Pet Product News Editorial Blog:
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Building Your Website
By Carol Boker
Editor in Chief of Pet Product News International and Pet Style News
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Forester Research Inc. recently completed its Shop.org study on the State of Retailing Online 2008. The results of the study concluded that by 2012, the online retail sales growth of pet supplies should triple from what it was in 2007, from $1.1 billion to $3.4 billion. The report says that it will outpace overall online retail sales growth, which is expected to double in that same timeframe.
In our recent State of the Industry survey for 2007/2008 we reported that 50 percent of the almost 500 respondents that sell pet supplies indicated that they did not have a website. Of those who did, 41 percent use it for information about products and services, while 16 percent have the ability to purchase products and services online.
So how does this affect brick and mortar stores? Should they be moving toward building a website for their business? And, if so, should they use it to complement their store or to do more?
As a person of the Baby Boomer generation, which many pet store owners are also, the biggest issue would be where to begin. There are many questions retailers need to ask themselves and learn more about as they move toward selling products on a website. Not only does the site have to be built with the creative flair to get Internet surfers to enjoy it, but they also need to learn how to market the site to make customers become loyal to it. This all seems mind boggling to those of us who never had to deal with the Internet. That’s the way I feel about our website and how to make it most effective for our retailers and others in the pet industry.
Perhaps the answer is hiring Gen Yers, those who have grown up with the Internet and can relate to it and know what works and how other surfers can find it. With the knowledge the older crowd of retailers has about pet products and what customers want and the knowledge the younger generation has about the Net, it may be a partnership that is well worth pursuing to take that next step for the business.
Stay tuned to Pet Product News International. I just realize if I don’t know where to start with all of this, many others of you are in the same boat. We will be announcing a new column soon that will give all of us the aide we need.
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