New Industry Wide Directory is Introduced

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PetProducts.com is a worldwide directory catered specifically towards the pet industry.

Allen Simon, president and chief executive officer of PetProducts.com LLC is focusing on an “everything pets” source directory for consumers and marketing technologies for the pet industry.

The inspiration came from consumer need.

“I own about 50 dot coms,” he said. “This industry has never had a full blown directory.”

Now, it is in the final stages of development.

“It’s going to be the largest directory in the world of pet products; where to find it, how to get it, for any kind of animal, any kind of food that people are looking for and every retailer in the country and in Europe,” said Simon. “It also is going to be the source of information on manufacturers all over the world.”

According to Simon, if someone using the site wants to find out where cages or leashes could be made, PetProducts.com will be a major directory and information hub for them.

PetProducts.com isn’t only for consumers. It’s a dual source.

“It will also tell manufacturers where to find sources or information,” said Simon.

“It’s for consumers and for manufacturers and retail stores,” said Vince Caruso, senior vice president for the website. “They can use it to market their products and do different promotions and it is going to be where stores can source products too.”
Retailers can easily sign up to be listed in the directory.

“There will be a sign up sheet and it will be digital and they will be able to upload all their information,” said Caruso. “We will have people being able to assist them to use this because there will be basic tools but also advanced tools that they can use.”

According to Caruso, these tools allow users to be able to upload their social media on the site and upload consumer comments and reviews.

“We can then take those comments and feed them back to the manufacturers so they can get public feedback instantly,” he said.

Another tool on the site is the Pet Celebrities Home Video area which will enable consumers to learn about products and brands, then if interested find the closest retail store for purchase.

There will also be a search feature and corporate social responsibility that will allow developing and existing popular pet sites to utilize their custom search.

“The pet industry has never been this advanced before,” said Simon. “This is going to be the greatest thing for the pet industry right now.”
PetProducts.com is not going to sell any products.

“We’re there to help manufacturers and retailers make money and find sources,” said Simon.

“The back end that we are building, that Allen has designed, is going to enable any person looking to get involved in the pet industry and the current people already involved to source any pet product and feel comfortable because PetProducts.com is going to do all the work,” said Caruso. “It’s going to help the manufacturers get listed, help them showcase their products and be able to do a request for a proposal.”

That’s just Phase 1 of the rollout. There will be other phases rolling out at a later time.

“With Phase 2 and Phase 3 down the road, who knows how much we are going to be able to help them?” said Caruso.

In fact, according to Caruso, the site is working on a way that stores will be able to recognize customers that come into the store and even deliver digital coupons directly to those customers all by automation.

“This is something that really isn’t being done anywhere else,” said Caruso. “There’s digital marketing phases that will be able to bring the pet store owner to a high digital level with marketing. We are going to make it all nice and easy for them.”

According to him, there are two other websites being developed as well; PetCharities.com and AnimalAlert.com.

“Those are going to be free sites where charities can list and if an animal goes missing, we will have a network of people through Twitter or Facebook to help find an animal in their particular area,” he said. “Those are free services and it is what we are doing for corporate social responsibility. “
PetProduct.com will begin beta in August of this year.

“We are introducing it at Global,” said Simon.

“We will be signing people up then,” said Caruso. “They can register their store, they can register their manufacturing company and register their products with us.”

This way, when PetProducts.com officially launches, those registered at Global will already be in the system.
PetProducts.com will be in Booth 301 at Global Pet Expo.