Ideas, innovations and new potential

At the next Heimtier-Kongress, industry experts will learn how the pet sector can actively confront the changes that are currently taking place. The shock that the boom in online trade gave to the pet sector a few years ago and which even provided the title for one Heimtier-Kongress has long since been overcome. Retailers and manufacturers have reoriented themselves and are meeting the new challenges of the Internet age with new verve and new solutions. 
Not all the concepts that have since been developed have worked at the first attempt. A lot of experimentation is still going on, but some ideas have succeeded. Above all, it is to be welcomed that the pet sector has learned how to strike out in new directions in the last few years.

"Ideas, Innovations and New Potential" is the title of the next Heimtier-Kongress, and it is set to be a conference of optimism. Representatives of the pet sector and other branches of the economy will show with reference to selected examples how success can be achieved even in the Internet era. The message to be communicated is that companies that set themselves up in a genuine manner and are geared to the customer have good prospects for the future. And companies that become successfully established in a niche market will also be among the future winners.
Example 1: It is often said that large-format stores are no longer viable in the pet supplies trade. Matthias Pohl, managing partner of Kölle Zoo, contends that this isn't the case. In the last year he has invested considerably in his themed stores to make them more attractive and to differentiate them from the competition. Matthias Pohl's courage in launching a quality offensive at a time of shrinking retail areas and smaller pet departments has paid off: the company is seeing an above-average increase in sales and customer numbers are growing.
Example 2: Sensing what customers want and satisfying these demands is a recipe for success in virtually every sector and one that Kochhaus has implemented logically. The company recognised that cookery shows are booming, but that many people who want to cook encounter problems back at the stage of buying the ingredients. Kochhaus has opened food stores, therefore, which are organised by recipe rather than by product group. Company founder and managing director Ramin Goo will talk about the ideas behind this extraordinary concept and the exemplary product presentation in the stores.
Example 3: Innovation is a growth…