The Polish pet market after the lockdown

Karina Wojtyłko,

owner of the Zoo Karina chain

What was your strategy at the beginning of 2020?

Before the lockdown, we planned further store expansion and increasing online sales.

The new reality altered our plans for opening premises, so we withdrew from several contracts that had already been signed. Internet sales volume was much higher than expected, and we are now focusing on safely providing customers with items they are less likely to come and buy in our stores.

The pandemic has shown us how fragile a chain of shops can be, even if the trading ban does not apply to us. High rents, operating and labour costs can only be covered by sales revenue, but if customers stay home, sales fall too.

What has already been implemented and what are you still working on?

We are constantly refining our online sales system. Although we have worked on that for two years, there is still room for improvement.

Some IT systems are incompatible and we are further simplifying customer service.

What is your opinion of the Polish pet market’s current condition?

After a decline in store sales, we are slowly returning to 80% of pre-pandemic levels. Online sales have peaked and are now stable. Our industry is coming out of the crisis slightly battered, but with prospects for the future – unless the situation recurs in the autumn.

Bogumiła Jankiewicz,

owner of the AquaelZoo chain

What plans are you implementing this year?

We are not planning any major changes to our strategy. We still want to open new shops, but might also need to close some less profitable ones. That is not necessarily due to the lockdown.

Has the outbreak and lockdown disrupted any plans?

COVID-19 has not actually disrupted anything. We did have a turnover collapse during the lockdown that has been hard to make up, but it simply sped up some of our decisions. In particular, a change to our online shop platform as part of AquaelZoo, and implementation of a Click&Collect order system.

What has already been implemented and what are you still working on?

We have implemented new methods of customer service due to sanitary restrictions. We wanted to take good care of our customers and employees.

We have also implemented the new ordering system, with a possibility to collect goods ordered online at a pick-up point selected by the customers themselves.

How would you assess the Polish pet market’s current condition?

We would say it is stable and are quite optimistic about its future. The increasing amount of COVID-19 cases has led to people staying home more and cancelling holiday plans. This has led to a growing interest in safer hobbies like fishkeeping or having other pets. As people probably know, that is one of the therapeutic guidelines for staying healthy during the pandemic – but also at other times!