The pet industry has been experiencing explosive growth, with the market projected to reach nearly USD 400.40 billion by 2028. As more pet parents invest in premium pet products and services for their furry friends, companies face immense opportunities along with complex pet product fulfillment challenges.
Partnering with the right provider not only saves on costs and headaches but also enables scaling up precisely as market demand surges.
By considering factors from inventory management to omnichannel distribution, pet retailers can confidently focus on sales and marketing while fulfillment operations are in expert hands.
Challenges of Pet Product Fulfillment
Pet ownership surged in 2020 post the pandemic. This along with inflation rates in 2022, has led to heightened demand for pet products and increased prices. The pet product industry has unique fulfillment challenges that can make or break your eCommerce business.
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Diverse product types and sizes
From delicate grooming tools to bulky bags of pet food, pet products come in all shapes and sizes. Effective fulfillment requires experienced professionals who understand how to handle and pack these diverse items for safe and efficient transportation. With thousands of SKUs from pet food to toys to grooming supplies, inventory and order management quickly becomes complex.
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Special handling considerations
Certain pet products, like perishable treats or medicated shampoos, require specific storage conditions and careful handling to ensure they reach customers in optimal quality. The wide variety of products often requires special storage needs like climate control, which strains warehouse space.
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Regulatory compliance
Depending on the type of pet product you sell, you may need to comply with specific regulations regarding labelling, ingredients, and shipping restrictions. A reliable fulfillment partner should be well-versed in these regulations and ensure your products meet all compliance requirements.
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Seasonal fluctuations
Demand for certain pet products, like winter coats or summer cooling mats, can fluctuate significantly throughout the year. A flexible and scalable fulfillment solution is crucial to adapt to these changes and avoid stockouts or overstocking.
How a Pet Product Fulfillment Center Helps Brands Overcome Challenges?
The pet product industry has seen an enormous growth of 450% over the past 25 years. This shows how expansive the industry has become. With more expansion, better fulfillment practices need to be adapted by businesses for smoother operations.
Let’s examine how the right partner makes all the difference.
1. Maximizing Inventory Space
It has been shown that more than 85% of pet owners buy pet products online. This results in massive inventory space requirements for businesses. Carrying too much inventory leads to inflated overhead costs and wasted capital. However, stocking too little can lead to lost sales when popular products go out of stock.
JIT inventory means receiving new stock in smaller, more frequent shipments. This reduces the need for large safety stock buffers and minimizes the amount of dead inventory just sitting on shelves. Using the right technology can predict demand surges and ensure you have just enough stock on hand to meet orders without overstocking.
2. Order Accuracy
Fulfilling pet product orders accurately is crucial for any business. Even a small mistake like an error in picking or shipping the wrong item can damage customer satisfaction and loyalty. For a business selling pet products, order accuracy should be a top priority.
With methods like barcode scanning and other technologies at multiple stages of the fulfillment process, each item is correctly matched to the order as it progresses through its system. This increases the accuracy rate.
3. Fast Shipping Times
Getting products out quickly to customers is critical in the pet product industry. Customers want to receive their pet food, toys, and supplies as soon as possible once they place an order. Slow shipping times lead to dissatisfied customers who may cancel orders or refuse future business.
For example, ground shipments from their Ontario warehouse can reach major Eastern cities including Toronto, Montreal, and Ottawa within 1-2 business days. Shipping speed and reliability are essential for retaining customers in the competitive pet eCommerce market.
Read Also: Common Shipping Problems in 2024 and How to Address them?
4. Omnichannel Integration
Providing a unified shopping experience across all sales channels is crucial for modern pet product retailers. Pet product fulfillment helps you integrate your online store, mobile app, brick-and-mortar locations, social media pages and more through a central inventory management system. This allows you to provide accurate stock information, fulfill orders, and manage returns seamlessly across every touchpoint.
Real-time inventory syncing prevents overselling and provides visibility into stock levels at each fulfillment location. This can help you deliver the omnichannel experience that today’s consumers expect.
5. Regulatory Compliance
Selling pet products comes with a unique set of regulatory requirements that merchants must follow. Certain pet products are regulated at both the federal and provincial/territorial levels across Canada.
For example, pet foods and treats must comply with the federal Feeds Regulations and Feeds Act. This covers proper labelling, packaging, nutrient levels, and allowable ingredients. Some provinces like Ontario also have additional regulations for pet foods through their provincial acts.
Medicated pet products and supplements fall under the federal Food and Drugs Act and must be approved by Health Canada. Proper licenses need to be obtained to sell these items.
When it comes to general retail sales of pet supplies, regulations can vary by province and territory. British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island all have specific pet supply retail store legislation. This covers the minimum standards of care that must be followed when selling pets and pet products in stores.
6. Fraud Prevention
Fraud is a serious concern when selling pet products online. You want to minimize losses due to fraudulent orders while not negatively impacting legitimate customers with overly strict fraud prevention measures.
High-risk orders can be flagged for further manual review by their fraud prevention experts. With their expertise, you can accurately detect the vast majority of fraudulent orders before fulfillment occurs. This protects your business from losses and chargebacks while ensuring real customers can conveniently purchase your products with minimal friction.
7. Customer Service is Key for Pet Products
Providing excellent support for pet product customers should be a top priority. When owners purchase items for their beloved companions, they want to ensure the process goes smoothly. If any issues arise with an order, customers will expect fast, friendly assistance to resolve matters.
How ShipTop’s Services Can Help You Save Time and Money?
At ShipTop, we understand the unique challenges of pet product fulfillment. That’s why we offer a comprehensive suite of services designed to streamline your operations, minimize costs, and free up your valuable time:
1. Warehousing and inventory management:
- Free up valuable space: Eliminate the need for storing inventory in-house, allowing you to utilize your space for more strategic purposes.
- Reduced overhead costs: Say goodbye to the high shipping costs associated with managing your own warehouse, including rent, utilities, and staffing.
- Real-time inventory insights: Gain complete transparency into your inventory levels with our 24/7 online access proprietary solution, allowing you to make informed decisions about restocking and avoid stockouts.
- Strategically Located Warehouses: With warehouses in Toronto, Vancouver, and the United States, we help you reduce shipping costs and transit times. This results in providing the most optimum fulfillment solution for your direct-to-consumer eCommerce brand.
2. Order fulfillment:
- Fast and accurate order processing: Our team of experienced professionals ensures your orders are picked, packed, and shipped accurately and efficiently, minimizing errors and maximizing customer satisfaction.
- Reduced shipping costs: We leverage their extensive network of carriers to negotiate competitive shipping rates, passing the savings on to you.
- Multi-channel fulfillment: Sell seamlessly across multiple platforms like Amazon, Shopify, or your own website. ShipTop seamlessly integrates with popular e-commerce platforms to ensure smooth order fulfillment regardless of the sales channel.
3. Value-added services:
- Pick and Pack: We can assemble pet product bundles or promotional kits according to your specifications, saving you time and resources.
- Special handling: Our team is trained to handle all types of pet products, including fragile items, perishables, and liquids, ensuring they reach your customers in pristine condition.
- Returns processing: Streamline your returns process with their efficient returns management system, minimizing customer inconvenience and improving overall satisfaction.
Read Also: Healthybud’s Distribution Success after Partnership with ShipTop
Wrapping Up
Fulfillment for pet products comes with unique challenges that require specialized solutions. Partnering with a fulfillment provider experienced in the pet industry is the best way to maximize sales and marketing while optimizing distribution operations.
ShipTop offers pet product merchants the ideal combination of advanced technology, extensive experience, and tailored services to meet their specific needs. By leveraging our strategically located warehouses in Canada and the United States, technology, and dedicated account managers, you can rapidly scale your pet product brand.
Investing in the right pet product fulfillment solution is essential to sustainably grow your business in the dynamic and rapidly expanding pet industry. Get in touch to explore how our services can elevate your business.