Competing Against the Pet Store Chains

The large pet store chains have advantages over the independent pet store in many areas. Some of these areas include: able to buy at a lower cost, huge advertising budgets and with their volume able to run at a lower gross margin. The key to compete against the chains is to find the areas an independent pet store can do a better job. These areas include the following: customer service, special events, pr particular store, hiring and ties to the local community.

Many of the corporate chains preach customer service, but many do an average job at best. The employees and management of the pet store chain will not take the extra steps to WOW the customer. Dealing with higher volume their mission is to get them in and out quick as possible. Most would not deliver something special to Mr. Jones house or accept an order by phone or fax.

The refund policy is one area of customer service that chain stores do a better job in regards to customer service. The independent pet store worries too much about the few who will take advantage of the policy. They should focus on the much larger number who will make purchases or increase the size with a liberal refund policy.

Special Events are a great way to compete against the chain store. The chain stores may do a few as a chain but seldom will you find one of the corporate stores doing their own thing. Independent pet stores can customize their special event and need far less lead time to stage one. There are countless special events you can hold. Some of the best ones would be events dealing with pets, kids and celebrity birthdays. For example, having a kids contest could involve them writing about their favorite pet or if they owned the store what would they do. In addition, can have a pet talent show, costumes or even a look a like contest.

You can survey your customers to see what information they would like or survey the employees the most common questions. You could have a free seminar once a month taking the top 4 topics 15 minutes each. For example, it could be setting up an aquarium, dental care for cats, crate training for dogs and selecting the perfect lizard as an example. If done correctly, this can really build interest in your store and even create free publicity. This is a long term way to really help your pet store.

Getting publicity for a local pet store is much easier especially in a small town. The easiest way is to let the local media know about your special events. If you have a special event that needs a judge, try to get members of the local media or a celebrity to be a judge. The media is always looking for interesting news stories.

Chain pet stores are in a pay scale in what they pay their employees. The way to take advantage is to hire their best employees away from your competition, even if you pay an extra $1 or $2 per hour. Excellent employees are worth far more than their wage to the store. Do not trying luring long term employees from chains because their benefits would make it difficult for them to leave. If your store has a reputation for being a fun place to work, more quality applicants will apply.

If your store has been in business longer than the pet store chain, let your customers know you tie to the community. Put the history of your store in a light color paper that is laminated around the store. It should also mention the donations you make to the local community.

Competing against the chain pet stores is tough. However, you can take advantage of their weaknesses and take sales away from them. One last suggestion is to find as much unique or private label merchandise. This way you do not have to worry about price comparisons. Some of this merchandise can be more expensive than the pet store chain as long as you show the customer the value of your products and or services.