Wielding Cuddle Power To Affect Retail

An inherent truth of the retail industry — that consumers, at the end of the day, wield the ultimate power in determining what products and companies succeed — can even be applied to entire business models.

Pet retail is, by and large, in no danger of slowing down any time soon, given that consumers’ affection for cuddly companions (and not-so-objectively-cuddly ones, like fish and reptiles) translated into a $17.5 billion business worldwide as of last year.

At the top of the food chain (quite literally, as it applies to the type of animal nourishment consumers spend more on than that of any other species save for human) in that regard are dogs, whose hold on the title of “man’s best friend” is proven out year after year in sales.

While the expanse and availability of canine-related products (in areas of food, medicine, grooming, toys, et al.) — and the potential for profit garnered from them — are ever-growing, the means through which consumers acquire the animals themselves have changed drastically over the last several years and continue to do so.

Whereas once was a time that pet adoption, rather than straight-up retail purchase, was an option largely taken by consumers for financial reasons, the growth of public awareness about puppy mills [warning: link includes some depressing images] — commercial facilities that breed dogs for sale to pet stores in a way that maximizes profit at the expense of the animals’ well-being — has affected a change wherein more and more individuals are taking the adoption route, regardless of whether they could afford to pay top dollar for dogs.

A major driver of this pivot in consumer behavior has been National Puppy Day, which earlier this week (March 23) celebrated its tenth anniversary.

Founded in 2006 by Colleen Paige, National Puppy Day — which has grown from its roots within the United States to be recognized as an international holiday — has as its central focus (in addition to educating dog owners about best practices for caring for their animals) the spread of awareness about puppy mills and their detrimental impact on dogs’ health, encouraging people to adopt dogs from shelters instead of purchasing them from retail sellers.

Although the business practice of retail dog (and cat) sales remains in play in the United States — and, as The Christian Science Monitor notes, not all breeding businesses operate in the unseemly manner of puppy mills — the (very negative) optics of that model, growing ever more present in the perspective of consumers due to events like National Puppy Day, have put pet retailers on notice.

Even those that might be tempted to cling to the argument that traditional pet retail is the best way for consumers to acquire a dog of a specifically desired breed and/or a younger age are losing traction. Guinnevere Shuster, social media coordinator at the Humane Society of Utah, points out to CNN that “shelters and rescues are filled with puppies. Even if you’re looking for a younger dog, the chances are you can find one that needs a home at a shelter or rescue,” while the ASPCA notes that the same goes for purebred dogs, whose availability at shelters is facilitated for consumers by many different breed rescue groups.

The more savvy retailers in the space, rather than attempting to fight the tide of consumer opposition to commercial breeding that is altering the business model of animal sales throughout the country, are taking a cue from their most valuable shoppers — i.e., pet lovers — and generating sales strategies that embrace the very purpose of National Puppy Day.

To mark the holiday’s most recent occurrence, for example, the major retail chain PetSmart offered a number of discounts on pet-related items (not the pets themselves, the one product that the company does not offer), while encouraging consumers to adopt dogs from the ASPCA, Humane Society or shelters — and not, pointedly, to purchase them from puppy mills.

Not only is such a move the smart play in terms of public relations, it also reinforces for the brand its connection to the revenue stream related to dog ownership that is inherently more continuous than the one-and-done transaction of an animal purchase: that garnered from consumers repeatedly buying items for their dogs.

After all, with the Humane Society sharing that 44 percent (54.4 million) of all U.S. households own at least one dog, that’s where the real money is to be made.

It’s a lesson for a retailer linked to any product area that might itself be undergoing a shift in public perspective. Getting into step with “doing the right thing” doesn’t have to translate into a loss of business. On the contrary, it can actually draw consumers closer, who might embrace the brand with a metaphorical warm hug, like the literal one they would give their puppies.