What Do Pet Owners Want For Their Pets?

TRAVEL SOLUTIONS

Pets have places to go and people to see! Just ask any pet owner and they’ll tell you the same! Sure, for the most part, a person’s cat hangs around the house and their dog doesn’t go beyond the backyard, but that doesn’t mean that these domesticated furry friends never travel far and wide with their protective owner. In fact, people bring their pets along in travel an average of three times a year. That’s a lot of travel especially if you calculate it in dog years!

Pet owners want easier ways to transport their animals, whether it means improving their system of getting their anxious cat to the vet or taking their hundred-pound dog on a cross-country flight. Both of these scenarios can be equally stressful for the pet and for the owner, which is why caring pet owners are always on the lookout for products that alleviate anxiety during travel—any kind of travel, even bringing Fido to the park across town.

Does your pet store provide specialized travel products such as portable watering containers, comfortable doggie car seats, cleaning products to manage odors from the extra-nervous animals and more products to deal with the mess that could result? What storage solutions do you offer and do they come with “doggie diaper bags” that are large enough to carry pet food, treats, wee-wee pads, and anything else a loving pet owner would want to bring along for the ride?

One caveat to be mindful of when managing your pet store and offering pet travel solutions is to anticipate that while all pet owners want to provide comfortable transport to their cats and dogs, they might not think it’s prudent to splurge on those types of items, especially if they only take Mittens to Grandma’s once a year for Christmas. How, then, can you encourage your customers to splurge in this department? By offering incentives that they can’t refuse, of course, but we won’t delve into the best strategies just yet. You’ll have to keep reading!

BETTER NUTRITION

The next critical aspect that all pet owners want for their pets is (surprise, surprise) better nutrition. These days, the general awareness about food quality and dietary must-haves has reached a nearly scientific level. Long-gone are the days when pet owners didn’t read labels to find out exactly what they’re feeding their dogs and cats. Consumers make an effort to shop organic when possible, seeking out non-GMO options and price checking to stay within their budget. If they’re doing that for themselves, you can bet they’ll go the extra mile to make sure their fur baby isn’t eating ingredients that Mother Nature never intended a dog, cat, fish, or bird to eat.

Pet owners are rapidly upgrading the food they buy for their pets. Almost everyone is looking for new ways to get quality meat, and also choice vegetables, into their pet’s diet. And this desire presents opportunities for pet retailers like yourself. If you can provide top-quality pet food brands at reasonable, competitive prices, then you will also earn your customers’ loyalty in the long run. Creating brand loyalty—to your pet store and not just the pet food companies you sell—is the fastest and most reliable way to retain customers. When customers realize that you care as much about the health and longevity of their pets as they do, they’ll keep returning to your store because they’ll feel a personal connection with you, your store, and your brand.

Remember, “nutrition” doesn’t strictly mean food, either. A whopping 32% of pet owners said that they would be interested in buying a water filtration device and food dispensers for their pets, especially when they’re not around to do the feeding directly. Fresh water and food is a must, according to most pet owners, and this means that your pet store should offer reasonably priced items in this department.

HEALTH SOLUTIONS

Forget Medicaid. Pet owners want Peticaid, or maybe they’d rather have Petocare…You get the point. Pet owners are always concerned with the health of their pets, so much so that pet healthcare and health insurance options have grown in recent years. No one wants to think about their beloved golden retriever getting hit by a car, but sadly, it happens. Pets also get cancer, depression, and even HIV, and 48% of surveyed pet owners said that if tragedy struck their dog or cat, they would pull all the stops to save their pet’s life, even if that mean maxing out credit cards.

The fact of the matter is that pets aren’t merely dogs and cats. They are members of the family, and they can also be your best friend, protector, and playmate. Who can feel healthy and happy if their pet is sick and suffering? This is why one of the aspects that pet owners want most for their pets is good health.

But how can you, as a pet retailer, provide healthcare and health insurance options to your customers? The good news is that currently there are many insurance options for pet brands and service providers, and as a pet retailer, you can tap into this relationship by volunteering as the middleman. Sell insurance plans and correlating products to your customers at the counter. Unsure of how to implement such an offering to your customer base? Don’t worry, we’ll tell you how…

Drum roll, please… You need a pet industry specific POS system that is designed with a built-in Loyalty Rewards Program. Incentivize purchasing big-ticket pet travel items? Check! Reward loyal spending with top-quality pet food discounts and freebies? Check! Gain so much customer relationship management insights that customers act on every deal you present? Check, check, check! And with the right point of sale system, you can integrate manufacturer coupons and programs. Connecting customers with pet health insurance carriers isn’t quite as straightforward, but it’s also not impossible if you choose the best pet retailer POS system on the market today.

Which POS provider are we referring to? 

FasTrax POS! 

FasTrax POS is your one-stop shop for all of your point of sale needs if you own a pet store. Not only does our software go beyond basic POS and Loyalty Rewards, but our software solutions cover every aspect that we went over in this article, which will provide you with all the support you will ever need for success in the pet industry.  

Why choose FasTrax?

FASTRAX POS

 • Facilitate grooming appointments with work orders and appointment integrations

 • Place special orders for specialized food and toys you don’t keep in stock

 • Capture in-depth sales reports to create personalized loyalty offerings to customers

 • Track pet names, breeds, brand preferences and more with customer profiles

 • Capture customer contact information such as mobile numbers and email addresses when they pay which you can use for direct marketing later

FasTrax POS is your solution to not only dive into daily sales, but analyze which promotional campaigns are succeeding at your pet store. This information allows pet store owners like you to promote additional toys and treats. FasTrax doesn’t stop with POS, either. Our POS pop-up scripts have been proven to increase revenue and our loyalty rewards program gets customers to return to your pet store often.

FASTRAX UPLIFT

 • Make it simple for sales personnel to upsell new merchandise and older products that are about to expire during checkout with scripted pop-up bubbles on the POS

 • Create fun and friendly competition among your sales personnel with gamified upsell opportunities wherein employees can indicate on the POS screen whether they “won” or “lost” the upsell, then reward your winners as you see fit

 • Assign commission values that your employees can earn for successfully upselling pet merchandise, pet food, and even services if you offer grooming, walking, boarding, and training

 • Experiment with forced modifiers to incentivize upselling among your employees, track which promotions are successful, and generate maximum ROI

FASTRAX LOYALTY

 • Easily participate in manufacturer promotions and collect rebates without all the hassle

 • Create your own promotional campaigns and offer deals, discounts, and freebies to drive sales and generate a loyal customer base

 • Designate your loyalty campaign as Points Per Item, Dollars Per Item, or Manufacturer Funded, you always remain in charge of your promotions

 • Whitelist items or groups of products that are eligible for earning points, and blacklist those that aren’t

With our 24/7 technical support team ready to assist your point of sale needs, there is no better pet store POS system on the market today than FasTrax. To learn more or speak with a FasTrax strategist, click here to see what our POS can do for your pet store.