The quality of your pet store’s e-commerce website plays an integral role in your business’ long-term success.
But here’s the challenge: You need to create an e-commerce site that actually turns visitors into customers.
To do this, you need a comprehensive e-commerce strategy. Determine what products you’ll sell, how your website will be set up, how you’ll execute shipping and delivery, and how you’ll handle customer service.
It may seem overwhelming, but in this blog, we’ll go step by step through the process of planning and implementing your pet store e-commerce website — plus, we’ll explore the five top options for point of sale (POS) providers with integrated e-commerce platforms.
1. Understand the Importance of E-Commerce in the Pet Industry
The days of competing with other pet stores strictly based on in-store sales are coming to a close. Those who add the web to their business’ offering expand their customer base, capture more market share, and build customer loyalty.
Some pet stores have completely shifted online, while others maintain a hybrid online/offline business model. A polished site can function on its own or reinforce offline business for a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts.
2. Start With Research and Market Analysis
As you create your e-commerce strategy, it’s important to develop buyer personas to understand your customers. Start with general pet owner personas, and then consider what makes your customers different.
Does your store have a certain pet niche? Which dog breeds are the most common in your region, and do your customers have unique pet product preferences? Do they prioritize low prices for pet food or are they willing to spend more for high-quality, organic products? Questions like these help you get to know your customers.
Review your current customer demographic information and gather new information to develop detailed buyer personas. If you haven’t yet collected information about your current and past customers, now’s the time. To learn more about your customer base, you can:
- Look at data about which products customers are buying.
- Conduct surveys.
- Interview customers.
- Collect information for raffles or sweepstakes.
- Collect information for email newsletter subscriptions.
But understanding your current customer base is only half the battle in identifying the target market. Pet ownership trends matter, too — which means you need to keep your finger on the pulse of pet food and pet toy industry trends. Get a sense of which types of pets are being adopted at high rates and continue to identify niche markets as they arise.
When in doubt, take a look at what the competition is doing. Though it’s in your interest to distinguish your website from your competitors, you can learn a few things from competing websites. Surf the web over to other pet store sites, take notes, and implement improvements to your site using the competition as inspiration.
And if you notice competing sites are similar to your own, seize the opportunity to differentiate your site from the rest in creative ways.
Related Read: 10 Pet Spending Statistics You Need To Know
3. Plan Your Pet Store E-Commerce Website
The plan you develop for your e-commerce pet store site is just as important as any other step in the process. Invest your time in the planning stage, and focus on establishing a clear brand identity online.
Your business’ logo and website design contribute to its brand identity. When you have a well-designed logo and stylish website with bright, recognizable colors, customers are more likely to recall your brand and choose it over competitors.
Present your pet store to online shoppers with a consistent brand voice and message. Continue to add to and enhance your online content and you’ll develop greater brand loyalty.
4. Design an Intuitive and Engaging User Experience
A pet store e-commerce website needs both a polished design and a convenient user experience to be successful. Make sure your website is easy to navigate with clear labels and intuitive controls. Highlight your top products on your site’s homepage and make it easy to search through your online inventory.
Mobile responsiveness is also key as people continue to gravitate away from traditional desktop computers to laptops, tablets, smartphones, and other mobile web-connected computing devices. In fact, nearly 60% of all online traffic now occurs on mobile devices. Google’s search algorithms favor websites that are mobile responsive, so making sure your website is optimized for mobile can help you greatly increase its reach.
Make sure to test your pet store e-commerce website on multiple mobile devices to ensure the site’s pages look good, load quickly, and have functional navigation.
5. Ensure a Simple Checkout Process
No business wants to leave money on the table due to inefficient processes. A clunky checkout process that confuses users or takes too much time deters purchases. You can boost sales by ensuring your website’s checkout process is simple, fast, and secure.
Add high-quality images, clear and accurate product names, and detailed descriptions so customers can quickly find what they’re looking for and know exactly what they’re buying. Try to eliminate redundancy and facilitate purchases in the least amount of screens possible. Be sure to use a shopping cart feature to allow customers to save items they’re considering purchasing. As you follow these best practices, you’ll see sales increase on your website.
6. Implement Marketing Strategies To Drive Traffic
Search engine optimization (SEO) is integral to pet store sales success on the web. Conduct keyword research to pinpoint the words and phrases your audience is searching for on the web, weave in those words/phrases throughout your content, and your site will move up the search engine results pages (SERPs).
SEO extends to social media. Add keywords and key phrases to your social media content. Regularly update your pages on the top platforms ranging from Facebook to Instagram to LinkedIn.
But an online monologue won’t cut it. Maintain a dialogue with your online visitors to show you care about their needs, problems, and concerns. Reinforce your online and offline marketing efforts with professionally crafted emails to keep your business top-of-mind for customers and increase sales.
Related Read: 8 Practical Pet Store Marketing Strategies
7. Provide Excellent Customer Service
A customer who can’t find answers to their questions is likely to leave your site, cancel their order, or choose a competitor. Establish reliable customer support channels and be diligent in responding to customer questions quickly and respectfully.
You can offer customer support through the following channels:
- Telephone
- Emails
- Text messaging
- Online chats
When you take customer concerns seriously and go above and beyond to resolve them, customers are more likely to return to your store. They’re also more likely to post positive reviews for your business and tell their friends. Even when you’re not sure how to resolve an issue or there are circumstances out of your control, listen to your customers’ issues and do your best to resolve problems that arise.
8. Monitor and Optimize Your E-Commerce Website
Continue to monitor and optimize your pet store e-commerce website using online analytics for performance tracking. This treasure trove of information helps pinpoint weaknesses for improvement. Use the information you find to determine which products to keep selling, which products to drop, and which similar products you might add to your store.
As you adapt your business’ online offering to what your customers and their pets need, you’ll attract more customers and boost your bottom line.
Related Read: How To Start an Online Pet Boutique: 7 Steps to Success
9. Investigate Top Pet E-Commerce Providers
You need a POS system to help you offer online purchasing and shipping to your customers. There are a variety of options on the market. Investigate your options and determine which has the features your business needs. Our top picks include:
- eTailPet: This system was designed specifically for pet stores and is equipped with pet-specific features like services scheduling, as well as general POS features.
- Square: This is a versatile system that can be used for a variety of industries. It offers a straightforward, intuitive interface and tools to build a professional website.
- Shopify: This system offers sophisticated e-commerce and robust inventory management.
- Lightspeed: This system offers features to create a custom online store and tools to create custom business reports.
- Clover: This system offers customizable hardware options and the ability to create detailed customer profiles.
Related Read: POS for Pet Store: 6 Top Providers
Start Your Pet Store E-Commerce Website With eTailPet
Now that you have an understanding of why e-commerce websites for pet stores are essential — and how to set one up — it’s time to take action. eTailPet is here to help you create the best possible online pet store. Our all-in-one retail POS platform is expertly crafted to help you manage all components of your pet business.
Our online pet store specialists are here to help you create your store’s e-commerce website so you can start serving more customers. To learn what eTailPet can do for your business, schedule a demo today!
