Pet positive

Chatter at the recent Global Pet Expo suggests the pet aisle is becoming a valuable area for many grocers—again.

Could there be a growing enthusiasm for the pet aisle?

It has not been there for a couple of years, but, based on comments made at Global Pet Expo, many manufacturers and even some supermarket retailers seem to be setting their sights on the grocery store again.

The reason is simple. More and more supermarket retailers have made it clear that the pet department is once again important to their overall store strategy. With price points rising for pet food items many merchants are expanding the size of the pet aisle and adding new categories to it, especially on the food end of things. They are placing the section in more visible locations within their stores while also stocking more age and health-specific items in hopes of getting consumers to buy up in the category.

Suppliers are noticing and trying to get their products in on the act. A large number of these vendors said they are packaging products to meet the needs of supermarket retailers (both smaller and sometimes much larger packaging) and offering price points that are aggressive but still come with the high margins the category is known for.

However, this is not your mother’s pet category. While the food category continues to be dominated by several key players, the accessories segment is fraying. Gone are the days of just a few players, notably Hartz and Sergeants, dominating the pet care planogram. Now, retailers are asking—and getting—what they need for their pet aisles from a broader and more flexible range of vendors.

That is good news for virtually everybody. Consumers get a greater choice of products, more vendors get their products added to the pet aisle and retailers have a greater selection of companies to work and deal with.

It is becoming very clear that supermarkets can do battle on equal terms with other retailers in the pet category. The key, many agree, is to have the right assortment in the right spot at the right price points to win the battle.

Speaking of the Global Pet Expo, it was plain to see that more and more supermarket chains utilize this show as their prime source for learning more about new pet products and sales programs. And they should. The show comes at the right time of the year (late winter) and at an affordable, easy to get to location (Orlando) so there is no reason why more grocery retailers do not utilize the event. The bottom line is that there are more than 900 different manufacturers at the show and if a grocery retailer cannot find the right product mix from these companies, they are not looking very hard.

Global Pet Expo officials are trying to make it harder to say no, too. They are including more educational events and activities to give retailers more reasons to attend. Putting Global Pet Expo on your list of must-go-to shows next year is a prudent move.

Single-copy magazine sales continue to tumble, but that does not seem to be stopping a number of retailers from continuing to place the best-selling pubs at their front-end. “Even with sales down, magazines mean big business to us and we have no intention of getting out of the business,” says one nonfoods buyer in charge of his company’s publication business. “We may be paring back the number of titles and looking more closely at what sells, but we are not getting out of the business anytime soon.”

Seen at a New Jersey ShopRite: A display with a product called Safe Sound Breathalyzer, which is designed to determine if you are too inebriated to drive. Placed near a beer display near the front of the store. Quite a sobering thought.    GHQ