Speciality trade under the spotlight

The bare statistics alone of the company established by Bonnik Hansen in 1974 are pretty impressive: around 5 000 pet product retailers in Germany are supplied with over 6 500 items for dogs, cats, birds, fish and reptiles. The company has a permanent workforce of over 300 people and 70 temporary staff. Employees are trained in seven different occupations. 25 people are employed in the field sales team and two merchandisers look after customers in Germany and Austria. Six further employees handle direct distribution in England and nine take care of the French market. The entire product range is exported to more than 70 countries, and all logistics and order processing are dealt with by Trixie's head office in Tarp.
Secret of success
"We have always invested a lot in key areas like product development and logistics," managing director Volker Haak told PET worldwide. Trixie has always wanted to set itself clearly apart from its European competitors through its in-house product development and individual product design. Around 15 per cent of the products are replaced every year. "With our modern logistics we offer our customers a consistently high level of service in terms of ability to deliver and fast delivery times," Haak emphasises.
In product development, new trends are recognised and the assortment is subjected to continuous scrutiny, but not just with reference to general market data: a critical eye is cast over the range even within the product groups. For example, products in the cat category now include items for older or larger cats too.

Volker Haak regards specialist retailers as an important pillar of the company's business, but is also well aware of the opportunities and risks of the burgeoning online trade. "When online shopping started we noticed that there are products that lend themselves especially to the online trade, often because they are not presented or explained suitably in bricks-and-mortar stores."
International appeal
Trixie exports to 70 countries and has an excellent reputation internationally. Export sales are approaching 50 per cent. Apart from its direct distribution to Austria, France and England, the company's top export markets are Italy, Spain, eastern Europe and Scandinavia. Trixie has even extended its…