A Home Run at the Holidays | Current Issue | petbusiness.com – Pet Business Magazine

The final quarter of the fiscal year is rapidly approaching, so it’s time to pull out all the stops and make your store as welcoming and attractive as possible for the all-important holiday selling season. Thankfully, there are number of strategies that pet stores can implement to make sure they end the year on a fun, financially successful note. From meet and greets with Santa to fun in-store displays and special holiday-themed products, giving families a place to get into the holiday spirit with their furry family members can increase traffic and sales in addition to joy and cheer. 
Whether it’s drawing in sidewalk traffic or catching the attention of shoppers already inside the store, holiday displays are a solid merchandising strategy that helps bring more awareness to certain products in one area and can even result in consumers making purchases they weren’t originally planning on. 
Especially during the holidays, in-store initiatives for doing good and giving back are particularly attractive to pet parents. This holiday season, Mud Bay will be celebrating its “Tons of Love” campaign with a full line of safe and fun holiday-themed toys and treats along with matching food donations from Mud Bay’s manufacturing partners. The campaign is advertised both in stores and online through social media. 
“What makes this so perfect for amplification on social media is that the teams have also made it possible for customers to donate these products to a shelter pet in need from any one of the in-store Tons of Love Giving Trees,” says Juli Warner, Mud Bay marketing director. “Each tree supports a shelter, local to that store, bringing the feeling of community that much closer.” 
Warner says bringing “purchasing with a purpose” to customers in a sharable, fun way can help drive traffic both online and in-store. 
According to Jennifer Kovacs, vice president of merchandising, dog and cat supplies, at Petco, the company sets out to make it easy for pet parents to involve their pets in all their holiday celebrations each year. For example, in addition to the seasonal pet toys, costumes and matching PJ sets available to pet parents, the expanded 2021 Merry Makings holiday collection included festive home décor, a dedicated Hanukkah collection and expanded products for companion animals and bearded dragons.
All of the products were featured both online at petco.com and in a front-of-store “gifting hub.” Petco also offered unique, exclusive items, perfect for holiday gifting, as well as products for Thanksgiving and New Year’s so pets and pet parents could celebrate together all season long. 
“We continue to encourage pet parents to shop their way with options like same-day delivery, in-app shopping, flexible payments with Klarna and buy online, pick-up in-store,” explains Kovacs. “Ultimately, our broader, more inclusive holiday product assortment, available through a variety of ways to shop, helped us deliver one of our most successful holiday seasons yet!”
 
 
When it comes to holiday products, themed treats and goodies encourage pet parents to bring their companion animals in on the seasonal fun. Three Dog Bakery in Kansas City, Mo. specializes in tasty pet products that celebrate every occasion, and the holidays are no exception.
“The holiday season is one of our favorite times of year to celebrate with our pups.  The magical feeling that accompanies the holidays comes alive in our bakeries as we craft custom cakes, cookies, pupcakes and more to spoil our favorite furry friends,” says Ally Homa, director or marketing for Three Dog’s bakery division. 
“For us, our dogs are family, and just as exciting it is to watch our kids open gifts, the tail-wagging fun of watching our pups tear into their stocking to discover their gifts is just as fun.”
 
For families who value keepsakes of holiday-themed photos, pets are often just as important as people. By hosting photoshoots and offering meet and greets with Santa, stores can increase foot traffic and give staff members an opportunity to provide a service and interact with pets and their families. 
“Our approach to photoshoots and signage is to inspire customers to include their pups in all their holiday (or as we say, howl-iday) celebrations, such as leaving cookies for Santa, opening presents Christmas morning and more,” says Homa. 
She says the store’s signage provides inspiration while giving great suggestions for stocking stuffers and other “drool-worthy” gift ideas.
EarthWise Pet store owners and their employees embrace the holiday season as some have Santa meet and greets while others hold raffles and fun giveaways.
“We love having Santa meet and greets. It creates a fun vibe and outing for our furry customers,” says Dianna Bailer, the company’s chief marketing officer. “Some of our stores go the extra mile, hiring photographers to take pictures of their fur kids with Santa, this gives them something to share on social media.
 
In addition to spreading yuletide cheer, the EarthWise team also uses holiday events as a chance to fulfill their number one priority: educating pet parents about nutrition to keep pets safe and healthy. 
Bailer points to the issue of people oversharing their holiday leftovers with their pets without realizing how harmful this can be. 
Being Pet Nutrition Specialists, Bailer says the EarthWise Pet team is dedicated to educating people during the holidays about the do’s and don’ts of sharing food with pets. The company’s social media and in-store commentary will often include a large portion of nutrition information and fun products that will help customers healthfully include their pets in the holiday celebrations.
The extra attention and intrigue brings new pet parents to the stores and gives us a chance to educate a whole new audience on pet nutrition, usually resulting in long-term clientele.” PB
 
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