A new pet world

Megazoo 2.0, as the managing partner of Megazoo Management GmbH terms the new generation of Megazoo stores, is regarded as the logical development of the present Megazoo world and the store advances in the Welke Group. “The best of both worlds, coupled with the latest market trends,” is how Thomas Brill describes the project. Megazoo has been divided optically into a black and a white world, as Thomas Brill puts it. This move is based on the view that aquarium and terrarium enthusiasts differ considerably from other pet owners in terms of their needs and their expectations of a pet store. The white world means bright, friendly shelves combined with natural wood in a modern style, white walls and upbeat messages on a white background. In the black world, on other hand, dark hues predominate on the walls, message media and shelving elements. Themed areas A fundamentally different approach has also been taken to the entire retail layout. Instead of the familiar brand blocks, transparently organised, themed areas present products not by brand name but according to their function. Thomas Brill’s aim in adopting this approach is that shopping should be more fun. Customers should come across new products, above all ones that are beneficial to them, thereby substantially increasing the time they spend in the store. Products aren’t simply placed on the shelves. If they are innovative, the presentation highlights this: special signs, high-grade wooden shelving or targeted lighting are used. Range strategy The new range and advisory strategy classifies all products into four different areas. The first is a basic range with no special presentation. The second is a featured product assortment comprising products that offer a special benefit and yield particularly high margins. Targeted positioning and advertising is used to draw customer attention to this range. A third supplementary range covers interesting items and brands that the customer doesn’t necessarily expect, but which have a certain distinctive feature. Finally, there are seasonal articles and impulse buys, which are only stocked for a limited period. The store sells a wide range of accessory products. With a calculated share of sales of 65 per cent, non-food items assume a high priority. Where pet sales enclosures are concerned, the aquatics department has undergone the biggest change compared with the previous Megazoo concept. Although the aquarium wall still exists, the focus is on 96 individual tanks…