Utilizing Online Ecommerce Tools to Compete with Big Box Stores with Pet Friendly
Participants:
Francesca Halberg – General Manager/CPO of New Media Retailer
Hamed Ebrahimi – Owner of Pet Friendly
Video Transcript
Francesca (00:02):
Hello, everyone. Thank you so much for joining me for the New Media Retailer Podcast. I am joined today by Hamed. He is the owner of Pet Friendly. Hi, Hamed. Thank you so much for joining us today.
Hamed (00:13):
Good morning. Thanks for having me.
The start of Pet Friendly
Francesca (00:15):
Yeah, of course. Tell us a little bit about yourself, about your business, how you got started and where you’re located.
Hamed (00:20):
Of course. We opened up the store back in 2007. I actually worked for one of the big box stores for about eight years and climbed a ladder from the stock person to A+ volume stores. And when I couldn’t, when they were passing me on for a district manager position, I decided to open up my own company. We are located in Hilton New York. We’re actually right on the border of Hilton and Greece. Hilton is a smaller town. We only got about 5,800 people in the Hilton market, and then Greece is about 95,000 people living in that town.
Francesca (00:59):
Oh, so a little bigger
<laugh> Yeah, a little bigger, little bigger.
That’s so interesting coming from a big box store background and now doing it yourself on the small business side. Talk to me a little bit about how your experience set you up to be successful in that way.
Working at a big box store vs owning a small business
Hamed (01:20):
Of course. It’s definitely different because when I was at the big box stores, I thought I had learned it all and I can manage the store, but it’s definitely different when you’re doing it all yourself, plus all the behind the scenes stuff on top of what you have to do to manage the store. But definitely the experience has helped me make better decisions as far as running the company. I hear it from my vendors as well that we do more on a business side rather than being a hobbyist and having a store. So it does help making better decisions.
Francesca (01:56):
Awesome. Do you feel like there were things that you took from that experience that were you knew, like “I wanna do this different?” Like customer service, or anything like maybe product knowledge, anything like that, that you feel like you know, based on that experience, you were really wanting to focus in on that to make your store a little bit different from theirs?
Hamed (02:13):
Definitely. The customer service is one of my top priorities and it’s one of the reasons that I wanted to start my own company to be able to help customers more on a one-on-one level. Right then. Okay, you get the customers, this is ABC, you have to do so and so. We like to – not just myself, but my team – I select a team that prioritizes that as well and puts the customers first and listens to the customers and sees what they need and guides them based on that. And they have the goals set to help the customers with exactly what products they need and offer and what would help them out, rather than this is the quantity they have to make, this is the sales volume we have to have and stuff. So it’s definitely helped us gain the trust with the customer. So over the years, now that they come in, they know we are not there just to sell them something, but we are there to help them solve their problems.
Francesca (03:07):
Absolutely. I love that. Fast forward to today, I’m sure a lot has changed since you opened your business. I’m sure customer service is still number one. Absolutely. And you know, that’s why so many people do shop small. But what are some things you’re doing to be competitive against, whether it be Chewy or a brick and mortar national chain competitor at this point?
Resources to help you stay competitive with large pet stores
Hamed (03:31):
Of course we try to utilize all the tools that are in our disposal. We use the program Astro, which a lot of the independents are aware of. It keeps track of the frequent buyer program. They came out, I think three or four years ago, and it’s been a big help, because we used to document everything with paperwork. Every customer that came in, you had to bring the card out and like look for the card and stuff, but everything is computerized now. It’s a small fee you gotta pay every month, but it’s definitely worth it. It not only keeps track of the frequent buyer programs for the customers, but also they have worked with the vendors where they have monthly sales, or like for the Black Friday, they had such great deals like Buy One, Get One.
Hamed (04:11):
So it’s great promotions that don’t come out of our pocket. Our only investment is ready to print the sales sheets that they actually put out. So you don’t have to have someone in the office writing the promo sheets and stuff and teaching the employees what’s on sale and what’s not on sale. That’s really the only investment that we do, everything else Astro will take care of it and the vendors pay for the tail.
That’s awesome.
It’s a great program. Yeah, absolutely. We also have recently partnered up with the SPINS, which they collect data from not just independent, but the entire industry. So we upload our weekly sales into there. And then in exchange, we get access to the data for the industry, as far as what products are selling, what customers are looking for and stuff. So that’s also another thing I’ve started utilizing.
Francesca (05:02):
Perfect. Love that. So in terms of utilizing that platform, that’s so you’re kind of aware of like top sellers in all markets, knowing what products to push on like a weekly or a monthly or seasonal basis, things like that?
Hamed (05:18):
Yes. You could customize it to see based on the last month or last quarter, whatever you want, and not just what is selling, but also if you have opportunities that you’re missing, as far as if your prices compared to other stores in the market are higher or lower. So if they’re higher and that’s why you’re not maybe moving products, you could lower your prices or raise your prices if you’re really under price, compared to other companies.
Francesca (05:44):
Yeah. That’s super good insight. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And then I know you guys also do Bold, which is like subscribe and save for orders that way.
Hamed (05:54):
Yep. We try to compete with the online stores because most of the online stores, Amazon and Chewy, they do offer the subscription.
Mm-hmm <affirmative>.
So we do have that on both platforms. We just actually upgraded the new website. Janet has been working with us very closely and we finally posted the local delivery and store pickup last Monday. And we have the bold program on both the new website and the old website where customers can save up to 5% on any of the subscription and dog food and cat food, and 10% on all that treats and toys and stuff.
Francesca (06:29):
Oh, okay. Perfect. And then in terms of order fulfillment, you guys offer a few different options. Can you walk us through that as well? For both sites.
Hamed (06:39):
Of course, we are partnered up with one of our distributors, and we have access to anything that they have in their warehouse. They do the shipping for us and the products that we either don’t carry or we may have run out of the stock in the store, but they have it in their warehouse.
Mm-Hmm <affirmative>
Or both websites. We also have the ability to fulfill the orders locally either ship it or deliver it and stuff. So we are utilizing both systems, which has helped us out a lot. I mean, in the store we have about 10,000 items, and that’s all you can fit in the 8,000 square foot of store, but obviously Phillips being so big, they have much more product line that we can put out there.
Francesca (07:22):
So you guys are actually doing quite a bit to set yourselves apart. You offer Astro loyalty. You have that app that you’re utilizing to have better product knowledge in terms of pricing, what’s popular, things like that. You’re doing subscribe and save. You’re offering multiple options for order fulfillment. So that’s awesome. I mean, a customer walking in your door, definitely they have access to savings. They know that they’re getting competitive pricing, they have options available for order fulfillment. So if they’re in a position where maybe they’re not wanting to leave their house, maybe they’re sick or whatever it is they also could curbside pickup and then subscribe and save as well. So that’s awesome. I mean, you guys are clearly very well rounded on a competitive front and then add customer service to that. You guys sound like you have an awesome store. Talk to me a little bit about maybe some of the challenges that you are facing even while offering all of those really valuable tools for your customers.
With the recent issues, price changes are at the forefront
Hamed (08:22):
The price changes, obviously it’s been crazy. We normally have one or two price increases annually from each of the vendors, and some of the vendors would go a couple years or two years without doing a price increase. And some vendors this year have already had like three or four price increases. So we have to change the prices one time for every single item – given like you have 10,000 items in the store – and then they’re changing the prices multiple times. It’s definitely a big challenge. And also the in stock positions and the lead time on some of the products, like the collars and leashes and things like that, you, we used to wait like just two weeks. We would order today and two weeks from now, we would have the orders right now. Sometimes the time is up to eight weeks, 10 weeks.
Wow.
Hamed (09:03):
So it’s definitely made a big change as far as that goes. And then some of the products that are in shortages… I’ll use the Carefresh as an example. They have announced that they’re only going to supply the big box stores. Like Carefresh came out three months ago. They said for the next six months, they’re only going to be supplying Amazon and Chewy. So there are a couple vendors that have done that, but Carefresh is the one that came out and said that they’re doing this. So that definitely makes it harder for us to compete. Yeah. But as far as we’re communicating with the customers, which we do through the e-blast, and also we put signs in the store, we’ll try to find similar products and show the customers what else they could have for the same benefits or even better benefits or a better price.
Francesca (09:51):
Yeah, absolutely. And obviously putting signs in the store sounds easy to do, but obviously that takes effort, takes resources, but then it also takes like training your staff and being able to confidently talk about suggesting replacement options and things like that. Which obviously time and resources both go into that so much. Are you guys having staffing issues as well, or are you pretty good with the team that you have right now?
Hamed (10:21):
We did have staffing issues during COVID, but we are in a small town and there is a high school very close to us. I mean, we get a lot of high school kids that are interested in working at pet stores. So we’ve been fortunate that right now we’re fully staffed. We have five groomers in the spa, we got our team in the daycare and the sales floor is completely staffed.
Francesca (10:40):
Awesome. That’s great. Looking forward to 2022, I know you recently launched the curbside pick-up and local delivery site. What are you most excited about heading into the new year? And are there expected ongoing challenges with price changes and like lack of inventory availability and things like that?
Hamed (11:02):
Of course, I don’t see the price changes or the lack of inventory going away anytime soon. Just within past week and a half, two weeks, we have about 35-40 emails with the price increases that are gonna hit just within the first couple weeks of January.
Wow.
And again, these are the companies that have just raised the prices, so right, I don’t see the price increases going away any time soon. And from what I hear, it’s the shipping pricing that’s going up. Like the containers that would cost them $3,000 last year to ship over here has now gone up to $32,000 a container to ship over, so that obviously plays a part. So raising the prices that the manufacturers are forced to raise the prices to accommodate for that shipping cost that they’re taking in. And the inventory, same thing, a lot of the products that were easy for the vendors to come bring over and now it doesn’t make any sense. Do I bring just like 50 cents a dollar product over here and pay dispatch shipping? So some of the items are being forced to be discontinued because of that, so you just have to find solutions for customers to replace them with.
Francesca (12:11):
Absolutely. What are you most looking forward to for 2022 for your store?
Local delivery came with COVID to reach more customers
Hamed (12:16):
I’m very excited about the online store. I really wanna put my effort behind the online store, because I think it gives us a platform to help customers not just in the local market, in the Hilton and Greece area or the towns that are around, but also nationally. We do already have customers in California and Washington and other states. But I think we definitely have a lot of opportunities right there and with the new site that we just put up with the local delivery and store pickup. We have made it so that customers can actually ask for shipping. So we actually have the products that we have on the store that we did not have on the other site.
Francesca (12:55):
Got it. Okay. Perfect. And in terms of local fulfillment for local delivery, how were you able to determine your parameters? Did you do you have a mile radius that you set and do you offer free delivery?
Hamed (13:09):
We do have an eight mile radius right now. We put the tap at 35 to an order, so you are within an eight miles radius, as long as your order is above 35 dollars, we deliver it within the next day.
Francesca (13:22):
Okay, perfect.
Hamed (13:23):
Yes. And if it’s below that, it’s a $5 charge.
Francesca (13:27):
Okay. That’s great. That’s super, super competitive. And local delivery is just one way you can get products to someone faster going that way than like Chewy can or Amazon can, so that’s such a competitive tool to take advantage of. Did you already have delivery set up and you were just kind of running it on your own before offering it through the website or is this a totally new venture for you for 2022?
Hamed (13:52):
It’s a totally new venture that we started since COVID, and obviously for COVID we wanted to keep all the employees staffed. So one of the ways that we wanted to do that was to do the local delivery and stuff, because we were forced to shut down our services, obviously, being New York. So the daycare, grooming, dog training services were shut down, but we tried to have all the employees that are willing to work through at that time come in and work the hours and use the local delivery as a way to keep them employed.
Francesca (14:25):
Absolutely. And have there been challenges with local delivery? I know for a lot of stores it’s something that they would like to offer, but they just feel like “Man, the mechanics of kind of figuring that out, I’m just not quite sure that I’m there yet.” So were there challenges you guys faced when you started offering delivery or any tips you would give someone who was interested in starting offering delivery in their market?
Hamed (14:47):
Obviously, for any new venture that you would take on, there is gonna be some obstacles. Our lead time was one of the things that we were running into issues, because we couldn’t get some of the products and our website did not have a live inventory on it, so it would show that we have products, but it wouldn’t show what we have actually in the store, if we’re all stock. So we had to go back and forth and call the customers, “Hey, we don’t have this product. Can you take this one or refund the products?” But with a new website that we just put on, actually we can upload the live inventory, and I just have to call Janet this morning and she did the upgrade on it, and within two hours, if we post the inventory, the current inventory within two hours, customers see that live inventory. So that’s definitely been a big help.
It’s important to have services clearly identified on the online store
Francesca (15:33):
Yeah, absolutely. I actually was checking your website today and I saw that as well. I was on a product, I think. And there was an exclamation point and it had one left in stock. Which even that alone, I feel like is a motivating factor as a consumer to be like, “Oh, I better hurry up. I gotta check out and secure this.” And so I feel like that is a sales pitch in and of itself. But something that you guys do have on your site that not all of our stories have which I really, really liked and was like, “Oh, I need to make sure that I’m talking to other stories about this,” is how frequently you guys are marketing “Pick-up today, local delivery available tomorrow.” You have those tags and messages displayed on all of your overview pages, regardless of what department or category somebody is in and shopping through. So, you know, I feel like you guys have done a really good job of combing through the entire site and making sure whatever services you offer that you’re consistently marketing that through. And that same thing goes for subscribe and save options as well. So your new site, I think, is really, really well executed. Thanks.
Hamed (16:33):
That’s the credit to Janet. I mean, she’s awesome. She’s on top of the game and a lot of those stuff, she does it on her own. I don’t even have to ask her, so that’s awesome.
Francesca (16:40):
Yeah, absolutely the best. And so I feel like it’s a really good working example of sites that we’ll be able to share with other customers and for them to like, look at, check out different services and things like that, that they might not be taking advantage of. And I feel you’ll be able to learn a lot, of course. Awesome. I feel like, you know, heading into 2022 and through the holiday season and stuff, have you found your customer base feeling comfortable coming back in and, and shopping at this point? Or are you utilizing curbside pickup, local delivery because there is still some hesitation there? Or are you trying to come up with ways to encourage people to come back in? Where are you guys at on that?
Hamed (17:24):
Honestly, we’ve been fortunate that the area that we are in, customers were not that concerned. We obviously have some customers that are concerned. But since last June, as soon as we were able to open all the services, I would say 99% of our previous customers were comfortable to come back inside. We do regular cleaning, obviously, making sure the counters are clean. The doors are clean. All the areas that get touched a lot are clean. Our customers have been feeling comfortable to come in and they have seen us clean the store and stuff. So they, they are comfortable to come and shop with us.
Francesca (17:56):
Awesome. That’s great. I know some stores have kind of struggled with that and have tried to get creative to give people reasons to come back in – frequent buyer, you know, things like that – trying to get creative for people who are maybe still a little apprehensive or giving them a motivating reason to shop local too. So that’s great. Well, thank you so much for walking us through all of those different tools that you guys are utilizing to be competitive and stay at the forefront. You know, I think you guys are really utilizing a lot of really great tools to be competitive. against large online retailers and against big box stores. So thank you so much for walking us through that.
Of course.
Awesome.
My pleasure.
Thank you so much. And everybody thank you so much for participating in today’s podcast and be sure to check back soon for another episode. Thanks. All right. Thank you. Have a good day. Thank you. Bye.