535Currently, the pet ownership rate in Southeast Asia exceeds50%, with nearly2/3of Filipino households owning at least one pet.
This massive group of pet consumers is unleashing astonishing market potential.
In such a market environment, a Chinese brand has emerged in the Philippine market. Since launching on TikTok, its total sales have reached3.8 million units, with a total sales revenue ofUS$7.41 million(about RMB 54.16 million).
At its peak, monthly sales soared toRMB 4 million, and the brand isPetsup.
Image source: EchoTik
When61%of pet food shelves in the Philippines are occupied by American brands, Petsup, as a newcomer, managed to break into the mainstream market in less than five years. What did it do right?
Image source: Petsup
An Unexpected Transformation
According to available information, inMarch 2021, Petsup founderKinderopened an online store on Philippine e-commerce platforms Shopee and Lazada, initially focusing on home goods, with pet supplies as a marginal sideline.
At that time, the Philippine pet market was limited in size, with extremely low average transaction values—a pet bed sold for less than RMB 10. The market was dominated by basic products like cat beds and feeders, while the pet food sector was almost entirely monopolized by imported American brands, with few local sellers involved.
However, as the overall economic level in Southeast Asia improved, the market landscape began to change. From 2021 to 2023, the pet-owning population in the Philippines expanded rapidly, and the local pet market's compound annual growth rate once soared to19.6%, with more and more pet owners seeking higher-quality products.
Image source: pet2world
Based on this trend, Kinder began a full shift to thepet sector. Facing the dominance of American brands, the team chose a detour, entering the market through product differentiation.
At the time, most pet canned food in the Philippine market was jelly-like meat paste. Petsup went the opposite direction, launching transparent-packaged“visible ingredients”soup cans, directly addressing cats' hydration needs. By showcasing real meat chunks and broth, they convinced consumers and raised the average transaction value, precisely hitting the consumption upgrade point.
Image source: Petsup
This strategy was successfully replicated across multiple categories. Cat food with added hydration formula sold97,000 unitswithin seven months of launch, while a deodorizing spray designed to address pet odor issues in tropical climates achieved cumulative sales of over1.3 million units.
The commonality among these bestsellers is that they targeted niche scenarios overlooked by American brands, such as hydration and deodorization needs for pets in high-temperature environments.
Image source: EchoTik
Going Viral Thanks to Social Media “Word of Mouth”
Petsup's overseas growth also heavily relies on social platforms. Especially on TikTok and Facebook, they used a“real content + data-driven”strategy to open up the market.
-TikTok
From its inception, Petsup focused heavily on TikTok.
As of now, its official account @petsup_phhas 342,100 followers and 1.4 million total likes.
Content focuses on three areas: cute pet daily life, pet care knowledge, and product demonstration videos. Thisde-emphasizing advertising, strengthening real-life scenarioscontent strategy perfectly matches pet owners' interests, attracting a large and targeted user base.
Image source: TikTok
For example, a 32-second video featuring clips of cute pets and Petsup products, with no dialogue, achieved11.5 millionviews and220,000likes. The comments section was flooded with questions like “Where to buy?”, and some users even spontaneously tagged friends to discuss product effectiveness.
Image source: TikTok
The Petsup brand also launched the#petsuphashtag to encourage user-generated content. Currently, there are15,000videos under this tag, with the most outstanding being from influencer @changeandbunso0417 (20,200 followers), showing two puppies using the Petsup cooling bed in a real-life scenario. This video eventually garnered 3.7 million views, which is quite impressive for a small-to-medium influencer account.
Image source: TikTok
In addition to influencer marketing, Petsup also conducts more than 15 hours of live streaming daily (focusing on product features and usage demonstrations). This high-intensity live streaming, combined with TikTok's major promotional events, forms a complete marketing loop. Through the “content-driven traffic + instant conversion in live streams” model, Petsup successfully broke out of the vicious cycle of competing solely on low prices.
Image source: TikTok
On Facebook, Petsup is equally diligent.
Its official account @Petsup PH has accumulated50,000subscribers, including both potential new customers and a large number of repeat buyers.
The account's content is mainly divided into two sections: one for product launches and promotional activities, and another for showcasing real user reviews and experiences. This combination ensures effective communication of commercial information while enhancing credibility through real user cases.
Image source: Facebook
Meanwhile, Petsup also places anindependent site linkin its profile. This seemingly simple setup actually creates a stable traffic entry point for the brand, allowing interested consumers to directly jump to the official store for purchases. In practice, this cross-platform traffic diversion is especially suitable for pet products, which require frequent repurchasing.
Image source: Facebook
The Independent Site’s Clever Touches
Beyond social media, Petsup has also built its own independent brand site. The entire website uses a bright, warm yellow tone to create a cozy shopping atmosphere, making visitors feel comfortable as soon as they enter.
The homepage is directly divided into“Dog Supplies”and“Cat Supplies”sections, making it especially easy to find products without wasting time flipping through pages.
A lot of thought went into the product pages as well. For example, cat canned food is labeled with moisture content, and dog toys are shown with real photos of dogs chewing them, so consumers can immediately see how practical the products are.
This attention to detail is very appealing. One user commented: “I originally only wanted to buy canned food, but the dog sleeping mat was so cute that I added it to my cart as well.”
Image source: Petsup independent site
What Other Opportunities Can Chinese Brands Seize Overseas?
Against the backdrop of tightening US tariff policies, Petsup’s strategy of focusing on the Southeast Asian market is worth learning from.
For Chinese companies, the Southeast Asian market not only avoids tariff barriers but also offers a relatively relaxed competitive environment. As long as you identify niche needs, it is entirely possible to replicate Petsup’s success.
Instead of struggling to survive in the US market, it may be better to turn your attention to more promising emerging markets—perhaps you’ll discover a whole new world!
