Every business experiences seasonal fluctuations, and pet stores are no exception.
Sales can shift due to changes in the weather, holidays, or local events like pet adoption drives. If you don’t plan for these ebbs and flows, you might end up with overstocked supplies or sold-out products — both of which can strain your cash flow.
Unexpected rises and dips can also affect staffing, marketing, and other aspects of your store. Making small adjustments in advance helps you save money during slower periods and maximize sales in seasonal rushes.
In this blog, we’ll walk through five practical strategies to forecast seasonal changes in sales accurately and use that information to boost revenue.
Let’s get started.
Perhaps you’re preparing for a holiday sales spike. You anticipate higher demand, so you order more of all your products. But while treats, toys, and collars sell quickly, pet food sales increase only slightly, leaving you with extra perishable stock that has to be discounted to move.
If you looked closer at your past sales details rather than just broad trends, you could make more nuanced adjustments that better fit customer demand.
To access detailed sales information, you need digital tools that are built for the task. Many modern point of sale (POS) systems track sales data and offer customizable views, letting you dig into specific products and time periods to spot trends you might otherwise miss.
Related Read: POS for Pet Store: 6 Top Providers
It’s helpful to notice changes in revenue, but it’s even more valuable to understand what’s causing them.
One day at the pet store, you realize you’re out of flea and tick prevention chewables. You weren’t planning to place another order for a few weeks, but demand suddenly spiked — seemingly out of nowhere.
A closer look at your sales data shows the same increase occurred around this time last year. If you noticed this pattern earlier, you could have placed a larger order and met demand more effectively.
The longer you run your business, the easier it becomes to recognize why sales of specific products rise and fall.
General seasonal upticks for pet stores include:
Here are common sales dips for pet stores:
Understanding the reasons behind sales changes helps you predict fluctuations more accurately and plan inventory accordingly.
Despite your best efforts, you’ll likely run out of certain products at some point. Prepare for these moments to avoid unhappy customers. If a shopper asks one of your employees when a specific type of collar will be back in stock and the employee doesn’t have an answer, the shopper will likely look for it elsewhere.
When a stockout like this happens, one solution is to determine the best replacement for the item you’re out of. For example, if one of your cat food brands sells out, recommend a similar product instead.
Or, if the customer isn’t willing to buy a different item, you can offer to special-order it for them. When a customer feels you’ve gone the extra mile to provide them with the item their pet needs, it strengthens their loyalty to your business.
Many POS systems also allow you to set low-stock alerts. You can set a minimum desired count, and when it’s reached, it reminds you to place a new order. For fast sellers, you can set an automatic reorder point. When the minimum is reached, the system orders for you. These features help you prepare your inventory levels in advance, so you don’t run out of popular products and lose sales.
Related Read: 10 Popular Pet Food Brands Your Customers Will Love
Do you ever find there aren’t enough employees during a rush — or too many on a slow afternoon? Adjusting staff levels based on customer volume helps you save money on employee payroll and avoid overworking your team.
Analyze POS data to identify the times of day and week with the highest transaction volume. Many retail stores find they make more sales in the evenings or on the weekends. If that’s the case, schedule more associates during those peak periods. When visitors are few and far between, assign a lighter team to manage the store. Be sure to schedule additional staff during seasonal rushes as well.
Maybe around Halloween, you host a pet costume contest in your store. If you’re expecting a lot of visitors, schedule your full team to help out. If you don’t assign enough employees during busy periods like this, lines form at the register and wait times increase. You may even miss sales from customers who aren’t willing to stick around.
Related Read: Pet Store Employee Training: 6 Critical Topics
Promotional efforts can help you maximize sales during busy occasions and maintain momentum when sales dip.
In slow seasons, use targeted marketing to bring existing customers back by promoting essential products. You can also highlight new or unique items that draw shoppers into the store. As seasonal demand ramps up, focus on promoting products that historically sell best to boost revenue.
Many POS platforms allow you to send personalized text and email campaigns using data from customer profiles.
If you can see that a specific customer frequently buys dog treats, you can send them an email when a new shipment arrives or when you stock a new brand. Targeted marketing messages like these capture customer attention far more effectively than generic ones.
When it comes to forecasting sales, a little extra effort can lead to a big payoff. Anticipating seasonal shifts and paying attention to past trends helps you make smarter decisions about ordering, staffing, and marketing.
When you place strategic orders, you can avoid both overstock and stockouts — keeping your customers and their pets happy.
Digital systems have made it easier to track and analyze your data. eTailPet is a cloud-based POS solution that offers extensive sales reports. You can customize views to monitor trends for specific products or time periods.
eTailPet connects you to vendor catalogs, so you can find the best inventory for your pet store. It’s also equipped with general retail features like payment processing, inventory management, and e-commerce. With our all-in-one POS solution, you’ll be prepared for any busy season that comes your way.
At eTailPet, we want to help you get the features you need at a price you can afford. Check out our Build and Price tool to see which plan is right for your pet store!