A Bright Future for Small Animals

It’s fair to say that the pet care industry is pretty unique, from retailers to manufacturers and charities to vet clinics, it’s pretty clear that there are two key shared beliefs amongst us all – we care deeply about the welfare of pets. At Supreme, we believe that 2014 will be an exciting year for small animals. “Much of the industry research available focuses on cat and dog, and at Supreme, we truly believe that there is a massive opportunity to understand a whole lot more about small animal ownership and make significant improvements on how we best meet the needs of our small pet customers.” Says Claire Hamblion, Marketing Manager at Supreme Petfoods. That’s why Supreme is embarking on an exciting new research project that is set to help us see the small animal category in a new light. Research of this kind has rarely been completed outside of the grocery environment and has certainly never before been seen in the small animal category in pet retail. The findings will give pet store owners, managers and colleagues a unique insight into shopper behaviour in-store, examining the path to purchase and key influencing factors on the buying decision at the small animal fixture. Claire says “Supreme has many years of knowledge gained from listening to experts. This, combined with the insight provided by consumer research, has helped to shape the knowledge and expertise of everyone within our company. But there is still very little significant data available from research that has been conducted specifically within the small animal category. Experts tell us ‘knowledge is power’, and now is the time for small animals to stand up and be counted and to be taken as seriously as cats and dogs.” Supreme’s new research project aims to help do just that, by giving stakeholders in the pet trade a much greater understanding of the shopper journey and small pet owner buying habits. It will help retailers to gain an even more in-depth knowledge of how shoppers interact with point of sale display and the fixture, and its influence on the conversion to purchase, as well as the key drivers in the shopper decision making process. Pet owners will be showing us the way forward. Supreme will also be looking at the level of knowledge shoppers have of different feeding regimes and nutritional and welfare requirements. For example, do pet owners truly understand the right amount of hay that needs to be fed to small herbivores and how does the role of pet store colleagues influence their decision – is there a need for more education and how should that best be addressed? Claire says “We’re really excited about this project and can’t wait to reveal the results of our findings in the coming months. We know that retailers find it very difficult to manage the exceptionally limited space in the small animal category and we believe that our research will help give retailers the tools they need to make the most of the category, making the path to purchase much more appealing. Supreme is setting out to give pet retailers a real helping hand towards a bright future and towards helping to improve the welfare of small pets.” If you would like to be the first to find out more, contact us today.