Chewy vs. Amazon for Pet Supplies

Chewy and Amazon are two of the largest online pet stores with wide selections of pet food, health care items, supplements, toys and other pet care supplies. Both online outlets ship conveniently and quickly. While Amazon Prime often gets pet products to you the fastest, Chewy's pet-centered customer service gets stellar reviews. Wondering which one is the best fit for you and your furry friend?

When comparing pet care products on Chewy and Amazon, you will find that the companies are competitively priced on most pet supplies. To find the best prices, check Amazon's Deals & Coupons tab and, on Chewy, look in the Today's Deals section.

One significant difference between Chewy and Amazon is that on Amazon, the pricing depends on the seller.

For instance, the top-selling dog food on Amazon, Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula, is currently priced a few dollars less on Amazon than on Chewy, but if you choose a different seller, those savings may vanish. Several sellers will offer the same product on Amazon with different pricing and shipping options. Sometimes, the lowest-priced product might not be available immediately for shipping. If you need that product sooner, you may need to go with another, higher-priced seller.

Because of the different sellers and their options, Amazon's pricing for pet supplies is more complicated for pet owners.

Both online pet stores aim to make life easy (and keep your business) through the convenience of automatic restocking services.

In the world of e-commerce, it's tough to beat Amazon's shipping options. One of the benefits for Amazon Prime members is free two-day, same-day or next-day delivery.

If you are not an Amazon Prime member, you need to spend $25 to reach free shipping and you aren't guaranteed two-day delivery. If your Amazon pet supply order is less than $25, you'll be charged by weight and shipping speed, which can add up.

With Chewy, shoppers receive free one- to three-day FedEx shipping on orders over $49. Any shipments under $49 are charged a reasonable flat rate of $4.95.

If you need pet supplies in a hurry and have Amazon Prime, the free next-day delivery with Amazon is hard to beat. But both online retailers have fast, convenient delivery.

Pet parents can choose to get scheduled Amazon deliveries on eligible items such as pet food, treats, kitty litter and poop bags. Amazon's Subscribe & Save service applies to thousands of pet products.

New customers of Subscribe & Save receive a 25 percent first-time discount and can earn up to 15 percent off future orders by subscribing to more products. The customer chooses the delivery frequency, which can vary from every two weeks to every six months. Customers can change or cancel subscriptions at any time.

Chewy's Autoship is a similar service, offering 35 percent off the first Autoship order and 5 percent off repeat deliveries. Customers control how often the deliveries arrive and can adjust the date or cancel any time. An additional bonus with Chewy's Autoship is that it can be set for your pet meds if you have a valid prescription with refills.

Both online pet stores aim to make life easy (and keep your business) through the convenience of automatic restocking services.

Chewy and Amazon have a mammoth-sized selection of pet products. From pet beds and invisible fences to reptile habitats and puppy chew toys – you name it, either pet supply source will have it. Both sites also offer a pet profile feature, where you can keep track of your favorite products for each pet in your family.

Chewy also offers prescription pet meds. You can keep prescriptions on your pet's profile and have them fulfilled through the Chewy pharmacy. If you need to pull up a receipt and prescription for your pet insurance company, it's all right there.

A related Chewy service is "Connect with a Vet," which is online or video chats with licensed veterinarians. The service is free for Autoship customers. Without Autoship, Chewy customers pay $14 for a text chat or $19.99 for a 20-minute video consultation.

Amazon's most significant advantage in terms of selection is that you can shop for pet supplies and everything else for your household in one online shopping trip.

Amazon's return and refund process is straightforward and user-friendly. With a few clicks, you can report your issue, request a refund and select from convenient product return options. You can even request to cancel an order that has already shipped. Most product returns must be initiated within 30 days of purchase on Amazon.

Chewy's process is easy, too. The company has a 100 percent, unconditional customer satisfaction policy. You have 365 days from the date of purchase to send a message to start the return process. Due to pandemic-related supply chain challenges and high demand for essential pet products, Chewy does not accept changes to existing orders. But orders that haven't shipped can be canceled.

Chewy offers 24/7 help accessible by phone, email or chat, whereas Amazon customer service is a bit more labyrinthine. Chewy's customer service scores higher in online reviews than Amazon's, but Amazon's customer service deals with a lot more than pet products. To help drive your decision and gather insight, do customer satisfaction research through products' star ratings and written reviews.