Overall, annual spending on pet food and products in America has risen by around 40% over the past ten years, to $43bn—a remarkable rate of growth for an already large industry, says Jared Koerten of Euromonitor, a research firm. Now a pack of startups has sniffed a fresh opportunity. Much as Airbnb has offered travellers an alternative to staying in a hotel, two firms, Rover and DogVacay, want to give pet owners an alternative to kennels when away from home.
总的说来,美国人每年在宠物食品和有关产品上的开销在过去10年间已经上涨了约40%,达到430亿美元。一家名为Euromonitor研究公司的Jared Koerten表示,这个增长率对于体量已然极其庞大的行业来说是惊人的。现在,一群创业公司已经嗅到了商机。就像Airbnb已经为旅行者提供了另外一种入住酒店的方式, Rover和DogVacay这两家公司打算为宠物饲主出远门时提供一种全新的寄养方式。