Child of sorrow

What we asked:1 How do you assess the general development of aquatics?2 What trends are you currently seeing in aquatics?3 What action can the speciality trade and industry take to increase the sales of aquatics products?Ibrahim Mefire Koutou, head of marketing & product management, Eheim (Germany):The general development of aquatics is declining year by year. We recommend that the industry supports young people and mostly the beginners in this hobby. Also we need to work closer with fishkeeping clubs to come up with products that fit the needs of fishkeepers and make this hobby easier. Developing long-lasting and good working products is the key to stopping this negative trend in this fascinating hobby.In recent years, the trend has definitively gone in the direction of smaller aquariums and saltwater aquariums. We developed a new filter series, therefore, according to the motto: The smaller the aquarium, the bigger the filter.To increase the sales of aquatics products, all the key players in this market have to do all in their power in their operating sectors to make this fascinating and beautiful hobby easy and attractive to beginners and young people. One way should be connecting this hobby to computer systems.Mantzouranis Mantzouranakis, CEO, Pet City (Greece):In Greece, aquatics have shown a downward trend in sales mainly due to the financial downturn that has depleted the country. I think that aquatics will get a lot of interest in the future, for two major reasons: on the one hand, aquariums - although they can be quite cheap - provide consumers with a sense of relaxation, and on the other hand aquarium maintenance does not require a lot of time or money.As far as trends are concerned, I have traced two: the tendency to put real accessories (real plants, avoidance of plastic toys) into aquariums and a strong preference for big aquariums that can host a large variety of fishes.Aquatics are in great need of promotional activities not only with the aim of informing clients about aspects of aquariums but also to convince them to purchase them. These promotions can be in-store demonstrations of products, reduced prices, after-sales service, guarantees with aquariums and bundling of products (with the purchase of fish the consumer can get a free sample of fish food). Finally, trained personnel along with the constant renewal of aquatics products will make the fans of aquatics even more enthusiastic and will transform potential customers into actual…