Chewy vs. PetSmart: Prices, Quality & Service Compared (2024 Update)
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PetSmart has been a big name in the pet world for a long time. It has thousands of stores across the country, each functioning as a one-stop shop for just about every pet need. It sells everything from dog food to lizard terrariums.
Chewy is a bit newer, but this online giant has taken the industry by storm, making many pet items available online. Its auto-ship function also enables you to save money on food and other consumables.
Both of these stores may be helpful in certain situations. However, which one is objectively better than the other? Should you auto-ship your dog’s food or visit your local PetSmart to buy it? Read on for an in-depth comparison!
A Quick Comparison
| Brand Name | Chewy | PetSmart |
| Established | 2011 | 1987 |
| Headquarters | Dania Beach, FL | Phoenix, AZ |
| Product Lines | American Journey | Anything for Pets |
| Parent Company/Subsidiaries | BC Partners | BC Partners |
Brief History of Chewy
Chewy was founded in June 2011 by Ryan Cohen and Michael Day. The company hired many executives from top-of-the-line companies like PetSmart and Amazon. In this way, it was able to earn $26 million in its first year. Its sales rose from $205 million to $432 million between 2014 and 2015.
In 2017, the company had about $2 billion in sales. Its website accounts for 51% of all online sales for pets. In 2017, Chewy was sold to PetSmart. Later, some of PetSmart’s stock was transferred to BC Partners, which purchased PetSmart in 2014. Therefore, the same parent company owns both PetSmart and Chewy.
However, Chewy functions largely independently of PetSmart. Its sales continue to increase, and much of its income comes from recurring shipments, which are commonly needed with dog food. In 2018, the company created Chewy Pharmacy, which sells pet medications online. Often, medications are cheaper there than purchasing them from a vet.
Brief History of PetSmart
PetSmart is a privately held chain that sells just about everything related to pets. This company was first founded in the 1980s as a discount pet food warehouse. At this time, pet food was really starting to take off. Jim and Janice Dougherty took advantage of this by founding PetSmart. They opened their first superstores in 1987, focusing largely on dog food. They offered large quantities of food at a low price, which was a new concept at the time.
The company grew quickly and opened five more stores the next year. However, it wasn’t profitable until 2 years later in 1989. The board removed the two founders from the head of the brand, though they were kept on as consultants. They hired Samuel Parker as president of the company. Under his guidance, the company began offering in-house grooming and departments for small pets. In 1990, vet clinics were added.
Since then, the company has only continued to grow. However, it’s quite similar to how it began all those years ago.
Chewy Shipping
Chewy is an online company, first and foremost. Therefore, it works to ensure that shipping is fast and efficient. It typically offers fast shipping on nearly all items, usually within 1–3 days. However, it does depend on the current shipping situation and what item you’re ordering.
Purchases over $49 ship for free within the contiguous United States. However, it does not ship to Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, or APO addresses.
PetSmart Shipping
While PetSmart mostly functions in physical stores, it also enables you to purchase items online and have them shipped to your house. However, it doesn’t provide as fast shipping as some other options out there, as that is not its main concentration. It does offer free shipping on orders over $49, just like Chewy does. It also only ships within the contiguous United States.
However, this does exclude many different locations, including Alaska and Hawaii. You can also order items for curbside delivery, which isn’t an option with Chewy.
Chewy Customer Service
Chewy’s customer service is typically thought to be high-quality. It’s known for sending cards to customers after they have lost a pet and on birthdays. Furthermore, if you get dog food and your dog doesn’t like it, the company often refunds you and recommends donating the food. In this way, Chewy is charitable and has a solid customer service team.
You can reach its customer service in a variety of ways. It has an online chat option that works well for many customers. You can also reach it by email or phone.
PetSmart Customer Service
PetSmart has existed since the 1980s, so its customer service team has been around for a very long time. It provides a hassle-free return process in-store that rivals its competitors. It also works with local shelters and rescue organizations to help adopt animals. You can often find animals at their store up for adoption. Therefore, this company is often considered quite charitable.
Chewy vs. PetSmart: Price
These brands have extremely similar pricing. However, each does run its own sales and discounts, so it is in your best interest to check the prices at both stores to find the cheapest option.
Chewy
Chewy often has slightly cheaper prices than other pet brands, as it does not have as much overhead. Since it doesn’t run physical stores, it has far fewer bills to pay, so it can easily afford to charge less for its items.
However, these savings aren’t always significant. The easiest way to save is with the auto-ship option. Still, this only makes sense for items like pet food that you need to order regularly.
PetSmart
PetSmart doesn’t charge more than other stores for its products. However, it isn’t particularly cheap either. Therefore, it works best if you shop the sales and discounts, as this is the best way to save money.
Unlike Chewy, PetSmart does not have a program that enables you to save money regularly or anything of that sort.
Chewy vs. PetSmart: Customer Service
Chewy and PetSmart are both known for their great customer service. However, there are significant differences between them.
Chewy
Chewy’s customer service is extremely responsive to customers and is often considered very helpful. It’s known for refunding items even when it doesn’t have to (such as an expensive bag of prescription dog food after the dog has passed away). Furthermore, it’s also quite charitable. If your dog doesn’t like something, it will refund you and suggest that you donate the item.
However, Chewy doesn’t have any physical locations. That can make things like returns complicated. However, Chewy often bypasses the return process completely for this reason.
PetSmart
PetSmart has great customer service and is very charitable. Instead of purchasing puppies and kittens from breeders, it works with local rescues to house and adopt animals in need of homes. It also donates regularly to local organizations.
It has an in-store return process that is very quick and easy. Returning items to PetSmart is a bit easier than returning items to Chewy simply because there is a physical location. In this way, PetSmart typically gets higher customer service ratings.
Chewy Product Lines
Chewy does have a few of its own product lines. For instance, American Journey is the brand’s dog food line. This food isn’t particularly different from other premium dog foods out there, but it tends to be quite expensive. Grain-free options are common, and most include high amounts of peas. This is true even after the FDA released a warning about these foods.
However, this company does not push its own brands nearly as hard as other companies do. Therefore, its brands don’t seem to be a major source of income.
PetSmart Product Lines
PetSmart has had many product lines over the years. However, for one reason or another, they tend to get discontinued. Therefore, it doesn’t have any major and clearly recognizable brands. Many of its lines disappear after only a few years.
Similar to Chewy, it doesn’t seem like PetSmart makes much money on any of its generic brands. Furthermore, its brands aren’t particularly known for being high-quality or inexpensive compared to other options.
Overall Brand Reputation
Price
🏆 Edge: Chewy
The prices between these two companies are extremely similar. For the most part, they price foods and other items the same. However, you can save by signing up for auto-shipments through Chewy.
Chewy
Chewy offers a special program that enables users to sign up for recurrent shipping. This saves a small percentage of money, which can add up over time. If you’re planning on purchasing dog food regularly, anyway, signing up for these shipments can save you money and time.
Generally, Chewy has fewer overhead costs, so it can charge slightly less for its products overall. Thus, you may save a few bucks by shopping there.
PetSmart
PetSmart prices its items similarly to other stores. On average, it tends to be slightly more expensive than Chewy. For the most part, this is likely because it has more overhead costs. After all, it has to rent out space for its stores and hire more employees.
Selection
🏆 Edge: Chewy
Chewy tends to have a better selection, as it isn’t facing the same space constraints as PetSmart. PetSmart has to have room for everything in a store, while Chewy does not.
Chewy
Chewy tends to have a much wider selection than PetSmart. You can find tons of different brands and items for just about every pet on its website. However, it doesn’t have to fit all its items in a store, so this makes sense. If you want something hard to find, you should probably look at Chewy.
PetSmart
PetSmart usually has a very good selection of products. However, it isn’t nearly as good as Chewy. After all, it faces space constraints of putting everything in a store. Therefore, it can’t offer quite as many options as Chewy, or its stores would have to be huge.
Still, it offers the most common brands and then some. You can also find items for a range of small pets, though the offerings for these less-common animals are far smaller than those for cats and dogs.
Convenience
🏆 Edge: PetSmart
Typically, since PetSmart has physical stores, it’s considered more convenient. After all, you can stop in and grab whatever you need during business hours.
Chewy
Chewy shipping typically takes at least a few days. Shipping can vary depending on the item you’re purchasing and when you order. However, you cannot expect to receive most items overnight or even within 2 days.
Therefore, if you need something now, Chewy is probably not the best option for you. Instead, we recommend purchasing from a different store.
PetSmart
As a physical store, PetSmart does allow you to stop in and purchase just about anything you need. Of course, this is assuming that it has the item that you’re looking for in stock. It doesn’t have quite as many items as Chewy, since it needs a place to put them all in-store.
Still, if you need something right away, PetSmart is a better option than Chewy.
Conclusion
Chewy and PetSmart are pretty even-matched in most categories. While their services are different, one isn’t necessarily worse than the other. When you can, we recommend checking the prices of both to determine which one is cheaper. Chewy is often cheaper, but you’ll have to wait a few days to get the item.
PetSmart shines when you need something right now. It has many locations and stocks them with common pet items. Therefore, if you really need an item, PetSmart can probably help you out.
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