Does it feel like your pet store is missing something?
Most pet stores stock pet food, toys, and accessories like harnesses and collars — but some have expanded their offerings with pet services like grooming, training, and pet day care. These services bring in additional revenue and allow pet stores to better serve their customers.
By offering services, your store can become a one-stop shop that meets all of your customers’ pet needs. The convenience of getting everything from one store increases customer satisfaction and builds loyalty. Pet stores that offer services stand out among the competition.
In this blog, we’ll go over seven types of pet services you can add to your pet store to improve your customers’ experience and increase sales.
Let’s dive in.
There are a variety of types of pet services you can offer at your store. Before you do, research what pet services are most in demand with your local target audience. To get started, you can try conducting a survey among your customers to see what services they might be interested in. Here’s a list of popular pet services to consider offering.
Regular grooming keeps pets clean, healthy, and looking their best. Dog owners who take their dog to be professionally groomed do so five times a year on average — and you can capture this demand by including this type of service in your business model. Offer services like pet bathing, haircuts, nail trimming, and ear cleaning. You can also design bundles with multiple services in one.
To create a good experience for customers and their pets, make sure you have the right equipment and qualified personnel.
Stock up on grooming items like these:
Keep plenty of each item on hand so you’re prepared if one gets lost, damaged, or stops working. It’s important to hire professional groomers who have extensive experience and can provide exceptional service to your customers and their pets.
Training classes improve a pet’s quality of life and make it easier for owners to care for their pet. Dogs can be taught a variety of skills over the course of several training sessions. When customers bring their pets in for multiple training classes and have a positive experience, they develop loyalty to your brand.
Hire professional, certified trainers with proven track records. Research the skills pet owners are most interested in and offer them. Some of these include basic commands, house training, and calm interactions with pets and humans.
Digital systems can help manage these classes. Modern point of sale (POS) systems offer features to schedule classes, register attendees online, and send out reminder messages to prevent missed appointments. You can also use POS systems to promote your classes through social media content, as well as text and email messages.
Related Read: What’s the Best Pet Services Scheduling Software? 7 Options
Another type of service to consider offering in your pet store is animal medical care. You can do this by partnering with a licensed veterinarian. When a customer can take their pet to the vet at the same location where they buy other supplies, they’re more likely to choose your store over another medical center.
Work with a professional veterinarian to offer basic services like checkups and vaccinations. If you choose to provide veterinary support at your pet store, set up a dedicated space that’s separate from the rest of your store. This gives medical professionals the environment they need to deliver high-quality care.
Many pet stores partner with local animal shelters to host in-store pet adoption events. This is a great way to find homes for sheltered pets and serve the community. If you’re going to host a pet adoption event, work closely with animal shelter staff on logistics to make sure interested customers can follow the proper procedures as they adopt their new pets.
Before hosting a pet adoption event, confirm that your store has enough space for the staff from both organizations, your customers, and the animals. If needed, temporarily rearrange your store so everyone fits comfortably. Prepare your staff to help where needed.
To increase the effectiveness of these events, promote them thoroughly, both online and in the community. Post content on social media to let pet owners know where and when the event is taking place, and create flyers and posters you can set up locally. The more people hear about the event, the higher the attendance, and the more pets find homes.
Related Read: How To Host Pet Store Events: 7 Tips for Success
Sometimes pet owners need a place to leave their pets while they’re away — and they prefer to leave them somewhere where they know they can be fed, walked, and cared for. Consider offering pet boarding for customers going on trips or pet day care for those at work. If there’s enough demand locally, these types of service can bring in steady revenue for your business.
Be sure to create a safe and comfortable environment for pets, separate from the rest of your store. Hire qualified staff who are prepared to care for multiple animals at once and give each one sufficient attention.
By offering pet nutrition counseling, you raise awareness of proper nutrition habits among your customers, improve pets’ lives, and boost pet food sales.
To provide these services, you need to hire a pet nutritionist or become one yourself. Becoming an entry-level pet nutrition coach is a relatively quick and inexpensive process that can be completed online. Once you or your employee is certified, you can begin offering one-on-one consultations with customers and making recommendations about pet nutrition.
As you learn more about pet nutrition, you may decide you need to expand the pet food options you have, including premium and organic options. This allows you to make better recommendations to customers while increasing sales of pet food at your store.
Related Read: 10 Unique Pet Business Ideas To Increase Sales
Your customers love taking pictures of their pets — and with them, too. By setting up some simple backgrounds and lighting and finding a photographer, you can start charging customers for pet photo shoots.
You can hire a photographer, learn the skill yourself, or train your employees to take pictures of pets with or without their owners. By acquiring a few simple props and costumes, you can make pet photo shoots even more fun. Offer several photo packages for customers to choose from and promote this type of service both in store and on social media.
Related Read: Social Media Marketing for Pet Stores: 15 Creative Ideas
Adding services to your pet store’s day-to-day operations boosts sales and increases customer loyalty — but introducing multiple types of pet services may seem overwhelming. If so, start with one service, and if it’s successful, roll out more. As you offer high-quality and convenient pet services, your customers start to depend on your store for all their pet’s needs.
To successfully launch these services, you need a robust digital system. Modern POS systems are equipped to help retail stores with this. And for the most applicable features, you need a system built just for the pet industry.
eTailPet is an all-in-one, cloud-based POS solution designed specifically for pet stores. It has both general and pet-specific features to help you manage your entire store — including any services you offer. Scheduling tools help you register your customers for services and organize all of your appointments. You can also keep a record of your customers and use the system to market your services through email, SMS text, and social media.
To see the difference eTailPet can make for your pet store, schedule a demo today!