Food for Thought

William May joins Pet Food Experts as Vice President of Supply Chain Operations

Over the past year, we’ve seen nearly every industry event pivot to a virtual platform. I’ve had the pleasure of attending several virtual conferences and recently participated in the first-ever Pet Sustainability Coalition’s UnPacked21 event. UnPacked brought together over 400 attendees, including sustainable packaging experts and suppliers, as well as pet industry brands, manufacturers, and retailers, to shed light on one of our industry’s largest issues.

At Pet Food Experts, we are always focused on ways to improve our services for our vendors and customers. One way that we do this is by keeping up with the latest trends and technologies in warehousing and distribution of goods. Our goal is always to make the order and delivery process as seamless and stress-free as possible not only for our customers but also for our internal teams. That’s why in the summer of 2018, we invested in the Lydia voice-activated picking solution. This ground-breaking software helps us streamline our process and increase efficiency in our distribution centers across the country. It took our team months of strategic planning, strong teamwork, and rigorous training to get things just right, but the rewards for both our operations teams and independent pet retail partners have been worth the wait.

Providing pet parents with the products and services they need to make sure that they come back for more will always be one of your main goals as an independent pet retailer. It’s easy to learn about your customers by asking them questions while they are in your store; however, we often forget that to build a truly valuable relationship it has to go both ways. In order to make lasting connections with your customers and your community, you need to prove your value. Sharing the story behind your business, not only the what and the how you do it, but more importantly the why you do what you do, and most importantly why pet parents should shop with you over your competition is the value proposition you need to succeed.

It is no secret that creating a memorable in-store experience is one of the biggest ways independent pet retailers can compete with big-box stores and boost their sales. Several factors contribute to a customer’s experience in your store such as interactions with knowledgeable staff, engaging events, and an inviting store layout. The look and design of your store is one of the things that will make a lasting impression on customers both old and new. Taking a strategic approach to merchandising your store will not only improve the customer journey but ultimately boost your bottom line.

Instagram is no longer just a social media platform for personal use, in fact, there are more than 25 million business profiles on Instagram. For businesses, Instagram can be an excellent tool to help humanize your brand, engage with customers, showcase products and services, and most importantly boost sales! As the fastest-growing social media platform, it is more important than ever that small businesses have a presence on Instagram. As a busy pet retailer, it may be overwhelming to try and figure out how to use all of Instagram's features to your advantage but our quick start guide can help you get a jump on it.