21st edition of GlobalPETS Forum! Get into the heart of the consumer

Traditionally, a marketing approach targets a customer. But customers are changing, and this is no longer enough. Getting into their hearts is how to achieve customer loyalty for your company and brand. The GlobalPETS Forum programme and the content of the speeches focused on how to do that.

Omotenashi – the customer is god

A statement that set the ball rolling: a brand has to have purpose. When that is established, the brand has to keep acting on it. Purpose is enhanced by authenticity and transparency, enabling an essential level of trust. And trust is the basis of your customer relationship.

“A pictures says more than a thousand words, but an experience says more thn a thousand pictures”

But there is more to achieving that kind of relationship. Until now, the idea has been to treat a customer like you want to be treated yourself. But you need to treat your customer the way they want to be treated. This calls for intelligent selling: not just selling to the customer, but helping them too. For instance, by recommending other products after they have bought one. ‘Raving fans’ are your biggest source of future customers. They advertise you, for free! So treat every customer as if they are the next biggest catch. You never know what they could do for you.

Personalisation

75% of the people visiting Zooplus are not searching for products, but for problems. For instance, ‘my cat has fleas’ instead of ‘anti-flea lotion for cats’. Zooplus has a high search engine ranking because they understand search behaviour. They also offer pet-related services that are customer lifecycle related.

To get into the heart of the consumer, a company needs to offer ‘ultra-good’ service. For example, Zooplus has a pet parent community built on emotional content, premiumisation and personalisation. This level of product personalisation can only be achieved using big data and AI. So none of it is possible without an excellent logistics base. Bethowen goes even further, offering customers a ‘solution’ rather than just a service.

Experience+

Other Forum speakers presented essential market insights and developments, pricing tips and lots of numbers. The counterweight to the rise of Amazon is experience building. Give customers a unique experience inside your shop, so they can meet each other and create a community.