Our furry friends, unintentionally we might add, have nurtured a fast-growing business in the shape of pet specialty stores, wholesale clubs, supercenters and even made it to supermarkets and grocery stores. In addition to that, pet care & supplies eCommerce has been rapidly developing over the last decade, offering more and more products and services to pet parents, justifying an impressive growth in sales of billions of dollars.
Pet Care & Supplies Industry
According to Statista, in 2018 pet food was the highest-selling American product category in the market and over 13 million households bought their products online. Not surprising at all, considering around 95% of pet parents consider their pets part of the family. When surveyed on the topic of online shopping for their pets, most people stated they prefer purchasing pet products from the comfort of their home instead of the brick-and-mortar shops since it’s more convenient, it offers competitive pricing and other benefits such as free shipping.
It all started back in 1998 with Pets.com when they opened this door to pet parents – browsing through pet care & supplies categories, shopping online and convenient delivery. The only issue was that, back then, the demand wasn’t as high, however, nowadays, things have changed quite a lot.
Consumers are looking online to buy everything from clothes, furniture, jewelry to food and much more. The pet care & supplies industry is no exception. eCommerce shops offer plenty of products, good prices, and special deals. This is what pet parents are searching for, so it’s definitely a business opportunity worth tapping into.
Regardless of how your pet care brick-and-mortar store is performing, consider expanding it to the online environment. Yes, it does come with a bit more internal work, but the benefits are manifold. Moreover, if you find the right partners to help you with this new venture, things can actually work out much better than you expect.
Today’s eCommerce technology simplifies and streamlines a lot of the merchant’s work, including internal workflows, processes, inventory tracking, and order fulfillment. It also provides a safe and pleasant way for the customers to shop from any device and any location. The possibilities are endless and it all starts with a website.
Your pet care & supplies eCommerce website has to reflect your company’s personality. Things you need to consider when building or refreshing your pet care online store:
- Clean, modern design to match your company’s branding
- Easy checkout and registration process
- SEO compatible (you want the customers to easily find you, right?)
- Include prominent text and call to action buttons
- Mobile-friendly
- Cybersecurity (processing payments, users’ accounts)
- Social media to create brand awareness and promote your business
- Newsletter subscription (this is a great marketing tool to promote your special deals and events)
- Marketing plan ideas (include special holidays, dog shows, local events)
- Shipping methods & order fulfillment options
- Promote your special services which give you a competitive edge
- Create a blog to educate your customers about your products
- Focus on providing great customer service (live chat, social media chat, phone support, email support).
- Go multi-channel to expose your products to big marketplaces with millions of visitors on a daily basis.
A lot to think about, right? It’s not that complicated actually. As long as your focus is on your customers’ needs, you’ll succeed in the online environment. However, keep in mind the essentials of selling online:
Convenience
Retailers are offering more and more extra services to stand out from the crowd and gain their customers’ loyalty. Think about your company’s strong points and promote them on your website – be it free local delivery or carrying large items to your customers’ homes.
Social Media
People like posting photos of their pets, that’s a fact. Most pet parents share pictures of their pets on social media around two times per week. This is a great chance for pet care & supplies companies to promote their brand and use the power of social media.
Post constantly and try to grow your followers. Use funny videos and images, hashtags, events, and promotions. You can also try a partnership with influencers to promote your brand. Being active on social media gets you more interaction with your customers and potential shoppers. Try to incorporate the shop feature on your social media channels, to make sure the engagement you get can turn into a sale.
Selling on marketplaces
Selling on marketplaces such as Amazon can boost your sales quite substantially. There are many integration software tools you can use for your website to be able to sell on multiple channels and have your inventory accurate and up-to-date. By selling on marketplaces you expose your brand and products to millions of shoppers every day!
eCommerce Technology
eCommerce technology is making everything easier for the merchant. Moving away from the traditional way of shopping in a physical store, eCommerce shops facilitate the way you sell your products and streamline the workflows and internal processes of the company.
eCommerce platforms such as Magento, WooCommerce, Shopify provide a reliable way of doing business online, with great features like modern and clean design, order fulfillment, returns and customer service.
Digital Marketing & SEO
Investing in digital marketing and SEO services brings a lot of benefits to your business. Your website needs to have specific keywords to drive traffic and increase conversions. Moreover, you need to target your audience and boost the potential of your digital marketing campaigns. These services increase your products’ visibility online, they raise brand awareness and bring you more revenue.
Use subscriptions
Subscriptions are becoming very popular in eCommerce and they generate a lot of revenue for merchants, it’s definitely a winning formula to grow your sales. In the pet care industry, this is a great solution for customers who want to receive regular orders, without stressing about running out of products for their pets. You can include this routine type of purchase on your website and see how much of a difference it can make!
Conclusion
Embracing eCommerce and making your brand more visible online is what you need to do to become more successful in your business. Not really sure where to start?
We got you covered. Ecomitize can handle all aspects of your website, from building one from scratch, refreshing and improving an old one to eCommerce management services, digital marketing, SEO, hosting and web design. We don’t just stop there! Let’s talk about your eCommerce needs, contact us!
