Pet ownership is booming, and with that growth, so is the demand for pet food, treats, grooming products, supplements, toys \u2014 you name it, pet parents are in the market for it.<\/p>\n
Two-thirds of American households own a pet in 2024 \u2014 that\u2019s 86.9 million homes with at least one dog (65.1 million) or cat (46.5 million), according to data from the American Pet Products Association, including a 10% increase in pet ownership during the pandemic years of 2020-22.<\/p>\n
And as pet ownership has increased, so has consumer spending on pet items, which hit $147 billion in the U.S. in 2023.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s a big number, and predictably, where there\u2019s a big and growing market, competition among brands seeking to get their products in front of pet parents is intense.<\/p>\n
A key lever more of them are pulling? Sampling. With some 91% of shoppers crediting sampling and product demos with shaping their buying decisions, data clearly show the strategy helps convert shoppers into buyers, according to a recent retailer study conducted on behalf of Advantage Solutions.<\/p>\n
But unlike a sampling program for a new brand of chips or a new flavor of sparkling water, which a consumer can try during a regular shopping trip, executing a sampling for pets requires a distinctly different set of considerations.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not like I\u2019m trying the product, right?\u201d says Nick Gendron, senior director of business development at Advantage Solutions, which provides omnichannel sampling experiences across e-commerce, lifestyle and retail platforms.<\/p>\n
Gendron, who is one of many Americans who brought a dog into his home during the pandemic, adds, \u201cIt\u2019s not the same as me getting a beverage and tasting it for myself and deciding whether I like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since consumers are not physically trying the product themselves, these brands have the additional layer of educating consumers properly about the sample to the point where they feel comfortable giving it to their pet \u2014 and buying it again.<\/p>\n
\u201cPet ownership and consumer spending on pet products continues to rise,\u201d says Alan Verdun, executive vice president of client services at Advantage. \u201cWith that comes the need for new products from our pet-product clients that need to be supported. Many of the sampling or brand experiences that we create for these clients relate to product education and new innovation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Advantage, which boasts the No. 1 experiential marketing business in the U.S. for a decade and running, supports a growing number of pet product manufacturers by finding creative and innovative ways to get their products into the hands of shoppers. That includes venue-based marketing and e-commerce sampling campaigns.<\/p>\n
Advantage works with a network of thousands of venues beyond traditional retail outlets. Built by its client success team, that network includes everything from doggy daycares to pet boarding sites, veterinarians and groomers, and pet-specific retailers.<\/p>\n
These relationships are built one-by-one and require each venue to opt-in to participate in the sampling program. From there, Advantage employs the staff of each location, educates them about the products and trains them to distribute samples.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know these venues bring in consumers who are pet owners, and they are opting in to take the samples because they are relevant to them,\u201d Gendron says.<\/p>\n
In e-commerce, Advantage offers \u201csurprise and delight\u201d by placing samples inside of purchased e-retailer packages. Essentially, we’re trying to match brands with products that would make sense or align with synergistic demographics for a particular product.<\/p>\n
Targeted marketing is critical and knowing whether a recipient of a product sample has a dog or cat helps prevent waste and expense. To that end, Gendron says, \u201cWe have a network that\u2019s been built out of people who buy pet supplies online for whom we could feature in-box samples.\u201d<\/p>\n
As consumers have adopted the trend of pet humanization and increased wellness, the food and treats they buy have become more healthful, organic and natural. People treat pets like children, which means they\u2019re more discerning about ingredient panels and the provenance of what\u2019s in their pets\u2019 food.<\/p>\n
Edible pet samples, therefore, have become increasingly ingredient-forward. As pet parents focus more on health and wellness, brands are including educational collateral along with samples so that consumers can better understand the benefits for each product \u2014 and decide what they do and do not need to give their pet.<\/p>\n
In many cases, Advantage will work with veterinary venues to distribute samples, offering additional assurances to the consumer that the product is not only safe, but beneficial to their pet.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf somebody is giving a sample out at a [veterinary office], there’s an implied endorsement that comes with that,\u201d Gendron says. \u201cThe facility has to opt in to distribute the sample. They’re not going to give out something that they don\u2019t believe in or that would be bad for pets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pet food, which is by far the largest pet product category with U.S. retail sales of $51 billion in 2023, also requires an innovative approach to sampling, particularly dog food. They don\u2019t really make sample-size bags of dog food, which typically comes in huge bags. Nor would distributing samples, even if it were logistically feasible, account for different breeds, weights, ages and health needs for every dog.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt proposes a challenge, for sure, so we\u2019ve created nicely branded educational flyers for these clients that we distribute at vet offices,\u201d Gendron says. \u201cThey include a QR code that links to information where customers can learn more about the product, where and how to buy it, and so on. Once people scan the QRs, we know they\u2019re engaged with the product and had an opportunity to learn about them based on their online behaviors and the things they buy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Given the overall growth of the pet industry and consumers\u2019 changing behaviors, innovation and education are more important than ever for brands to stand out in an increasingly competitive marketplace. Advantage, as a proven leader in creative and impactful sampling, offers winning solutions to break through the noise \u2014 and convert samplers into shoppers.<\/p>\n
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Pet ownership is booming, and with that growth, so is the demand for pet food, treats, grooming products, supplements, toys \u2014 you name it, pet parents are in the market for it. Two-thirds of American households own a pet in 2024 \u2014 that\u2019s 86.9 million homes with at least one dog (65.1 million) or cat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2298,"menu_order":0,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"mrktblog-category":[41],"class_list":["post-2299","mrktblog-posts","type-mrktblog-posts","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","mrktblog-category-advantage-news"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n