Planning An Online Pet Food Business? Let Us Help You Get Started
Connect With usPet food industry is booming and the rise in online shopping for pet foods have changed the way manufacturers and retailers work. Moreover, COVID-19 situation has added fuel to the growing industry globally. Today, large part of consumers prefer digital shelfs for shopping rather than visiting in-stores.
One of the evident examples of such a move can be seen in case of Amazon Prime Users. If we look at the data collected between February 2020 and June 2020, you will notice that shopping for pet products increased from 30% to 37% during the period.
https://tinuiti.com/blog/ecommerce/pet-food-industry-trends/
In case you want to utilize the opportunity for your pet food business and make the best out of the eCommerce platform then here are some good ways in which you can establish and boost your online pet food store business. The same has been explained below:
Focus on product categorizing
Not all pets are the same and so are their needs. Based on the pet animal type, their health conditions, allergies, and nutritional needs; customers will have to shop different products for their pets. This is where we strongly suggest you to categorize products based on different pet needs. You can categorize products based on pets, food types, nutritional values, ingredients, brands, price, etc.
Here, let’s see the way dog foods have been categorized at PetSmart:
https://www.petsmart.com/dog/food/#page_name=global&category=dog&cta=food
Choose the right eCommerce platform
From the technical point of view, you need to choose the right eCommerce platform to build your website. There are a number of open-source platforms available in the market like Magento, WooCommerce, Shopify, etc. Such platforms are free to use and can be used by small businesses easily to get started just by spending less. Such platforms offer free themes and plugins which can be easily used for your eCommerce site to achieve basic features and functionalities. If your business demands are high then you will have to find an eCommerce platform suitable for enterprises-level solution like Magento Enterprise, BigCommerce Enterprise, Shopify Plus, etc. Such platforms will be able to build advanced eCommerce stores that are completely customized.
Content matters! Keep it informative!
Content plays a very crucial role in shaping your online presence. Apart from being the great source of information, content in the form of text, images or videos, acts as a medium for building trust among customers towards the business while letting it establish itself as a trustworthy brand. You can offer content in the form of:
- Company details: This will let the customers get better idea about the company’s vision and their position in the market. The company information should include details about the company head as well as the team that work tirelessly to ensure you get the best bought and delivered.
- Product details: Images are good but they are not enough! Description of the viewed product will let the customer know more about it. Such an information can include the availability of different quantities of the product, the expected delivery period, charges applied when buying product in a single quantity or bulk, shipping charges, discounts, reviews, etc. This will let them make a better decision and choose the product that best suits their pet.
If you look at the product page for wet cat food named Chicken, Lamb, Turkey & Fish Select Grain Free Kitten Recipe Canned Cat Food at PetFlow, you will see such details mentioned on the left hand-side of the product image.
- Nutritional Value Information: Being a pet owner many are much concerned about what should they give their pets to eat. Some of the pets are allergic to certain food products and this acts as a catalyst in the decision-making process. So, it would be advisable to mention the ingredients along with its nutritional values in the product page.
Say for example, on US-based online pet food store Chewy, you will see detailed information about the nutritional value of the pet food on its respective product page. Here in the dog food section, there is a product named Blue Buffalo Life Protection Formula Adult Chicken & Brown Rice recipe Dry Dog Food. Along with other details, the page has included detailed information about the nutritional value of the product.
https://www.chewy.com/blue-buffalo-life-protection-formula/dp/32041
- Feeding Instructions: Love for pet is one thing while taking care of them is entirely a different thing. This is more evident in case of new pet parents! Providing feeding information along with product details can simply help them buy and feed such products to their pets with ease. Even if you are having a pet for a long time, such information can be helpful if the product is new in the market.
If we look at the same product mentioned above at Chewy, you will see a dedicated section mentioning the quantity of food required to feed the dog daily based on its weight.
- Compare similar products: You can also provide a list of alternative products along with detailed information to help the pet owners choose the products based on the budget, reviews, and other factors.
You can see how Chewy has done that for its customers for the above-mentioned product.
https://www.chewy.com/blue-buffalo-life-protection-formula/dp/32041
- FAQs: When buying food for pets online, customers may have their own doubts. So, mentioning all of them in the FAQ section and offering detailed answers will save their time as well as of yours.
At PetFood you will find a dedicated FAQs section that cover general queries related to online ordering, payments, coupons & promotions, exchanges & returns, services and support. Above all that, it also provides a section where the user can ask questions that has not been listed below simply by following the link.
https://www.petfood.express/faq/
- Blogging: Add a blogging section to your website. This will act as a platform for the customers to know more about different pet foods, their benefits, pet health, and much more. You can cover wide range of topics related to pet food and their health here. Apart from providing information, blogs will keep your visitors engaged for long time. This will lead to increased conversion rates.
One of the ways PetShop UK is keeping its visitors and customers engaged is through useful and informative blogs.
https://www.petshop.co.uk/Blog
Have a customer support system
You need to simultaneously set up a strong and reliable customer support system when you launch your online pet food store. They will be responsible to hear out customer queries and answer them accordingly. In case of an eCommerce pet food business, you will have to deal with customers who would like to know more about what you have to offer, needs personalized food for their pets, have to talk about food allergies, etc. So, absence of such a team will leave them stranded – leading to loss of business and sales!
Include subscription offers
Having a pet means you will have to buy supplies regularly. For many online pet food shops, the large chunk of their revenue come from repeated product purchases. This means it is good for you to start and run a program like subscription that will add value to your business.
The use of subscriptions has increased in the past few years as shoppers find them ideal to buy pet food regularly as a part of their planned repetitive purchases. Moreover, you can encourage such monthly purchases by offering a great discount on enrolment.
Here at PetSmart, you will see that the customer gets a 30% discount when they enroll to the Autoship option.
https://www.petsmart.com/dog/food/blue-buffalo-blues-stew-adult-dog-food-604.html?cgid=100409
Apart from leading to consistent purchases, such an option lets the brand or retailer to interact with customers.
Have try and buy option
Compared to in-store purchases, online shopping is different. People shop for pet food that they see in pictures and learn from description. Moreover, shoppers are hesitant when shopping for new food products as they are not sure whether their pets will like it or not. This is where your website should take the chance and showcase some trial packs of pet foods with attractive offers. This will encourage shoppers to buy a few and try it out with their pets.
Here at DogKart.in, you will find a dedicated section that lets the customers buy samples of dog and cat food which really costs in thousands.
Think about coupons and offers
Not all pet foods are cheap. This may discourage many pet owners especially the ones who have got new pets from trying many pet foods. Apart from just offering some percentage discount, such offers work towards building a relationship with your customers i.e., pet owners.
The offers can be in the form of festival discounts, offer for first-time shoppers, repeating shoppers, discounts on particular brand, and so on just like on Petshopindia.
https://petshopindia.com/coupon-and-offer
Considering wallet cash is also a good idea. For every purchase made at your store, you can give away certain wallet cash to the pet owners. The same can be used by them when shopping next time. You can set an expiry date for wallet cash to encourage more shopping.
Be clear about shipping and logistics
This is very critical for an online pet food delivery business. You need to find a reliable and fast logistics partner to ensure the end-customer experience is not compromised. Certain pet foods are dry and so delivering them within a few business days are fine. However, there are some perishable wet food items too. Such food products need to be delivered as quickly as possible that too in good condition. For such kind of express delivery, you will need a logistics partner who can be trusted. Additionally, you should think about partnering with more than one delivery partner. This will save you from trouble in case one of them get stuck in the deal for any unseen circumstances. Additionally, if you are planning to deliver your products overseas then you should not be neglecting duty fees and other related taxes.
Try out different marketing strategies
As a pet food eCommerce business, you can make use of different digital marketing techniques to boost your eCommerce sales and reach out to a larger base of pet owners.
- Knowing your competitors: As a business in pet food, you are bound to have strong competitors. So, it is important for you to have a clear understanding about what they are selling and at what price. This will help you stay competitive in the market and offer best deals to your customers.
In case you have a unique product introduced in the market then it will definitely give you an edge. Or else, it is important for you to know what others are selling and keep up with the same.
- Email marketing: One of the marketing strategies that work well for an online pet food store is email marketing. Email marketing is a proven way for online businesses to boost their revenue while staying unique among the competitors. Once you have them brought to your eCommerce site through different marketing channels, you can think about keeping them engaged through your email newsletters or subscriptions. This will further increase your sales.
It is not necessary that your subscribers need to be your past clients. You can use this technique to reach any potential clients and stay connected with them. It is all about educating them about the brand and building a community around it.
- Text marketing: Text marketing can be considered as a way of sending quick messages to the users. It can be regarding any flash sale, limited offers on certain food brands, etc. directly to their phones.
- Social media strategies: Engaging with social media followers is one of the best ways to promote your eCommerce store to the world out there. Use this opportunity to regularly update the users regarding the latest offers you are running at the store. You can also conduct personalized campaigns at your store. Another way to engage the users and widen the customer base is by hosting competitions and giveaways.
Check out this campaign run by Pedigree US on its Facebook page_
- SEO & paid advertisements: SEO practices are followed with the aim to gain higher organic results on search engines. As an online business you need to get higher organic traffic on your store and SEO can help you with it. It will also help you get more sales. This is definitely the area where you will be able to get the fruits of competition analysis. Based on what you learned you should get your product and category pages optimized. You need to be patient, it takes time.
Opting for pay-per-click advertisement will also help you stay ahead of organic results. They are best when you want to drive quick traffic to your store and turn them into good sales.
Here is an example of list of paid advertisements you will get on the search results when you search for ‘online pet food stores present in the UK’ on Google.
You may want to do both or opt for one of the options. In both cases, you will have to decide what amount of budget you plan to spend on each option.
- Let customers spread the word: The best way to spread the word about your business and its products if through the same people who use it. Positive reviews from the customers will build trust towards the products and the store in general.
At Fetch, the online pet store, reviews of the products are placed on the product page. It also lets the buyers to add their review about the product. Let’s see the same in the case of one of its products named Pooch & Mutt Calm & Relaxed Completely Dry Dog food.
https://fetch.co.uk/pooch-mutt-calm-relaxed-complete-dry-dog-food-2kg-250497011
- Influencer marketing: Influencers are nothing but bloggers who are quite popular on social media platforms. When you partner with them for your marketing efforts, you will be able to reach a new wider audience base. The followers of the influencers have trust in them and so when they know about your products through such influencers, they trust you too.
The decision to invest in your eCommerce pet food store is just the start! You will need people to help you make strategic plans and sound decisions. This is where we come in! With our years of experience and expertise in this field, we are capable to help you design and develop the right eCommerce solution for your desired digital transformation.
So, connect with us and together we can take your offline pet foods to the online market – direct to the pet lovers.
