Pet retailers turn to FMCG executives to strengthen omnichannel transformation

European supermarket chains operate within a grocery sector worth about €1.7 trillion ($1.97T) and growing at roughly 3% annually, according to IBISWorld.

This strength has not gone unnoticed in the pet retail sector, where companies are turning to fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) retailers to support their growth ambitions and operate more effectively in an increasingly demanding environment.

One of the latest examples is UK-based Pets at Home. The pet retailer, amid the steady decline of its retail business, appointed James Bailey as CEO, who started his tenure at the end of March. Bailey comes from British premium supermarket chain Waitrose, whose sales grew 7% in 2025. 

Matt Simister, previously at supermarket chain Tesco, took over as CEO of Fressnapf in September. In October, Italian Arcaplanet appointed Guillaume Seneclauze as its new CEO, with experience at Carrefour and Monoprix. 

And German online player Zooplus followed, naming Lionel Desclée as CEO after serving as a non-executive board member at the Belgian pet retailer Tom&Co for 9 years and President and CEO of Walmart Japan for 2.5 years. 

The rise of omnichannel

Integration between online and offline retail is emerging as a key focus for pet specialty CEOs recruited from supermarket groups, of whom two spoke to GlobalPETS about the issue.

To Jean Richard de Latour, CEO of Belgian retailer Tom&Co and former Carrefour executive, this shift also reflects a deep transformation in customers’ needs toward a streamlined experience, both online and in person.

“I think what successful retailers do is they make it really easy for customers to shop, with basic navigation, segmentation and customer assistance,” Fressnapf’s Matt Simister agrees.

The increase in proximity and convenience also comes into play. “In hypermarkets, for instance, these stores have a role in the community that is pretty similar to what can be expected from a specialty shop. So convenience is a focus,” adds Latour.

The CEO of Tom&Co helped create Carrefour’s city formats in Romania years ago, and he used that experience to support the launch of Tom&Co’s first urban store in Brussels earlier this year. Fressnapf also launched its first city locations in November 2025 and plans to expand to at least 4 new cities soon.

Store execution

At a time when pet supply prices continue to face upward pressure, improving in-store experience and execution is key.

“Executives from broader retail sectors like Matt help us improve processes, expand internationally, and apply best practices in supply chain, pricing, and customer experience,” Fressnapf | Maxi Zoo group tells GlobalPETS. 

This includes category management, pricing architecture and assortment optimization, areas where FMCG retailers have long-established expertise.

“We have, in general, medium-sized or sometimes tiny shops. We need to optimize each square meter by using sales data to tailor assortments in each location based on product performance,” Jean Richard de Latour explains, pointing to the need to balance international, national, local and private label brands within a coherent pricing strategy to serve local customer needs.

Limited standardization

Both CEOs emphasize that all optimizations should be made without losing sight of specialization. 

For Latour, pet retailers should be “super cautious” about importing bad recipes from FMCG retail.

“It’s good to standardize our back-office processes. We are working on this. But it’s not okay to have an anonymous customer experience in our shops. We are building exactly the opposite value proposition,” he concludes.