Pet’s Place going into e-commerce

Last spring, the IJsvogel Group moved its head office from Nijmegen to Ede, where it is now located under the same roof as its cooperative partner Agri Retail and the purchasing organisation Buying4Pets, which Agri Retail and the IJsvogel Group operate jointly. Its 36 000 m² logistics centre houses a range of over 8 500 pet products. In future these will be sold not only in the Pet’s Place stores, but also in the group’s online shop. The IJsvogel Group is investing over € 1.5 mio in equipping the shop and advertising it, as well as on the new online team. Director Ard Malenstein expects Pet’s Place to make its e-commerce debut in February. The company is aiming to regain market share that has been lost to online retailing in the last few months, for a survey of Pet’s Place customers has shown that 25 per cent of them would now also buy pet products on the Internet. In contrast to its competitors, Pet’s Place is opting to network the online shop closely with its bricks-and-mortar stores. Many Pet’s Place stores stock a range comprising only around 2 000 products, on account of their fairly small retail areas. Customers won’t have to miss out on these products in future, though; they can be ordered online in store from Pet’splace.nl via a touch screen and paid for in the store. Goods can either be collected from the store or delivered to the door. Ard Malenstein believes that “the stores will benefit from the online shop”, referring to a survey of Pet’s Place customers that indicates that cross-channel shoppers spend 40 per cent more than other shoppers. Franchisees of Pet’s Place should naturally also benefit from this. They should also share in the profit from the online shop in future, moreover. A uniform line is to be taken with regard to prices in the bricks-and-mortar outlets and the online shop; the sales prices in the online shop should not differ from those in the stores, even in promotions. More contact with the consumers As well as featuring a wide, in-depth range of products, the company’s website should not be short on information for pet owners. The web pages should offer plenty of information about different pets, including product information, tips for solving problems and video films to watch. The aim is to consolidate contact with the consumers, in order to understand their needs better and to satisfy these accordingly through an increased service offering. Pet’s Place is also working hard to increase its familiarity among consumers. Its…