3 Ways Petco’s New Concept Store Can Transform Your Retail Strategy

Expert education. Personalized pampering. Tasty treats. If that sounds good to you, just think how much your pet is going to love it.

PetCoach—the brainchild of big-box pet retailer Petco—has launched their pilot store just outside of San Diego. Designed as a full-concept approach to pet care, this innovative model sets tails wagging with vet services, grooming, daycare, educational resources, and more. Plus, they offer a membership model that lets owners save on perks like products, trainings, and online coaching.

But it’s not just pet retail brands that should be paying attention to this new model. While the PetCoach approach is purrfect (sorry, perfect) for four-legged families, consumer brands of all kinds could—and should—apply this highly attuned take to their target consumers.

How can you lead the way in innovation for your own market? Read on to find out.

1. Streamline Your Consumers’ Experience

Simple enough, right? PetCoach meets consumers where they are by creating a one-stop shop for pet owners. Who has time to run across town to the vet, groomer’s, and grocery store? Eliminate the noise by bringing everything under one roof.

How You Can Adapt It: Love the idea, but not in the market to open a store anytime soon? Think smaller, and you’ll still get big results. If you’re an eyewear brand, your customers are likely asking for prescription frames, sunglasses, and accessories such as lens cleaner and cases. Make a one-stop shop for your brick-and-mortar locations by creating a branded display that caters to the full suite. (Plus, by branding your display properly—and creating a cohesive planogram to ensure the same layouts across your store locations—ThirdChannel’s data has shown that you can drive nearly 2x the sales.)

2. Go Big or Go Home

Petco has always been a mainstream pet brand. They could’ve comfortably stayed in that channel, but they saw the opportunity to expand and ran with it. By leveraging their deep industry knowledge, they were able to cater to a different type of clientele—one looking for a more upscale experience that understood their niche needs. In doing so, Petco is able to now cater to multiple audiences, providing the right experience, in the right way, in the right space, to the right consumers.

How You Can Adapt It: Shifting your focus doesn’t have to mean going luxe. What are the key selling points your products offer, and how do they meet popular demand? Let’s say you’re a nutrition brand and you’re looking to reach new audiences. Take a look at your store locations and determine which are ripe for specific demos and displays—busy urban locations could be the perfect place to launch a hot new flavor of protein shake, while a health-conscious rural store could be just the right spot for products with new biodegradable packaging. Each of your products has a unique selling point—determine them, and then match them to the right audiences for broader success.

With ThirdChannel’s cutting-edge technology, you can identify which specific stores are ripe for which specific type of support. Our platform monitors sales and key data in real time, giving you personalized action plans that will increase efficiencies, meet consumer needs, and grow sales.

3. Get Smart with Your Selling Points

When it comes to pet care, education is enormously important—which is why PetCoach has launched not only veterinarian services, but online expedited answers, in-depth chat and phone consulting, training, and more. Their lineup of experts is key to connecting pet owners to the health, nutrition, and happiness knowledge they need.

How You Can Adapt It: While education is key, you don’t need to hire hundreds of full-time employees to meet the needs of your customers. Ramp up retail associates’ knowledge with key product trainings, brand trainings, and selling points; or tap into a part-time Field Force that can staff up the exact locations you need, when you need it most. By addressing key areas where insights are necessary, you can help consumers make informed decisions, create lasting brand loyalty, and drive sales along the way.

One consumer electronics brand used ThirdChannel to do just that. By tapping into ThirdChannel’s network of 130,000+ brand-right agents, they were able to better educate in-store associates and consumers—and were able to participate in assisted selling plans—leading to a 35% increase in unit sales, and a 51% increase in dollar sales.

Interested in learning more about how ThirdChannel can help your brand? Request a free demo now!