With the world's greatest dog show, Crufts, on the horizon Vital Pet Group has been looking at some of the top trends for dog products and is alerting owners to the best opportunities.
It's marketing and analysis experts say that both the behaviour category and travel are currently in growth, with pet owners looking for a range of solutions in these areas.
\According to Statista, holiday trends are increasingly towards short breaks and staycations - with 74% reporting they intended to take a short break within the UK and 44% intended to take their main holiday in the UK - up 6% on the previous year.
Heather McManus, Sales and Marketing Director at Vital Pet Group says sales will always mirror customer needs and a lot of category growth is also being driven by the humanisation trend.
"Where I go my dog goes, seems to be the motto and that means using guards, harnesses, seat covers and the like for safe travel - as well as stake outs and foldable dog bowls to use once the destination is reached. And of course, if you want to bring the dog along with you to pubs, shops or beaches they need to be well behaved; so we're seeing an increase in headcollars that help prevent pulling, clickers and training discs and even sophisticated retrieval toys for pet owners who have got the bug and want to take training to the next level."
Vital is now stocking the Mikki Training range which includes training aids endorsed by Claire Arrowsmith, Animal Behaviour and Training Council (ABTC) Registered Clinical Animal Behaviourist and Certificated Clinical Animal Behaviourist (CCAB). The range includes WalkRite headcollars, TravelRite crates and harnesses and BehavRite training aids. The Vital team is delighted to have recently onboarded this exciting range.
The travel category also includes the RAC range - a high quality brand that is synonymous with safe travel, ensuring that retailers have a great choice of products for the upcoming Easter break.
Vital also reports that both natural and eco trends have a strong influence on purchasing. The wholesaler started the year with a number of eco pledges which include alerting retailers to the best selling eco products and a commitment to onboarding at least 100 new eco and green products. It reports that good progress towards that goal has already been made with 17 new eco products being listed in 2020.
Retailers can see the latest new products at www.vitalpets.co.uk or can call on the expertise of their account manager on 01837 883 000 to find out what is selling through.
