Modern lifestyles and shopping preferences have established markets for niches previously not in-demand. One of the best examples of such niches is selling pet products online from home.
Pet products did not have an established market, but now the number of pet owners is growing, and so is the demand for good quality pet products.
Key Takeaways
- How to start your online pet supply store?
- Factors and points to consider for a successful business
- Best practices to gain lost customers
How to Start an Online Pet Store – Beginning
Utilizing the power of eCommerce to start your pet product store is a low-risk business that you can initiate almost immediately. If you have a passion for pets and animals, then an online pet supply store is perfect for your entrepreneurial skills.
A question that arises in an entrepreneur’s mind is whether a pet business is profitable or not.
Since 2020, the demand for pet products has soared, and according to the American Pet Products Association, the pet product niche is about to become a billion-dollar industry. This is the best motivation for aspiring people to set their foundation in the pet product business.
So, selling pet products online is a profitable business forecasted to reach new heights in the coming days. This is the perfect time to dip your feet in eCommerce stores and learn how to start an online pet supply business.
Where to Start an Online Pet Store?
The most important part of starting an online pet store is determining whether you want to create your website or use an eCommerce platform such as Shopify. We recommend going for Shopify as it offers various benefits for new business owners and various tools to do effective marketing.
The guide will tell you about setting up your Shopify pet store and using the platform to reach maximum customers.
But first, let us guide you through a few steps to initiate your business and run it smoothly.
Create a Business Plan
The first step of every business is to have a clear and concise business plan. Planning your moves gives you an edge over financing or operations management tasks.
Your business plan should include a summary of your business and its purpose. It should also cover marketing, target customers, promotion ideas, and competition. It also tells you when and how many people you need to run your store efficiently.
Financing the Business
Every business requires startup costs, and you should know the resources to acquire money. Raising investment for your pet store business requires some planning, and you might need to contact investment houses or banks.
If you have savings, you can fund your startup in the beginning or apply for a loan from your local bank. Besides investment, you also need to set up a merchant account with your bank to receive the funds from product selling.
Analyze Your Competition
Selling pet products online is now a demanded niche where millions of entrepreneurs have entered for business. Analyzing your competition is a good idea, especially for beginners, as it gives you an edge.
You need to analyze all the strengths, weaknesses, marketing ideas, target customers, products, and other areas. It is fine if you have a unique product, but selling products like kitty litter boxes or fish tank cleaners requires a thorough study.
Make a habit of regularly checking on your competition to update you on the market and the industry.
Find Responsive Suppliers
Unless you are the manufacturer of a product, determining the selling items and procuring them from a reliable supplier is essential to a successful business. Having multiple suppliers is a good practice to avoid order cancellation or setbacks.
If you are the sole manufacturer, keeping extra resources on hand to fulfill orders without delay is a good idea.
How Do I Start A Successful Online Small Pet Business?
After you have created a business plan, acquired financing, and contacted a supplier, it is time to start creating your website. As recommended above, Shopify gives you the best tools and services to set foot in the market. Professional Shopify eCommerce development services such as ClickySoft can help you in setting up a store easily.
However, you must focus on a few points to create an impressive and attention-grabbing website.
Select a Catchy Domain Name
The website domain is the name you type in a browser to reach a website, and it is essential to have a catchy name for your business. A catchy domain name stands out in customers’ minds and makes remembering easy.
The best idea is to get creative and select a name that closely resembles your product(s). You might find the names already taken, so you must research and select a name that identifies your business with good keywords for searching. A professional web design company in Houston can help you select and buy a catchy domain name that attracts your targeted customer accordingly.
Well-Designed Website
Website design is a factor that makes or breaks a potential sale. If your website has many products but is aesthetically not good, chances are it will fail to bring revenue. Our professional web development services Houston create eye-popping websites that attract clients and guide them through buying.
Ensure that your shopify website is easy to navigate and pages load quickly. The visuals should be professional and highly enticing to give your visitors the best experience. Link social media accounts with your website, email address, contact information, and Shopify newsletter sign-up forms.
Selling Pet Products from Home – Considerations
After setting up your Shopify pet store, you must establish a product-selling channel for customers. Here we have listed seven important considerations for new Shopify users to execute their business plans.
1. Understand Your Market
Understanding your market is the basic practice of running a successful Shopify dog store. Market analysis gives you an idea about the top-selling products and how your competition strategizes featured products and websites.
Note down the prices of products available and list all the items you need to place in your shop.
2. Website User Experience
User experience is the center stage of every eCommerce business that generates new and referral sales. A website that lacks user-friendliness loses clients. As a Shopify pet store owner, you must ensure that your website is simple and easy to navigate. An easy-navigating website offers a pleasant user experience and supports their buying decision.
Are you looking for ecommerce development solutions to help you start your own pet store? Shopify is the perfect platform for anyone wanting to start an online business, and Clickysoft can help you get started quickly and easily. Contact us today to find out more about our services and how we can help you create a successful online store.
3. Shopify Store Optimization For Search Engines
Search Engine Optimization, or SEO, is a marketing technique that most entrepreneurs fail to realize and integrate. Shopify SEO brings your shopify website to the top Google rankings that users search according to keywords or phrases.
You must place industry-related keywords in your website content and create a channel where the relevant audience searches for your products. If you find the process difficult, hiring an Houston SEO expert benefits you in the long run.
4. Marketing And Promotion
Keep an eye on the marketing and advertising budget, as it tends to burn very quickly if you are not careful. If you plan smartly and include advertising in your business plan, it makes promotion easy.
Consider low-cost ads for your Shopify pet store in publications initially and gradually scale the budget as you progress. You need to follow the best practices of b2c and b2b ecommerce marketing strategies to get maximum ROI from your online presence.
5. Social Media Availability
Besides a website, social media availability brings you the most sales. It is because you can set social media ad campaigns according to specific time zones and locations to narrow them down to relevant customers only.
Ensure your store is on all major platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, or Youtube. It not only gives you a chance to connect with your audience in real-time but also runs offers for your products.
6. Offers According to Season
Seasonal offers allow pet store owners to run special promotions on festivities. Occasions such as Christmas, Thanksgiving, and Black Friday are examples of where your store can boost its sales.
Seasonal promotions also help keep your website updated with fresh content and new products. You can also establish relationships with affiliate partners and give them the task of promoting your business.
7. Payment Options For Your Pet Store
Running a successful store means you have revenue coming from sales, and you need the best payment gateways for your online store. You can browse through various popular payment merchants on your website or use Shopify Payment System for the purpose.
These merchants charge a small fee, so you can compare their service and pricing options to make the right choice.
Shopify’s payment gateway does not charge anything as it comes with the package, so check shopify pricing plans first.
A brief of Shopify price listing is as follows. Note that these prices are subjected to change as per Shopify policies.
| Subscription Fee | Lite Plan: $9/mo |
|---|---|
| Basic Plan: $29/mo | |
| Shopify Plan: $79/mo | |
| Advanced Shopify Plan: $299/mo | |
| Shopify Plus Plan: $2000/mo | |
| Listing Fee | No Listing Fee |
| Transaction Fee | None for Shopify payment but 0.2% to 0.5% for other payment merchants |
| Fee for Payment Processing | 2.2% to 0.2% |
| Miscellaneous Costs | Domain fee: $11/year |
| Themes: $0 - $180 | |
| Add-ons: $20-$70 |
How Much Time Does it Take to Design a Shopify Pet Store?
After considering all the factors for your Shopify pet store, a basic website is created within 3-4 days if you have an idea about website creation. It may take a long time for someone with no knowledge of website development. However, Shopify offers a 14-day trial period as a fully functional website requires more or less the same period for development.
Once a website is up and running, you should continue improving it to enhance conversion rates and traffic.
Some basic steps involved in Shopify store creation include:
- Registration Process
- Selecting a Store Theme
- Product Hunting and Listing
- Landing page Customization
- Setting Shipping Details
- Integrating Payment Gateways
While registration is immediately accepted, you need to dedicate focus and time to other steps to ensure your website entices customers and generates revenue accordingly.
5 Powerful Tips and Best Practices For Online Pet Stores
1. Offer Post Sales Service
One of the best practices to follow for a successful online pet products store is to offer after-sale service. It is a factor most business owners overlook, but it is a great way to generate leads.
These services include on-time delivery, return policy, exchanges, and others.
2. Remarketing
You make the effort of marketing and bring customers to your website. However, all your hard work goes to waste if no purchase happens. Remarketing methods such as email engagement, lost cart notifications, or reminders may bring back almost half your sales.
You can also attract them with discounts or free shipping to entice their decision. In short, remarketing aims to bring back lost customers and support them in completing a purchase.
3. Use Chatbots
Chatbots are a great tool to attract and engage new or regular customers. Additionally, chatbots can automatically offer discounts or promos to motivate buyers. For instance: you can set chatbots to offer a 10% discount on a newsletter signup (new customer) or a referral voucher for existing customers. You have to be creative to offer something worthy for customers to consider buying your product.
4. Engage Through Emails
Completing a successful sale does not mean that the customer has lost priority for your business. Email marketing is still a great method to re-engage the customers after sales and remind them that there is a store with all the necessary solutions. However, do not overdo or spam emails, as it will negatively impact or cancel out subscription.
5. Add a Review Section
Adding a reviews section is perhaps the best way to build trust in new customers. You can ask for product or service reviews from past customers, and their answer triggers buying behavior. Besides trust building, it is also a huge sales-boosting practice that makes a great first impression.
Some Trending Pet Products for Your Shopify Store
- Pet Food
- Pet Sitting
- Pet Treats
- Pet Health Products
- Kitty Litter Boxes and Cleaners
- Dog Walking
- Pet Day Care
- Pet Exercise
- Fish Care Products
- Dog Training Equipment
- Pet Boarding
Start Your Online Pet Store Now
Nothing is more fulfilling than owning and running your business in an exciting industry. Setting up a Shopify pet store for grooming or health products is an endeavor you can run from home and scale your business.
Running a business is never easy, as you must consider various factors to ensure customers get the best experience. The post has covered some of the most common factors that will give you an initial push.
Take all of the above-mentioned points into consideration to set an achievable business plan and bring in relevant customers for purchase. We hope that our post gives you the right support in establishing and running an online pet store.
Conclusion
Pet grooming and other products have emerged as a billion-dollar industry that is sure to achieve its mark in the coming years. If you have selected to run your business in this niche, then you need all the guidance and tools to get the job done.
All the points that we have mentioned above contain the extract of our hard work throughout the years. We want you to get the maximum benefit out of this post and run a successful business that not only generates sales but is also scalable.
