Dogs. Man’s best friend, right?

We like to think so. They love us unconditionally, make us laugh uncontrollably, and are the stars of many of our best memories. Naturally, they deserve only the best when it comes to nutrition.

Problem: it’s hard to narrow down the perfect food for our furry friends in today’s retail conditions.

Whether too many opinions, too finicky of eaters, or too many factors to consider, selecting dog food these days is almost as difficult as buying a new car. Almost.

While we can’t help you sort through all of the information you’ve gathered from veterinarians, dog trainers, online forums, and well-meaning friends and family, we can discuss retail display options that will make it easier to locate, understand, compare, contrast, and purchase dog food in stores.

Story time: can you relate?

Recently, two from our team (Neil and Sheila) decided to switch up their dogs’ food. Neil had to switch recipes within the same brand, and Sheila had to switch brands altogether. Neil went to his favorite local pet store, and Sheila went to the nearest mass market pet store. Neither had a great shopping experience.

Both found themselves turning what should have been a 10 minute trip into a 45+ minute adventure. They both ended up sitting on the aisle floor, scooting around trying to read ingredient labels, bag marketing, and other product sheets.

The employees weren’t much help in either scenario. Understandably, the local pet shop owner had the willingness and knowledge to assist, but not the time. At the big pet store, Sheila found the employees had ample time, but weren’t able to assist or make a recommendation when she inquired about the differences between the three options she’d painstakingly narrowed down.

Neil and Sheila left the stores in worse moods than when they arrived.

Pet Food Display Challenges

This isn’t an uncommon experience. Displaying pet food has been a notoriously difficult challenge for retailers everywhere. For dog food in particular:

The products are big, bulky, and heavy
They take up a lot of space
They look similar to their competition
They can be difficult to merchandise creatively, especially in small display spaces.

Even if brand reps provide pet retailers with education, signage, and out-of-the-box display solutions, it’s often not enough, or not intuitive enough, for shoppers to make confident decisions while on their self-guided paths-to-purchase.

This not only negatively impacts sales, it also damages the overall relationship the shopper has with the retailer, even if the issue is out of the retailer’s hands.

Pet Food Display Solutions

After sharing their experiences, Neil and Sheila gathered the AXIS retail design team and asked them to come up with more intuitive, accessible ways to display dog food in stores. After reviewing market research, they invited the team to develop concepts that were:

Disruptive to the current retail floor
Modular and scalable - to fit any retail environment / size

Adaptable - and easy-to-update

Multi-functional - to accommodate and highlight product bundling opportunities within brand SKUs

Tech-enabled - low-tech, like a QR code + high-tech, like lift-n-learn sensor technology and video screens

Focused on streamlining the decision-making process - through color-coded signage, incorporating iconography to aid in “product attribute shopping,” the ability to present real-person reviews, etc.

Data Review: Pet Food Industry Market Insights

In a recent report by Morgan Stanley, pet industry spending is forecasted to nearly triple by 2030 to $275 billion. The average American pet owner spends over $400 dollars a year on food alone, which is only trending upward as the raw dog food market continues to boom and demand for therapeutic supplements, vitamins, treats, and other edibles grows as well.

On the other hand, inflation remains high and pet food suppliers are feeling the pinch. Brands have become more selective in which product lines they carry and where they are sold. Product merchandising has never been more important.

Finally, during the pandemic, many people found new (or renewed) solace in pet ownership, adoption, and fostering. Whether for emotional support, physical safety, or as an attempt to conjure feelings of happiness and normalcy, pooches were pandemic-proof. Brick and mortar pet retailers, however, were not.

Like many other industries, online pet food purchasing skyrocketed during the pandemic. Three years later, it’s continued to remain high due to subscription services and innovative DTC companies like Chewy.

Since researching and buying food online is so easy, pet food retailers are now challenged to rethink the purpose and vision for their stores in general - and an interactive, innovative display system could aid in bringing that vision to life.

Side note: check out a cool design concept Petco tried out.

How Current Market Insights Affect Retail Trends in the Pet food Display Industry

There’s about to be a lot more ways to spend money in a pet store.

With raw and premium food on the rise, the addition of therapeutic and wellness products, the introduction of millennial-influenced clothing and pet accessory lines, and increased services (such as grooming, training, pop-up events, etc.), the display floor is going to feel crowded.

This affects both brands and shoppers by creating challenging retail merchandising environments:

More options, more problems.
Product option overload overwhelms customer attention and leads to frustration, second-guessing, purchase abandonment, and/or impulsive shopping.
Retail space limitations
Retailers do the best they can with what they have. Sometimes, this means products get merchandised in a way where important product information isn’t easily accessible. In-aisle signage often fails to list ingredients, nutrition profiles, and value propositions, forcing customers to pick up heavy bags and flip them around just to read what’s in the food. This becomes increasingly difficult when attempting to compare and contrast outside of the same brand family, let alone between product lines within the same family.
A new breed of dog owner is on the rise
“Only the best for my baby.”
Many millennials are delaying or choosing not to have children. Interestingly, as the rate of children per household decreases, the rate of pets per household increases. Pets are family. This brings about a whole new level of seriousness in understanding source, quality, ingredients, manufacturing practices, and benefits of pet food (as touched on in the previous point).
Understanding the path-to-purchase of these consumers (including their social media and influencer interactions, points of education, and loyalty drivers) will be paramount to success. In-store displays need to incorporate and streamline the information.
Lack of Help
If the display isn’t intuitive and the shopper isn’t confident, they will seek additional support, often from their mobile device. In doing so, they may see and be swayed by reviews, see and be swayed by more attractive prices, see and be swayed by another brand’s ads promising x discount or rebate. If a brand doesn’t have a way to intuit and support the shopper on their journey in the store, it’s a missed opportunity. Focus on ways to predict and guide the narrative through QR code scans or other decision-assists within the signage or display unit.
Likewise, in many retail locations store staff will be limited. In a perfect world, associates are integrated into the display, having been trained on the product, its benefits and value props, and how it stands out among the competition. They know how to navigate the display and how to use the display’s prompts to support the customer. But in reality, employees simply don’t have enough time or information to make true recommendations 100 percent of the time, again exposing the brand and retailer to missed sales.

When Displays Work Harder, Sales Grow Steadier

In this tight economy, hybrid online/IRL community, we have to optimize the physical spaces we have. Great retail doesn’t need to be new and shiny retail; it just needs to make sense within today’s market conditions.

Below we’ve offered some visual examples of modular, adaptable display pieces that could be net new or retrofitted to enhance existing areas to help pet brands and pet retailers earn and elevate customer loyalty. We want to give people reasons to return to stores…and maybe not hate the experience while there!