Hobbs fashion chain executive Gracia Amico has been drafted in to run a rapidly growing website for pampered pets in the latest sign of a boom in online sales of animal products and services.
Amico has left the Hobbs board and last week began work as chief executive of online retailer PetsPyjamas.
"This market is growing fast. There’s a humanisation of pets at the moment, which means they are increasingly treated as just another member of the family," said Amico, who has also worked at Topman and Burberry.
The site employs about 20 staff and is backed by a number of entrepreneurs including Karen Hanton, founder of booking service Toptable.
It has about 8,000 products and half its revenue this year is expected to come from services such as dog walking, pet-friendly holidays and pet-sitting.
Amico, who owns a greyhound called Steffi, said she had been tempted away from fashion and luxury by the ‘holistic’ approach of the business.
"I’ve talked with Karen before, but this time it felt like the right time to get involved. I’ve always done fashion, but this is a much broader project that includes retail, services, content and community," she said.
"My job is to get the technical blueprint right and then look at how we can take this overseas," added Amico, who is of Dutch-Italian descent and speaks Mandarin.
Target markets where the site is likely to ‘have a presence’ include the US, Germany, Hong Kong and China, she said. The site is the latest in a string of online ventures targeting pet owners in a £4billion market.
AstarPets was launched last month, backed by Quentin Griffiths, co-founder of online fashion retailer Asos. And last year Ocado began its first non-food website, Fetch, offering pet-related products.
Content is becoming increasingly important in e-commerce and PetsPyjamas has already built an impressive platform to handle all elements and has achieved considerable consumer engagement.
Part of this trend is also the emergence of all kinds of pet services including pet travel which are a few years behind retail in online terms so it will be very exciting to be involved in developing this whole area. “
Karen Hanton MBE says: “Gracia is an outstanding businesswoman who will be a major driving force in propelling PetsPyjamas forward.
"Both investors and team are hugely excited and delighted to have attracted such a highly respected industry heavyweight. She brings a great depth of knowledge and experience within the digital world and also as a fellow entrepreneur and e-commerce pioneer who founded her own online jewellery business in the very early dotcom days.“
For more information visit www.petpyjamas.com
