses, the practical signal is to consider how customers discover and buy recurring pet supplies and services across digital and physical channels. Visa UK and Ireland chief executive Rob Cameron pointed to food, grooming, care and other services as examples of regular demand, while Visa’s broader analysis emphasizes convenience and digital engagement. The figures themselves do not establish that any particular product, retailer or delivery model caused the increase. Visa UK coverage
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