A husband-and-wife team started a business with a niche product category and earned 36 million yuan a year

In a video released on his own media at the end of 2024, Zhou Hongyi talked about the seven major money-making trends in 2025. The first one mentioned was the single economy, and pet-related products and services are an important part of it.

The global pet market has been growing steadily in recent years. Bloomberg News previously reported that the global pet industry's revenue is expected to exceed $500 billion by 2030.

However, when talking about the pet industry, most people's first reaction is the "lifetime" industries such as food, snacks, and toys , but they ignore their "afterlife".

Recently, a video posted by a blogger on TikTok about holding a funeral for his deceased dog has sparked resonance and discussion among many pet owners. The number of videos related to #petfuneral on the platform has exceeded 1,000, and one video has been played more than 1 million times. In addition to TikTok, there are also many related videos and stories on social platforms such as YouTube and Instagram.

The explosion of social media platforms has also brought the niche field of pet funeral services gradually into the public eye.

My furever memories: pet tombstones, annual revenue of $5 million

The brand My furever memories mainly makes pet tombstones, and can also customize various souvenirs for deceased pets. In addition to its own website, the brand has also set up third-party platform channels such as Etsy, and has social media accounts such as TikTok and Facebook.

Furever is a creative spelling of Forever, combining "Forever" and "Fur" (originally meaning animal fur), implying the eternal emotional connection between pets and their owners. The brand was founded by a couple, Adda and Vidal, who have three beautiful children and two lovely dogs. Relying on this niche track, the brand's annual revenue reached US$5 million (about RMB 36.65 million), and once set a record of selling US$37,000 (about RMB 271,200) in one hour.

Depending on the different application scenarios of the products, the brand divides the products into "indoor", "outdoor", "accessories", etc., and sets different prices based on different materials, sizes, production methods, etc.

Back to the products themselves, we have to mention the inscriptions on the tombstones (outdoor) and ornaments (indoor): "When tomorrow starts without me", "If love can save you", "You left paw prints on my heart", "Missing you is immeasurable", coupled with the names, photos and other information of the deceased pets, which touched the hearts of many pet owners.

Therefore, even if the price is $68 (about 498.53 yuan), $78 (about 571.847 yuan), or even $199 (about 1458.94 yuan) and $290 (about 2126.09 yuan), there are still consumers willing to buy it. Of course, considering the size of the pet and the economic ability of the pet owner, the website also offers products at $34.99 (about 256.52 yuan), and the cheapest accessories are only $18 (about 131.96 yuan), which can be said to be up to the individual. At the same time, My furever memories also provides users with installment services and free shipping services within the United States, and the "Telling Pet Stories" section set up on the website has further narrowed the distance between the brand and consumers.

Data shows that most of the traffic of My furever memories is free traffic. Some analysts believe that this situation occurs on the one hand because the website's SEO is in place, and on the other hand because the track is indeed very niche.

From the product details page of My furever memories, we can see that the brand’s introduction to the product content is very detailed. The page is also equipped with rich videos and pictures. Industry insiders believe that this can not only create a better shopping experience for consumers, but also better layout keywords and facilitate search engine crawling.

( Image source: myfurevermemories.com )

Cuddle Clones: A spiritual sustenance for pet lovers, with more than 900,000 monthly visits to its independent website

This is a related independent website that is more famous than My furever memories.

Cuddle Clones is a brand that can customize dolls based on pet images and is purely handmade. It has also expanded its customized services to include clothing, plush slippers, blankets, mugs, mobile phone cases and portraits with pet images.

According to data from Similarweb, Cuddle Clones received 911,900 visits worldwide last month, with the highest daily visit volume exceeding 56,000. Of the visits, direct traffic accounted for 35.53%, organic search accounted for 22.59%, and social channels accounted for 25.76%. Among social channels, Facebook contributed the most traffic, accounting for more than 73%. In addition to the independent website, Cuddle Clones also has third-party platforms such as eBay and Etsy.

The origin of the brand is related to the founder Jennifer Williams's beloved Great Dane Rufus who passed away.

One afternoon, Jennifer was caressing Rufus lying beside her and suddenly had an idea that it would be fun to have a stuffed toy that looked exactly like Rufus. However, Rufus's rare fur color and eye color (heterochromic pupils) forced Jennifer to put this idea aside because she couldn't find such a doll in the store. Until Rufus passed away, Jennifer had this idea again.

Then Jennifer and the brand's other founder Adam discovered through market research that many people had to be separated from their pets due to school, military service, or the death of their pets, and they were suffering from this. Cuddle Clones was therefore established in 2010.

By precisely meeting the emotional needs of pet lovers, Cuddle Clones' annual sales have reached US$20 million ( approximately RMB 147 million ) and it has been on the "Inc. 5000" list for four consecutive years.

The most popular item on cuddleclones.com is the "Original Plush Cuddle Clone" which is priced at $234 ( about 1,715.54 yuan ) . According to the feedback given by consumers, the similarity between the doll and the pet is 80%, which not only brings fun to pet lovers (people whose pets are still alive), but also allows people who have lost their pets to find emotional sustenance. The editor found through comments that many consumers who ordered the dolls had lost their pets who had been with them for a long time, and the arrival of the cloned doll successfully alleviated their pain.

( Image source: cuddleclones.com )

Amazon sells it for $8.99, while the same model in China only costs $5.5

After searching for the keyword "Pet funeral supplies" on Amazon and Etsy, you will find that there are many related supplies on the e-commerce platform, such as commemorative plaques, tombstones, acrylic decorations, pet urns, coffins, and key chains that can be used to carry pet ashes.

Take a pet memorial wind chime sold by a local US seller on Amazon for $29.99 (about RMB 219.87) as an example. This product carries the AmazonChoice logo and has sold more than 700 units in the past month.

On the details page, the seller tells the story of how he made a wind chime to help a mother relieve the pain of losing her beloved pet. Although it is just a wind chime, it has paw prints on it and is given a special meaning by the seller - a pet memorial gift. More than 700 users bought it in one month.

Another acrylic heart-shaped commemorative ornament sold by a Chinese seller sold more than 100 units last month. The price of this ornament is US$8.99 (about RMB 65.9), while the price of the same model in a domestic channel is only RMB 5.5, which is nearly 12 times the price.

However, the editor found that although the two stores sell the same products, the former is better in terms of product details page. The former not only tells the story of a mother and her pet, but also empathizes with pet owners through content such as "losing a beloved pet must be very painful."

In addition, although both have product application scenarios and detailed descriptions, the pictures used by American sellers on their details pages are not only more touching, but also more advanced. It must be said that the advantage of foreign sellers in "telling stories" is indeed worth learning for Chinese sellers.

In general, although some sellers have entered the market, pet funeral-related products are still a relatively unpopular track. However, as people's emotional ties with their pets become deeper and deeper and more and more users have needs, this industry is expected to usher in greater room for development.

Niche categories

couple

pet