The future of pet retail. Giving customers what they want

Giving customers what they want

As the volume of online sales continues to increase – also within the pet sector – brick-and-mortar retailers are feeling the pressure. During the GlobalPETS Forum, held in Vienna in January of this year, CEO’s of main pet retail chains discussed how specialty pet retailers are facing the future: in both the short and long term, on- and offline. 
Challenges and opportunities – what is keeping retailers awake at night

In today’s fast-changing retail environment, there is not one retailer who is not being impacted by the disruptive market. The question is how challenges – within an ever-growing and ever more competitive pet market – can be turned into opportunities.

Alvaro Gutierrez, CEO of leading Spanish pet retailer Kiwoko, expects his company to continue to benefit from a booming pet market. “We are seeing a shift from smaller retailers to bigger chains such as ours, and to our online channel. Although, there is increased competition from supermarkets, who are becoming ever-more savvy in the pet category. Our biggest concern is how to make sure we stay on top of e-commerce developments,” Gutierrez characterises the challenges in the Spanish pet retail market.

Peter Pritchard of UK retailer Pets at Home sees two major – seemingly conflicting – opportunities for specialist retailers. “On the one hand, it’s all about scale-by-growth in the number of services we offer. For us, 2018 will be about getting vets into our shops. On the other hand, it is also about how we can simplify the business to better serve our customers.”

“We need to bring more technology and data to the stores. And this is where things get challenging; because we do not know what the future will bring! What do we need to invest? How much is it going to cost us? Are we in or are we out? Who knows! Nevertheless, the coming year, we will be opening seven new stores. Our attitude towards bricks-and-mortar is a simple one: if it is the right location and if it is viable, we will open,” Pritchard explains.

In Germany, market leader Fressnapf has just completed a full retail potential program and will continue the roll-out of this concept in its stores in Austria, Italy, France and Switzerland in 2018. Main focus of this concept is the transformation into a full-service, customer centric operation. In the longer term, Fressnapf expects the retail landscape and the brick-and-mortar stores to become radically different to what they are today. It is a view shared by all panel members. Agility and flexibility are believed to be key for companies: to allow them to adapt to the future unknowns and market requirements.

Leveraging your footprint through online

Giving his view on the US pet retail market, Walmart’s Dean Kelley sees the biggest challenge in the ability to attract the best, tech-savvy people who are able to provide e-commerce solutions for now and in the future. “Basically, online is a threat to everyone.

But, we can do better than the Amazons out there if we succeed in tapping into the footprint of our 4,600 stores nationwide. What type of partnerships can we create that can leverage our power of being embedded in the local communities?” Kelley asks.

In France and Belgium, like in other European countries, online is growing fast. However, it is not expected to exceed 30% of sales. Nevertheless, the new online reality is forcing companies to rethink their customer experience. All panelists agree: the future for brick-and-mortar stores is one centered round the customer experience and – importantly – customer conversations.

What is happening in other sectors is also happening in the pet sector: stores are becoming showrooms where customers come to be informed about their purchase.

They are looking for real conversations. For retailers this is an essential moment in customer conversion. Such real conversations can not be recreated online. But how long is that advantage going to last? Fressnapf expects to keep this advantage, having made its stores far more attractive and opening them in A or B locations: easy for the pet owner to drop by on his way home from work.

Whatever the sales the channel, customer is king

Gutierrez sees a mixed landscape in Spain, where the younger generation finds information online and purchases wherever is ‘natural’ for them. “We need to make sure we are present online where people are looking for information. It won’t do to be present just ‘a bit’. We need to be there for the full 100%. We need to be part of the conversation that takes place online,” Gutierrez believes.

Kelley agrees and adds: “When I think of omni-channel, I think of leveraging our footprint. No, we can never wash a dog online, but we can bring services and people and their pets together on our platform. If we understand the customer journey, we can use online to get people into our stores. We should own the entire eco-system around pets. And that includes online.”

Pritchard concludes: “It has always been the case that specialty stores have to work harder to reinvent tomorrow. The thing is, your strategy might be perfect, but life is imperfect. Change is part of life. The needs of pets haven’t changed, consumers have. The only way in which we can respond to insecurity is by constantly asking if we are doing what the customer wants. How can you create value? Are you doing the right things in the right way?”

Dave Bolen

Board member and advisor to leading companies in the pet industry.

Alvaro Gutierrez

CEO of Spanish pet store chain Kiwoko, the largest chain of pet care specialty retail stores in Spain.

Lionel Desclée

Owner and CEO of Tom&Co. The company has franchise and company-owned stores in Belgium, France and Luxembourg.

Peter Pritchard

CEO Retail of Pets at Home. The company aims to deliver the best pet experience through an integrated retail and services offer. It operates

the UK’s largest small animal veterinary business.

Dean Kelley

Vice President of Pets Walmart eCommerce.

In the US, Walmart has more than 5,000 stores and clubs nationwide. 

Alfred Glander

Former CEO Fressnapf | Maxi Zoo with over 1,400 stores in eleven European countries.

In today’s fast-changing retail environment, there is not one retailer who is not being impacted by the disruptive market. The question is how challenges – within an ever-growing and ever more competitive pet market – can be turned into opportunities. 

Alvaro Gutierrez, CEO of leading Spanish pet retailer Kiwoko, expects his company to continue to benefit from a booming pet market. “We are seeing a shift from smaller retailers to bigger chains such as ours, and to our online channel. Although, there is increased competition from supermarkets, who are becoming ever-more savvy in the pet category. Our biggest concern is how to make sure we stay on top of e-commerce developments,” Gutierrez characterises the challenges in the Spanish pet retail market.