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Rocky road for the pet trade
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| Gabriela Lerner |
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It's going to be another rocky year for the pet trade, says Gabriela Lerner, of Collarways.
"We've seen huge changes in the businesses we work with (both customers and suppliers) and I believe this will continue through 2013," she says.
"All the more reason to stay alert and flexible to move with those changes, rather than resist them.
"There is a tendency to complain about the external influences on our businesses. However, they're just a part of our reality. We can achieve more by staying positive, looking forward and approaching business with an open and honest approach.
"I think the industry is faced with many challenges and I'm sure we're all very aware of them. An unstable economy, lack of resources and raw materials, increasing costs of almost everything.
"Personally I'm particularly concerned about the decline of the high street. However we are seeing that those retailers who adapt by offering different and innovative products and by updating to a more specialist or boutique style concept can thrive.
"I'm very optimistic about the emerging trend of the public supporting independent retailers. We do need more good independent businesses on the high streets because the public does actually want to buy there.
"There is now more transparency about what goes on in 'big' business and this is disseminated not just via the press but also to a large degree via the social networks. This gives people a sense of community and joint power. More and more people know that they can actually make a difference with their buying power.
"At Collarways we have been very busy finding and testing new products over the last few months. We look forward to introducing those products to the market soon.
"We're going to upgrade our infrastructures to streamline the processing of orders further and we're upgrading our warehouse logistics. In our 10th year of trading we we will continue to listen to our customers and deliver the great customer service they expect from us."
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