UK-based Engage Research says that the increasing effort by pet owners to spoil their furry friends at Christmas time gives brands and retailers the opportunity to unlock new product possibilities both inside and outside of the pet category.
Some of the initiatives launched this year include Tesco’s decision to increase its Christmas gifts for pets range from twelve items last year to 50 this year. In addition, together with Aldi, Ocado and Amazon, Tesco among the retailers stocking Pawsecco, a still ‘wine’ for dogs and cats.
Other products now available include a dog ‘beer’ called Bottom Sniffer, a meat-flavoured ‘beer’ called Snuffle and a catnip ‘wine’ called Pinot Meow.
Owner-Pet Relationship
“Brands would be wise to take a look at our attitudes towards our pets because it impacts on not only how we shop for them but also for ourselves. By tapping into the owner-pet relationship and understanding the dynamic there even non-pet brands could be able to turn that relationship to their own advantage,” explains Engage Research’s Lyndsay Peck.
“The UK pet food industry is now worth around £3 billion and 12 million UK households have a pet. If we know that pet owners would rather cut back on their own food than their pets’, then this could present a way to engage with owners.”
Peck adds that qualitative research among pet owners, much of which could be undertaken cost effectively online, could be used by brands to explore more deeply the owner’s purchasing intentions when it comes to themselves, their families and their pets.
The insights that this produces – around, for example, where non-pet products are positioned relative to pet products in-store, can be used by retailers and brands - pet and non-pet alike – to inform both marketing and activation programmes not only in the run-up to Christmas but all year round, Engage Research says.
Engage Research is a customer insight agency working largely, but not exclusively, in the food, drink and media sectors.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
