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Pad Profits with Pocket Pets
Cavies are cute but common place. Rabbits require extra real estate. And mice and rats make some people shudder. But for many folks, hamsters and gerbils are just right, making for the ideal first or supplemental pet and providing a coveted combination of low maintenance and playful fun in an ultra-portable package. That’s why any […]
Inspire Customers to Visit by Expanding your Treat Offerings
Staples like daily diets and bedding may bring shoppers into your store. But what puts a smile on their face—and keeps them coming back for more—are the edible packaged pleasures that get their small animal pets excited. Because, truth is, everybody loves treats—domesticated rodents included. But while any self-respecting pet shop is sure to offer […]
Ferret Category Presents Opportunity to Boost Sales
They’re soft, long, twee-faced, friendly, frisky, inquisitive and downright irresistible. They live a heck of a lot longer than hamsters, cavies or mice (up to 10 years or more). And they bond and interact with humans more closely than many other pets. We’re talking, of course, about Mustela putorius furo—better known as the ferret. But […]
Open Doors with ‘Rainbow of Choices’ for Small Animal Daily Diets
Sure, litter looms large. Toys and treats are hard to beat. But there’s no staple more fundamental than furbaby food. Because, chances are, if you carry the right everyday edibles for small animals, you’ll build a loyal clientele who will repeat its eats purchases and pick up other pet essentials and impulse items, too—again and […]
Small Animal Fitness and Exercise Products are Hot — Here’s Why
Four walls and a bed of litter doesn’t leave much room for rodent aerobics. And despite having speedy metabolisms, it’s easy for small animal pets to pack on the fat and suffer health maladies when they don’t get the fitness they need. Let’s Get Physical Tara Whitehead, director of marketing and communications for MidWest Homes […]
Consider Stocking the ‘Exotic’ Small Animals and their Products
Hamsters, rabbits, cavies, mice and all their accoutrement may compose the bread and butter of your small animal department. But customers cannot live on bread alone. That’s why many seek out more unconventional pets that whet their appetite for excitement, including species like hedgehogs, chinchillas, degus, sugar gliders, prairie dogs and kinkajous. Even if you […]
Small Animal Brands Push Natural, Eco-Friendly Bedding
It’s been said that you can’t build a great building on a weak foundation. Likewise, you can’t hope to have a healthy habitat with weak substrate. Put another way, no betting person should wager on bad bedding or the “runt of the litter” that can’t handle odor, moisture and mess issues. Fortunately, manufacturers have upped […]
Focus Moves to Bigger, More Playful Small Animal Enclosures
If innovators can “invent a better mousetrap,” as the saying goes, they can certainly invent a better mouse habitat, too. Fortunately for retailers, that’s exactly what small animal product makers have done in recent years, rolling out more colorful, expandable and larger enclosures to satisfy consumer demand. Years ago, the problem in this category was […]
Dental, Chew Products Essential for Small Animals
Here’s the tooth of the matter: small animals live to gnaw. It keeps their chompers well maintained and provides a stimulating activity that relieves boredom. As a prime provider of preferred chew products, you can take a sizeable chunk out of this subcategory and crunch up some profits and customer goodwill, too—assuming you don’t bite […]
Fur-mula for Success
If sales of small exotics have been touch and go at your store and you can’t put your finger on the problem, think “chinch,” as in chinchilla. That’s because the chinchilla is the kind of animal for which the very word “pet” was likely invented—a cuddly companion that customers won’t be able to resist once […]
Rabbits are a Top-selling Small Animal
Although International Rabbit Day, September 23, has come and gone this year, it’s never too late to celebrate cottontail cuteness and floppy-eared fun by highlighting hares in your store and living large with lagomorphs. Because, truth is, bunnies big and small continue to attract a lot of “oohs” and “aahs” from curious customers. In fact, […]
Dollars and Scents
Smell that? Perk up your nose and catch a whiff before it’s gone—it’s the fragrance of opportunity and lost profits heading out the door of your store because you didn’t properly capitalize on promoting the odor control and cleaning products your customers are seeking. Small mammal owners often slack off in the cleaning and maintenance […]
