Das Futterhaus goes digital

With the new online shop, the family-run franchise is continuing its transformation into an omni-channel retailer. The cross-channel shopping experience serves as a customer-focused complement to strengthen the core business and increase brand awareness, also with a view to further expansion. However, bricks and mortar stores will continue to be the main focus. “With the opening of our online shop, we are expanding our traditional points of contact and fulfilling our customers’ wish to be able to shop with us in the digital world as well,“ explains managing director Kristof Eggerstedt.

Following the digitalisation of customer communication over the past two years, the online shop is the next step in this direction. “The aim is to bind customers even more closely to our brand and win back online sales lost to competitors.“ With over 440 stores in Germany and Austria, Das Futterhaus is one of the largest pet retailers in these countries. The Austrian market will also be connected to the online shop soon, but the date is not yet known, said a company spokeswoman.

The opening of the online shop comes at a time when growth in bricks-and-mortar retail is becoming increasingly difficult. For the first time in Germany, Das Futterhaus has not grown, but presents the results for the financial year 2024 with almost stable sales. The franchise company ended the year with a total system turnover of 577 mio euros. Despite challenging economic times, the balance sheet is only 0.6 per cent down on the previous year. The stores in Austria grew slightly by 0.6 per cent to 57.7 mio euros. In Germany, sales of 519.3 mio euros were generated, which corresponds to a decrease of 0.7 per cent compared to the previous year.

The company is confident about the year 2025. Managing Director Kristof Eggerstedt, responsible for marketing and corporate development, explains: “The investments in our company’s digital infrastructure will enable efficiency gains for our bricks-and-mortar stores. The further development of our business into an omnichannel retailer opens up new contact points for much more targeted and intensive customer communication and activation.”