Everything You Need To Know About Pet E-Commerce

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Setting up e-commerce for your small pet store can completely transform your business.

General online retail sales more than doubled worldwide from 2017 to 2022, growing from $2.38 trillion to $5.31 trillion — and these totals are projected to continue growing steadily. Many consumers prefer online shopping due to the ease and convenience it offers.

Your brick-and-mortar pet store serves your customers locally, but is less poised to serve customers who live at a distance. By adding pet e-commerce, you greatly increase the amount of customers you can serve and the revenue your store can generate.

With sophisticated digital systems that allow you to offer your products online, process payments, facilitate pet e-commerce, and track your results, implementing e-commerce in a small business is easier than ever before. In this blog, we’ll break down everything you need to know to get started with e-commerce at your pet store.

Growth in the Pet E-Commerce Market

The market size for pet e-commerce has nearly quadrupled since 2013. With greater numbers of people owning pets and online shopping becoming more prominent, demand for online pet products is high.

A survey cited the following as top reasons why pet owners prefer to shop online:

Convenience of shopping anytime, any place
Good value
Wide product selection
Ease of price comparing online

By providing e-commerce options as part of your business model, you can capitalize on this trend and position your business for a successful future.

Setting Up Your Online Pet Store

The best way to set up an online pet store is with a robust point of sale (POS) system. eTailPet is an all-in-one POS system that offers custom website development and e-commerce services. eTailpet’s system gives users access to a variety of vendor catalogs to keep their website and shelves stocked with the best pet products.

Don’t forget these essential features when building your website:

Clear navigation: Your website should be easy to use, including large buttons, large text, and readable fonts.
Visual appeal: Use consistent colors and logos both in store and on your website to maintain brand consistency and promote brand recognition.
Location and hours: Clearly state your pet store’s location and hours of operation on your website so local customers can easily plan their trip to your store.

It’s also important to make your online pet store mobile-friendly. More and more shoppers are using their phones as opposed to desktop computers, and this leads to more mobile visitors staying on your site and making purchases.

Stocking the Virtual Shelves

To successfully launch and maintain your online pet store, you need to secure suppliers. Research multiple suppliers to determine whose prices are most affordable and whose products are the highest quality. What qualities you prioritize and which vendor or vendors you choose will depend on the type of store you want to run.

If you aim to be an affordable pet store that’s accessible for everyone, look for the suppliers with the lowest prices. If you want to be a high-end pet store with premium products, you’ll need to accept higher prices from vendors.

It’s important to develop and maintain positive relationships with vendors. Strive to clearly communicate with them and be patient when mistakes or miscommunications happen. However, if a supplier is consistently making mistakes and failing to deliver on their promises, it may be time to look elsewhere.

Effective Product Photos and Descriptions

The images and descriptions of your products that are used on your online pet store give the customer an accurate idea of what they’re buying. They should also paint the products in the best light possible.

Product Photography

Invest in high-quality photography to showcase your products. A low-quality image or the lack of an image on a product will discourage potential customers from making a purchase. Include various angles when necessary to give customers more confidence as they make purchases. You may even include videos of pets using the items.

Product Descriptions

Great product descriptions emphasize a product’s benefits and give the reader a glimpse of how a product could improve their life. When you write your product descriptions, consider your target audience, the benefit an item will bring them and their pet, and how you can best communicate that benefit.

SEO Optimization

Including commonly searched terms within these product descriptions can help your online store gain more traffic. The practice of using commonly searched terms to get your site to show up higher in search results is called search engine optimization, or SEO.

Marketing Your Online Pet Store

Once you’ve set up your online pet store, you need to get the word out. Without effective marketing, local customers may not know you have an online store, and customers who live far away are unlikely to stumble upon your business.

Social Media

One easy way to generate awareness is to take advantage of social media. Set up social media accounts for your business and create posts to make customers aware of your online store. Posts can advertise specific products or promote sales and discounts.

In-Store Advertising

You can promote your online pet store in your brick-and-mortar store. Create posters and imagery advertising your online catalog and post them around your store. If a customer can’t find something they’re looking for, let them know they can check on your website.

Online Advertising

Effective online ads generate traffic to your website, but they must be strategically placed on the right sites and platforms. Try to place ads for your online store in relevant places on the internet, like on pet-related websites or in pet-related YouTube videos.

Continually evaluate your marketing strategy and determine which strategies are working and which aren’t. Devote the majority of your efforts to the strategies that are yielding the best results.

Related Read: 7 Marketing Ideas for Pet Stores

Customer Reviews and Testimonials

Customer reviews are a powerful force in the online marketplace. Positive reviews grant you credibility and give your customers confidence as they make purchases, while negative reviews steer potential customers away. Customer testimonials — short videos in which customers discuss their positive experience with your brand — are also powerful tools to attract new customers.

Because reviews have such a strong influence on online sales, it’s important to request online reviews — especially from customers who have had a positive experience. When you ring up customers in store, politely ask them to leave an online review. Set your website up in such a way that when customers complete purchases, they are asked to leave a review. These practices will boost your review numbers.

Both reviews and testimonials should be displayed on your website and social media accounts. Seeing other happy customers can go a long way in convincing potential customers to give your products a try.

Analyzing and Optimizing Your Site

It’s important to monitor how well your pet e-commerce business is functioning. How many visitors to your online pet store end up making a purchase? How high is your sales volume from your online store, in comparison to your brick-and-mortar store? How many customers are experiencing long delays or other issues with shipping?

Measure numeric metrics with digital platforms and gather qualitative data by asking customers to leave reviews and fill out surveys. Pay attention to this data and how it changes over time. Use this data to determine which products to keep selling, remove from your store, or add to your product offerings. Strive to provide the best customer experience possible and rectify issues when they occur.

Enter the World of Pet E-Commerce With eTailPet

Operating a pet e-commerce business is a multi-faceted task that requires collaboration and attention to detail. As you add e-commerce to your small pet store, start by creating an effective website. Choose the right products for your customers and fill your site with high-quality product images and descriptions.

Get the word out about your online pet store through a variety of strategic channels, and ask your customers to do marketing for you by leaving you reviews and creating testimonials. Regularly evaluate if your e-commerce strategies are working and how you can improve.

Managing e-commerce for any business can be overwhelming — but a quality POS system lightens the load. eTailPet is a cloud-based POS system specifically designed for pet stores, and it offers a variety of e-commerce features including website development, access to vendors, shipping features, and more.

Schedule a demo today to see how you can use eTailPet to launch your pet store’s online business.