The increasing global trend towards the humanisation of pets has led to an upsurge in the sales of pet products and services, according to Garcia Amico, who has swapped an executive career with high-street fashion brand Hobbs to manage the online business PetsPyjamas.com
This week Gracia spoke exclusively to Pet Trade Xtra and shared her hopes for the company.
What has attracted you to the pet industry?
The huge potential of the industry and my passion and affinity to it. The industry is growing very fast and is worth £4 billion in the UK alone. We have seen some great developments in our industry. I have been in online retail for 15 years and believe that the pet industry has a lot of potential for online growth. In addition, at PetsPyjamas.com we have unique services alongside our pet product offering. Services is an area that has a few years of catching up to do and we know we can make a big difference as this is partly where our expertise shines. In addition I am a dog owner and feel passionate about the services and products we offer.
Is the PetsPyjamas.com brand targeted at a particular type of pet owner?
Not really, anyone with a pet will have found themselves wanting to go on holiday and bring their dog or have been in need of a dog walker in their area. Everyone with a pet needs to buy food and other essentials. Pet owners all have something in common, a love for their pet. So we have created an environment where like-minded people can engage.
What is the background to the company?
PetsPyjamas.com, launched in 2012, is backed by Shoreditch incubator JustAddRed whose investors include a number of toptable.com founders. (toptable.com, Europe’s number 1 restaurant booking service, was sold to US Nasdaq listed Opentable in 2010 for $55m). The rapidly growing online business has been built around the lifestyle elements of the increasing global trend towards the humanisation of pets. The site lists over 8,000 pet products, many from independent manufacturers, and bookable services from dog walkers to pet sitters and groomers as well as a wide selection of pet friendly travel destinations. It also features a unique social ‘petwork’ where pet lovers interact.
Is the idea to make it a worldwide brand?
It certainly is. One of my tasks will be to roll the business model out internationally, starting with the US and another European country.
What makes your proposition so special?
The business model PetsPyjamas has developed is totally unique, very innovative and one of the reasons I am so excited being part of it. It has looked at the customer, listened and put together a holistic model that offers all a pet lover needs will everything in one place: products, travel bookings for pet friendly places, services (including bookings for dogwalkers, dog sitting etc) a large community where like minded people can engage and talk about their pets and for example ask questions. In addition we have an enormous amount of high quality and interesting content which is fun to read and informative at the same time.
Do you focus more on the quality of products rather than price?
Both are extremely important to us. We would never want to charge more for our products than anyone else. As for services and bookings, the customer's delight with our service is our ultimate aim. We consistently go the extra mile to ensure that the experience with us is memorable happy one. This could be reflected in our pet concierge service where we personally help every customer to ensure they get what they need. We recently picked up a dog in a taxi to get him urgently to his dogwalker. Whatever it takes!
What are the company's long term aims?
Long term, we aim to fine tune our offering and continue to increase our services to ensure that we are the ultimate destination for pet lovers. We also hope to roll out the business model on an international scale.
For more information visit www.petspyjamas.com
