From Cat Toys to Dog Food -- Stroking Pet Lovers to More Conversions with Web Intent Data
We spend more than six hours a day online, mostly on our mobile devices. During those hours we shop. A lot. Almost one trillion dollars is spent online each year, and not a small portion of that is spent on pet supplies. It’s not just Millennials who are big on online shopping for their pets either. From pet insurance to dog walking, pet grooming to food and toys, 86% of pet owners shopped online for pet products in 2020.
“According to data from APPA, the amount Americans spend on their pets grew to $103.6 billion in 2020 – that is nearly $13.1 billion more than in 2018. Pet food and treats make up the biggest portion of the market at $42 billion, followed by vet care and products at $31.4 billion.” Fortunly
What Does Web Intent Have to Do with Pet Supplies?
Web Intent Data is all about monitoring our web content consumption. Intent data provides information about what is being searched for and how high the purchase intention for a product or service is. Buyer intent is the measure of a prospect’s inclination to buy a product or service. So if someone is already specifically looking for brands of dog food, or types of cat toys, or the price of pet insurance, you can presume that their purchase intention is already very high.
This isn’t the first time we’ve talked about Web Intent Data either. Powered with the right web intent data, you’ll be able to say “good boy!” to better marketing campaigns be it squeaky cat toys or doggie treats.
Everybody Loves a Pet - and They’re a Huge Market
The pet market is massive. Huge. On any given day there are more than one billion cats and dogs being fed, stroked, walked, or groomed on this planet. While that seems a lot, there are far more chickens running about. Nineteen times as many. We mention chickens because many of us grew up on a farm and had a pet chicken, right?
While pets don’t shop for themselves, not yet anyway, we certainly shop for them. And, because there are a lot of four-footed customers out there, pet supplies are a future-safe industry. Why? Children love pets, and what our children love, we purchase. Don’t kid yourself – kids are the real deciders in what goes into our shopping carts.
We’re also generally a pet-loving culture. Having a pet can reduce stress, make us feel less lonely, and even mean another member of the family. We buy our pets furniture, clothing, toys, and in many instances even create social media accounts for them.
“In 2019, some 67 percent of American households owned one or more pets, in comparison to a 56 percent pet-ownership rate in 1988.” Statista
Web Intent and Your Multichannel Pet Business
The pet supply market is not going to shrink any time soon. By 2027 the market is expected to be worth more than three hundred billion dollars – three times what it is today. Your pet business is set to grow along with the market if you are in tune with the needs and intentions of your customers.
While pet food and pet toys are always at the front of our minds at the grocery store, we have more time online to think bigger and do more research at home and at the office. By connecting your pet supplies with related goods and services, you can leverage what people are looking for with what you can provide. Do you sell pet food? Do you also sell cookie cutters for homemade pet snacks? Why not?
“While in the UK a retailer like Argos might sell only functional winter jackets for dogs, at a US retailer like Target you can buy everything from a colorful polo shirt to stegosaurus-themed fancy dress costumes.” BBC
Making the connection is more than just focusing on related products. Having a multichannel experience is equally important. Connecting your social media, content marketing, and online shopping experience can find the sweet spot in your customer’s journey. Why? Not every customer has your website bookmarked on their phone.
Chances are high that a customer Googling your name will also stumble across your business because you’re connected to another website, or you feature on social media.
Problem solving, which is at the heart of our shopping, begins with researching the solution to a need. Our customer journey takes us across multiple sources of information before we finally make that last click to purchase. So, the question you need to ask yourself is, what is my customer thinking and where are they? Web Intent Data can help.
Making the Connection Between Intent and Conversions
Pet owners love their pets almost as much as their human children, which is why the pet care industry continues to thrive and create more successful animal-inspired businesses and investment opportunities. Here are just a few examples:
Pet sitting
Pet food
Homemade pet treats
Pet clothes
Pet toys
Doggy daycare
Dog walking
Pet social media/blog
Pet psychologists
Pet insurance
Pet grooming
Dog training
Pet boarding
All of these businesses have one thing in common – they can all be connected in our search and shopping intent. Everything we search for is the answer to a need or a problem. We generally like to solve our problems quickly, which means during the downtime waiting for a solution we will usually turn to peripheral, short-term solutions. And, yes, that’s what the ice cream in the freezer and the candy bar in the desk drawer is for.
Example: “Fido isn’t as sparky as he was. Perhaps he’s depressed. I wonder if my pet insurance covers a pet psychologist? In the meantime, he’d probably like a new chew toy and some snacks. Snacks always make me feel better when I’m down.”
Problem: Fido is unhappy.
Intent: One purchase. $
Long-term solution: Dog psychologist.
Bing! Short-term fix: Toy and snacks.
Result: Three purchases. $$$
Animals can't express themselves verbally. In order to decipher a pet’s needs, we need a high degree of empathy. While most pet owners are aware of this, we don't always adhere to it. Too often we assume and believe, "What I think is great, the animal must also think is great."
So think about it: if you’re going to treat your pets like people, you should treat your pet business like people.
AWI’s Web Intent Data Delivers Recent Seekers
AWI’s Web Intent Data identifies consumers who are doing the research and visiting online sites that indicate they are considering a purchase decision. Web Intent Data is collected from millions of data points that span over 1,000 different product and services categories. AWI’s Web Intent data is available to drive Email, Direct Mail, and/or Digital Display Campaigns.
