The popularity of subscription services has increased significantly over the past decade.
Subscription services reportedly grew by more than 435% over the past 9 years, and the average American now has 4.5 subscriptions, paying an average of $924 per year for all of them combined. This has affected many different industries, including entertainment, food, and yes, even the pet industry.
Pet subscription boxes are a popular trend, and subscriptions can also be offered for pet services like grooming, training, and walking — these subscriptions help small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) by increasing customer loyalty and generating recurring revenue.
In this blog, we’ll take you step by step through the process of setting up subscription services, so you can increase sales at your small pet store.
1. Understand Pet Subscription Services
With a subscription model, a customer pays a fixed, recurring amount for recurring products or services. Customers can typically cancel their subscription whenever they wish, which is called churn. If you do offer subscriptions, you want to maximize your number of subscribers while minimizing churn, so you can generate the greatest amount of revenue.
Pet product subscriptions offer customers pet food, toys, or accessories on a recurring basis. A popular new offering from pet retailers is a pet subscription box — for a recurring fee, customers receive a monthly box with an assortment of pet food, toys, and accessories. Some of these subscription box providers change the items each month, so the customer never knows exactly what they’ll receive.
Grooming services are another popular recurring subscription. Groomers offer pet services like bathing, hair and tail trimming, and more. A recurring pet grooming appointment gives pet owners peace of mind because they know their pet will always have a well-kept appearance and their health will be cared for.
Pet training is important to ensure pets are well-behaved and safe. To completely train a pet takes a series of sessions that take weeks or months, which makes a subscription service a good fit.
If you can successfully launch a subscription service and attain enough subscribers to be profitable, you create a recurring stream of revenue that can support your business over the long term. And if a customer has a good experience with the subscription over time, they’ll be more likely to stay with your business instead of going to a competitor.
2. Plan Your Pet Subscription Services
As you plan your subscription services, remember to offer unique products and services, consider your audience’s preferences, and set clear goals.
As subscription services become more popular, it’s even more important to set your products and services apart from the competition. Brainstorm a unique selling point (USP) that makes your subscription service stand out. This might include using high-quality grooming products or the most effective pet training techniques. You can also offer unique pet snacks in your subscription boxes.
As you determine what your USP is, think about your customer base and what they value. If they want organic dog food, for example, offer organic options as part of your subscription boxes. You can even conduct a survey and ask customers which products and services they would be most likely to subscribe to.
When you implement subscription services at your pet store, you may not know exactly what to expect — but it’s important to estimate how many subscribers you’ll have and set goals for these services. Surveys can help you understand what portion of your customer base is interested in these services, so you can set a budget and calculate how much profit you stand to make.
Related Read: 10 Bestselling Dog Products To Stock in Your Pet Store
3. Set Up Your Subscription Services
The best way to manage pet subscription services is with a modern point of sale (POS) system. Look for a POS system with features for scheduling appointments and taking automatic, recurring payments. Some systems even send reminder texts to your customers so they don’t forget when their grooming or training sessions are.
Make the sign-up process as easy as possible so customers can simply and quickly subscribe. You should also make canceling easy to reduce customer frustration and make them more likely to return.
An effective POS system also offers features to help you manage subscription services, including inventory management and e-commerce capabilities. But before you launch subscription services, ensure you have the structure and processes in place to create a great experience for your customers.
Make sure your customers have a way to contact you when issues arise, too. If there’s a problem with a shipment or an appointment is scheduled incorrectly, do your best to resolve the issue. When you go above and beyond to resolve a customer’s issues, they’ll be more likely to continue subscribing to a service.
Related Read: How To Choose a Pet Store POS System
4. Market Your Subscription Services
Don’t forget to engage in marketing efforts to get the word out about your subscription services. You can create awareness for these services through a variety of methods. Post photos and videos on social media platforms to show customers what they’ll receive from subscription boxes, and give them an introduction to training and grooming sessions. Advertise with targeted emails and in-store displays, too.
You can also boost your social media strategy by collaborating with pet-related individuals and organizations.
Consider partnering with organizations and individuals like:
- Veterinarian clinics
- Animal shelters
- Pet influencers
- Pet supply brands
Partnering with these collaborators helps you promote your subscription services to a wider audience. As you promote the services of another organization, they’ll promote you, elevating the reach of both collaborators.
Many subscription services offer a free trial to draw in customers. With a free trial, a customer might receive one box or one training session. If they have a great experience with the service, they’re likely to subscribe.
Related Read: 4 Pet Store Marketing Ideas To Boost Business
5. Analyze and Adapt Your Subscription Model
It’s important to track your subscriber numbers and revenue to determine how successful your subscriptions are over time. Use subscription data to find insights that can improve your strategy — as numbers fluctuate, determine which factors lead to churn and to subscriber growth. You can also ask customers for feedback about their experiences with subscriptions.
Do your research about new trends in the pet industry that you can implement in your subscription services. Look for new pet food, toys, accessories, grooming supplies, or training methods that can help you compete in the industry. As you do, you’ll build trust with current customers and find new ones.
Related Read: Pet Retail Industry Trends To Watch in 2024
6. Follow Laws and Regulations
Be sure to do your research on laws and regulations regarding subscriptions before you begin offering them to customers. These rules vary depending on your region, so look at local and national regulations.
There are also regulations when it comes to pet care. Make sure to hire certified and qualified pet groomers and trainers to ensure you’re providing the best service to your customers. While it can be helpful to collect data about your customers for communications and strategic purposes, that data must be handled in the right way to comply with privacy laws.
Related Read: What License Do I Need To Open a Pet Store?
How To Automate Pet Subscription Services With eTailPet
Subscriptions have become one of the most popular strategies to grow a small business. By successfully planning and implementing a subscription model, you can gain more customers, cultivate customer loyalty, and increase revenue and profit.
As you roll out your pet subscription services, pay attention to how these services are doing and seek customer feedback. Adjust your strategy over time to better serve your customers and give them a great experience. If your subscription services are successful, you can expand your efforts to offer more products and services for a wider audience.
But to manage these operations, you need a POS system. eTailPet is a cloud-based POS platform designed specifically for pet stores. With features like inventory management, payment processing, service scheduling, and e-commerce, you have everything you need to successfully launch subscription services and manage the many other operations of your business.
To see what eTailPet can do for your pet store, schedule a demo today!
