Pets and Trends | BARK Pulls Back to Reset Margins as Tariffs Bite

Pets and Trends

Here's what's happening this week in the world of pet commerce and DTC:
- BARK trims growth to shore up margins amid tariffs.
- Jinx hits $100M and installs a new CEO.
- Pet robot goes viral with family-connect use case.

📊 Why Your Attribution Model Might Be Leading You Astray

At eTail Boston 2025, Fospha’s Chief Product Officer Dom Devlin joined leaders from Ahold Delhaize, Fleet Feet and Bonsai to tackle one of marketing’s most expensive blind spots: how brands measure performance across channels.

Too many brands still skew budgets toward the final click - because that’s the only place their reporting gives them certainty, all while under-funding the demand generation that actually drives long-term growth. Fleet Feet’s Tiffany Lee shared how cutting upper-funnel spend for just eight months saw new customer acquisition drop sharply, only recovering once awareness campaigns were restored.

Dom added another layer: the marketplace blind spot. Fospha’s data shows 42% of Amazon sales are influenced by non-Amazon ads - yet most reporting tools treat those sales as “organic,” meaning the channels that triggered the purchase never get the credit. Without that visibility, key growth drivers are left under-invested.

This is where Fospha’s Halo capability comes in - bringing DTC and marketplace sales into one Unified ROAS metric. It allows brands to see the true impact of channels like TikTok, Meta, and YouTube across all revenue streams, not just their own sites, and make confident, evidence-based decisions about where to spend next.

🔎 Read the full session insights to see all the panel’s takeaways on full-funnel measurement and closing marketplace gaps

📥️ Explore Fospha’s Halo Report to uncover how brands like Nécessaire used it to beat their Prime Day benchmarks by 47%

📌WEEKLY MUST-KNOWS

DTC SCALING & LEADERSHIP
Jinx Hits $100M, Eyes Future With New CEO

Jinx crossed $100 million in revenue and named a new chief executive to drive its next phase. The move signals maturation from startup to scaled challenger with ambitions to widen retail reach. Expect increased distribution pushes and more disciplined brand investment as competition tightens in premium dog food.

WHOLESALE ECOMMERCE
Pet Palette Distribution Unveils New E-Commerce Website With Pet Professional Account Access
Pet Palette Distribution launched a rebuilt B2B site with professional account access, streamlining wholesale ordering for premium pet products and grooming supplies. The upgrade tightens the distributor–retailer loop and can accelerate placement for emerging brands. Independent retailers and brand managers should anticipate faster assortments and more data-led replenishment.

PUBLIC MARKETS & STRATEGY
Is BARK's Q1 2026 Earnings Report A Turning Point for The Dog-Centric Brand?

BARK guided Q1 2026 revenue to ~$100 million while improving EBITDA, cutting DTC spend, and rerouting production in response to 145% tariffs on Chinese imports. The company is trading top-line growth for margin and supply-chain resilience.

⚡QUICK READS

Nationwide Adoption Push Creates Cause-Marketing Window: Siouxland Humane Society joins NBCUniversal’s Clear the Shelters through August—timely co-marketing and donation tie-in opportunities for regional pet brands. (More)

Pet Robot Goes Viral With Family-Connect Use Case: A military mom repurposed a pet robot to connect kids with a deployed parent—signal for pet tech brands to lean into cross-category storytelling and UGC. (More)

Daycare Turns Facility Into One-Day Adoption Hub: Tulsa’s Your Dog’s Best Days hosts an Aug. 23 Clear the Shelters event with training discounts and vendor bags—low-cost community activation playbook for local pet businesses. (More)

ClickZ is a ClickZ Media publication in the DTC eCommerce division