Perhaps, like millions of people, you are in love with animals and would like to start a business in connection with them.
For that, ecommerce provides a welcoming space: by creating an online pet boutique, it’ll be possible for you to sell animal products to people in your own country and beyond.
Do you aim to create an online store that sells pet supplies? Although you may be passionate about dogs, cats, guinea pigs, birds, and other creatures, you’ll have to be aware of many parameters before embarking on the adventure professionally. There are a few things to keep in mind and several steps to take.
In this article, we provide you with all the tips and tricks to help you succeed with your online pet store and make your dream a reality!
The essentials for opening a pet store
Is an online pet store profitable?
Just like with the preparation for any kind of business, before launching a pet store on the web, it's important to ask yourself a crucial question: can this type of venture actually make you any money?
Good news: there's plenty of possibility for earnings with an online pet shop, especially if your target market consists of consumers based in the United States!
According to Statista data, 66% of U.S. households had at least one pet in 2023, a household penetration rate increase of 10% since 1988. What's more, pet industry expenditure has grown significantly over the years, amounting to $147 billion in 2023, up approximately 42% from expenditure in 2020.
Now, although there's lots of potential for success with this form of online retail, keep in mind that are numerous factors that can have an effect on how profitable your business is, such as the products you plan to sell, your pricing strategy, niche demand, etc.
What are the prerequisites for opening an online pet boutique?
A pet boutique is a store specialized in all products that people might buy for their pets. This includes supplies like food, shelter, hygiene, toys, accessories, clothing, etc.
There are many different ranges and products for the well-being of our favorite animals to offer for sale with an online pet store.
When you want to start a pet boutique via an ecommerce website, you should know the animals concerned by these products inside and out to be able to highlight your catalog but also to be able to better reach the owners via your marketing strategy, your social media networks, and your website as you start to build your brand.
Keeping up to date with the latest trends concerning businesses that sell pet supplies in terms of derivatives but also food products available will be obligations to allow you to succeed in your ecommerce adventure, just like with a physical business.
Design or original products, organic and grain-free products, innovative toys, etc. Your curiosity and creativity, in addition to your knowledge and professionalism, will help your pet store to stand out with your product catalog and the services you offer, allowing you to become a leader in this fast-growing market!
What license do you need to open an online pet store?
Cats, dogs, rodents, reptiles... Although you won’t be selling animals directly on your website, you may still need to obtain special licenses or certifications, depending on your country’s regulations, particularly if you plan to sell food or health products.
Before starting your business and selling to customers, you'll definitely want to be sure to have all the necessary documentation in place to prevent legal issues down the road and to give both you and your customers peace of mind.
For instance, in France, the following certifications are mandatory:
- a professional certification on the list established by the Ministry of Agriculture;
- training given by a structure authorized by the Ministry of Agriculture to acquire all the skills related to the needs and the maintenance of pets; and
- a certificate of competence or proof of knowledge, issued by the administrative authority before 2015.
As far as an online pet store is concerned, updating your knowledge of ecommerce and marketing will be necessary. To do this, with the WiziShop platform, you benefit from complete ecommerce training offered in your subscription to acquire all the key points necessary for the success of your online store. In addition to your knowledge in the world of animals, deepen your digital knowledge directly from your administration area and from your 7-day free trial period!
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How much does it cost to start an online pet boutique?
When it comes to determining the cost to start an online boutique, everything depends on the business model of your ecommerce pet store. Two solutions are available to you. On the one hand, you can buy the stock of products that you’ll be able to send to your customers after placing an order on your ecommerce website.
On the other hand, you can create your online sales platform, take care of the available products, and let your supplier manage the logistics and the delivery directly to your customer. In the latter case, you only have to manage the smooth running of your ecommerce website and the marketing around your brand.
To open your online store dedicated to pets, there’s no need to pay thousands of dollars to create an optimal sales website.
By opting for the WiziShop ecommerce solution, you’ll have access to more than 400 ecommerce features, 50+ SEO optimizations, a powerful AI tool for generating all types of text content for your store in seconds, real-time support from expert Business Coaches, and free training, all for a price starting at just $40 per month (with the first month being only $1)!
Like any ecommerce business, your online pet store will require you to acquire digital tools such as a computer and a powerful smartphone in order to work on your content creation and follow the evolution and development of your sales.
To start your adventure, you’ll be able to rely on a minimal budget with an optimal quality of services!
Online pet store ideas: Types of products to sell
The pet products industry is highly flexible, offering a broad array of products you can sell, with constant opportunities for innovation.
Offering a wide range of products can help cater to various pet owners with different needs and preferences. By continuously updating your inventory based on trends and customer feedback, you can keep your store relevant and appealing.
For inspiration, here are some ideas of different pet products to sell on your website!
Food and treats
The pet food market is expanding, as pet owners increasingly seek to provide their pets with top-quality nourishment. In fact, Statista reports that the highest selling pet market product category in the US in 2023 was pet food and treats, bringing in sales of an estimated $64.4 billion.
Why not introduce innovative, nutritious, and natural food products and take advantage of this booming market?
Consider providing pet owners with healthier options, perhaps by customizing your offerings to meet specific dietary needs. Dry and wet pet foods; organic and specialty diet foods, such as grain-free, gluten-free, and raw diet; treats and chews like dental sticks and training treats; as well as vitamin supplements and dietary additions are all possibilities!
Note that a potential drawback with this product category is the considerable effort required not only to produce consumable goods but also to test them and validate their quality.
Source: Orijen
Toys
Whether for a dog, cat, guinea pig, bird, rabbit, or any other domesticated creature from the animal kingdom, toys are essential for pets. They help in preventing boredom and reducing stress, promoting physical activity, and aiding in cognitive development.
In addition, toys can strengthen the bond between pets and their owners, making them a continual necessity in the lives of pet-loving households. This ongoing need makes pet toys a profitable and appealing product choice for an online store.
Depending on your niche, you might sell, for example chew toys; crafted from rubber, nylon, or natural bone; puzzles or treat dispensers for an extra level of interaction; plush toys; balls; or frisbees.
Source: Petco
Grooming supplies
Grooming supplies have an essential role in maintaining a pet's health and hygiene. Regular grooming helps prevent skin diseases, reduces shedding, and keeps pets looking their best. It also enables early detection of issues like fleas, ticks, or skin abnormalities.
The frequent need for grooming products drives steady demand, ensuring a continuous market for shampoos, conditioners, brushes, combs, nail clippers, grooming wipes and sprays, and other related items, making them a profitable segment for retailers.
You could even opt to focus on a specific niche within pet grooming supplies, such as eco-friendly and organic products, breed-specific grooming tools, hypoallergenic shampoos for sensitive skin, and luxury grooming accessories like designer brushes and scented spritzes. There’s also a growing market for portable grooming items for on-the-go maintenance.
Source: WildWash
Health and wellness goods
Due to increasing awareness among pet owners about their pets’ health, mirroring trends in human wellness, health and wellness goods represent another great product category for those looking to start an online pet boutique. These products, including pain relief and supplements; dental care items; flea, tick, and parasite control; and ear and eye care items, support various aspects of a pet’s physical and mental well-being, improving longevity and quality of life.
When choosing products in the health and wellness sector, you might opt to concentrate on areas like organic and natural remedies, age-specific formulations for joint health and cognitive function, or specialized diets for weight management and allergies. This increasing focus on comprehensive pet care creates robust opportunities for sales in these segments.
Source: Mad Barn
Apparel and accessories
Pet apparel and accessories are growing in popularity as well, thanks to the growing trend of pet humanization, where owners treat their pets as family members and often style them similarly. People buy these items not only for functional purposes, such as protection against weather conditions, but also for aesthetic reasons, enhancing their pets' cuteness or showcasing their own style.
Key products in this category include seasonal clothing like sweaters and raincoats, fashionable items like bow ties and bandanas, and practical accessories such as collars, harnesses, and pet carriers. The diversity and emotional appeal of these products make them highly marketable and frequently purchased items.
To help your brand stand out from the competition, consider focusing on unique design features such as eco-friendly materials, innovative comfort elements like temperature control or orthopedic interiors for carriers, and customizable options like color and monogramming. Highlighting exceptional durability and offering a variety of sizes can also set your brand apart.
Source: Chewy
Feeding supplies
Feeding supplies play a fundamental and recurring need in a pet owner's daily routine. They ensure proper feeding and hydration of shoppers' pets, which is critical for health and well-being.
This category includes a variety of products such as basic and automatic feeders, which help maintain a consistent feeding schedule, and water dispensers that encourage pets to stay hydrated. Other popular items include specialized bowls designed to slow down eating or aid digestion, and travel-friendly containers that facilitate feeding on the go, making this category diverse and essential for pet care.
Source: Catit
Training supplies
Pet ownership isn't all fun and games; it also entails teaching pets how to behave in a way that'll keep them and others safe, improve their quality of life, and build a relationship of trust. Selling training supplies is a great way to aid your customers in addressing essential needs in pet upbringing and management, helping them shape their pets’ behaviors effectively.
Whether to facilitate training, correct undesirable behaviors, or enhance communication with their pets, the training supplies you offer can assist in ultimately fostering a safer and more harmonious living environment. When deciding which pet training supplies, keep in mind that it can be advantageous to focus on products that cater to a variety of training needs and methods.
Training collars, leashes, and harnesses for guided walks, clickers and treats for positive reinforcement training, anti-bark dog collars to manage noise, and potty-training aids like pads and sprays are all practical goods for new pet owners to have on hand. You might also think about stocking innovative and high-quality items that differentiate your offerings from competitors, like smart training devices and eco-friendly, durable materials.
Source: Ruffwear
Bedding and furniture
For many pet owners, keeping their animal companions as comfy as possible is a must. High-quality bedding and furniture can provide comfort and a designated personal space for pets, enhancing their overall well-being. This category can involve all kinds of items, such as orthopedic beds for older pets or those with joint issues, stylish and functional pet sofas, cozy blankets, and specialized sleeping solutions like heated beds for colder climates.
To meet diverse customer needs, it's a good idea to supply a range of options that cater to different pet sizes, health needs, and owner aesthetic preferences. Look for durable, easy-to-clean materials and consider incorporating eco-friendly options to appeal to environmentally conscious animal lovers.
Source: PetSmart
Tech gadgets
With new developments in technology arriving seemingly every day, it's no surprise that tech-savvy pet owners are turning to various gadgets to enhance their pet care through innovation. These items can be used to monitor consumers' pets’ health, ensure their safety, and enrich their lives, often through remote interaction.
For instance, GPS trackers allow you to keep tabs on your pet's whereabouts, pet cameras with two-way communication make it possible to keep an eye on and interact with your pet remotely, and automated feeders help maintain a consistent feeding schedule.
If this pet product category appeal to you, be sure to prioritize reliability and user-friendliness. Opt for devices that offer practical, easy-to-use features and have strong customer reviews. It's also wise to consider the integration capabilities with popular smart home systems, ensuring that the products appeal to a technologically interconnected audience.
Source: Furbo
How do you open an online pet store? Key steps
When you want to start an ecommerce business, certain steps are essential before launching your website. Here is a step-by-step plan to help you increase your chances of success with opening your online pet boutique.
1. Find your target audience and your niche
For this first step, it’s important to remember that your online pet store must address a specific audience. You’re entering the commercial field: your company will therefore seek customers interested in your products.
Who are the people in your target audience? Who is your persona? Which products are popular on social media networks? What are the most innovative brands?
Obviously, you'll be targeting pet owners for the most part, but what will those pets be?
Dogs, cats, reptiles, rodents, birds, fish... It's up to you to know which niche to target!
In addition, these pet owners will certainly have specific characteristics: they’ll be waiting for specific products for their little creatures that they may not be able to get anywhere else but from your pet store.
Organic food products, environmentally friendly goods, original toys, new technologies for home accessories, respectful and responsible hygiene products, etc. Be on the lookout for the latest trends to attract as many new consumers as possible who are attentive and concerned about the well-being of their pets.
2. Choose the right legal structure
Your online retail business must be supported by a legal structure adapted to your situation. Just like with any certifications you may be required to obtain, the right legal structure for your business will be dictated by your specific country’s regulations.
Note that there are several elements that’ll likely affect the type of legal structure you’ll select for your business. For example, do you plan on having several business partners or going solo with your venture? How much revenue do you plan on earning?
If you have any queries or concerns about the best structure for your business, it’s a good idea to consult with accountants and lawyers specializing in business law, especially when it comes to more advanced questions.
3. Franchises and leading brands: Perform a market study
With the online pet boutique market, there are already dozens, if not hundreds, of different proposals. From large franchises to independent stores, scour the web and social media networks to find the leading brands and successful products that they sell.
For market research, your goal will be to make the most of the bestsellers, but it’s also a good idea to use this information to help you find the suppliers who can offer you the best prices.
Thanks to the competitive intelligence, you’ll be able to draw inspiration from the best practices of the brands and businesses already established in the sector but also to know the weaknesses of this field in perpetual movement and thus to dissociate yourself from all your competitors thanks to this precise reading of the qualities and the defects of the market.
4. Establish a solid business plan
Online pet shops are no exception to the rule of the business plan: this commercial document will help you to optimize the management of your company.
The business plan allows you to put down all the ideas related to your future business but also all your ambitions for the future. This document, which belongs only to you, will allow you to draw the precise course related to your activity in order to stick to it and to trace your shortest path to success.
Beyond an immediate project, the business plan is also a document that’ll allow you to collect funds once your company is growing from sponsors or banks and thus take your business’s development even further in the long term. It’s therefore essential to take your time during this step to ensure a high-quality, well-structured business plan.
5. Create a precise and original marketing strategy
The competition rages on in the online pet store industry. What will help your business stand out from the crowd and sell more items from your product catalog is to build a strong online presence and establish a unique and original marketing and communications strategy, with content that belongs only to you.
Play on the emotion that a pet owner can feel when seeing striking pictures and cute videos featuring a cat, a dog, a little bird, etc.
But above all, highlight your online pet store’s quality products and all those pet supplies that are out of the ordinary through posts on social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, YouTube, etc.that can explain and introduce your new products to your potential future customers.
Also, utilize effective SEO techniques on your website to help boost your rankings on Google: choose the right keywords and create quality content to be able to rise to the top of the search engine results. This in turn can increase traffic to your online pet store and therefore lead to more product sales! To learn more about these levers, follow all our articles on our SEO blog.
6. Find your suppliers and the best pet products
It’s essential that your online pet store keeps all its promises: this will then pass by the recruitment of the best suppliers of your field and thus the sale of the most qualitative products of the market.
In addition, shoppers are always looking for promotions and discounted prices to help them save money without relying on the quality of the products they buy. It’s therefore up to you to find reliable suppliers and negotiate the best prices with your suppliers but also to look for new brands that’ll attract your future customers.
Thanks to this, you’ll be able to position yourself as an expert in the field of pets, and you’ll become essential, because only you’ll have the eye to find the gems that small and large animals love!
7. Open your online store and start selling!
In this last step, it’s finally time to open your online store and start importing all those products into your catalog.
With WiziShop, everything will be easy to start selling without waiting! The ecommerce platform offers you templates that can be customized to build a homepage that suits your brand with the help of WiziBlocks: by clicking and dragging, you can add all the modules necessary to respect your brand’s graphic charter and to highlight all the products that you sell.
Moreover, WiziShop is a leader in terms of SEO: thanks to a technically sound base, you’ll be able to focus on the creation of your content and the improvement of your authority to quickly rise in the top results of search engines like Google.
In addition, the solution boasts a powerful AI tool designed to generate various kinds of text content in a flash. Avail of the AI to create product descriptions, translations, lists of pros and cons, blog articles, and more in just a few clicks, giving you more time to focus on other aspects of your business and marketing strategy.
When you use the WiziShop platform to build your ecommerce site, your ecommerce site, you'll get access to more than 400 features, personalized support in real time, free training, and more: launch your online pet store without further delay, sell in your country and abroad, and enjoy a 7-day free trial by signing up now!
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