Customers love convenience. Whether it’s purchasing goods via Amazon prime for 2-day shipping, ordering groceries online at Walmart website to be picked-up curbside at a local store, or filling a prescription from the comfort of a warm car at the pharmacy drive-thru, consumers have proven time and again that convenience is important to them when choosing where to take their business. Given the lifestyle of today’s consumer, being able to provide a variety of convenient services is key. When it comes to pet services, at-home offerings can make a customer’s life easier—and win you their business.
According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), 65 percent of U.S. households own a pet, and collectively Americans spent $5.76 billion on pet services in 2016. This category of pet services—which includes grooming, boarding, walking, training, and pet sitting—has been growing at a rapid pace in recent years. One could speculate that the rapid growth in the pet services area is partially due to an increase in the availability of easy, stress-free services that are geared towards busy pet owners.
Convenience of Mobile Grooming Pet Service
One such convenient pet service is mobile grooming. Mobile groomers provide a professional level of pet grooming within the comfort of the owner’s home. Mobile groomers often offer early morning, late night, and weekend appointments that you can’t always get at a typical grooming salon. In addition, mobile grooming is usually a less stressful experience for a pet than taking it to a salon where it will be groomed alongside other pets.
Most mobile groomers charge more than traditional salons, but customers seem to be willing to pay for the added convenience. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects 15 percent employment growth between 2012 and 2022 for animal care service workers (the category that includes pet groomers). According to the BLS, this projected growth rate is faster than the average for all other occupations.
Don Stone, Owner of Pet Love Mobile Grooming and Pet Butler in Dallas Texas, says “There’s so much demand for the service now. Today’s customer has a very busy life and being able to provide services to them in their homes is a real-time saver for them. For us diversifying by adding a Pet Butler franchise was a neat way for us to enter another phase of the pet specialty service industry.”
Pet Services While Owners Are Traveling
According to the APPA’s 2015-2016 National Pet Owners Survey, there’s been a recent increase in the number of new and young pet owners. Within the last year, almost 8 million people became new pet owners, with millennials and baby boomers making up the majority demographic. The shifting trends in pet ownership, combined with increasing pet spending by millennials, offer promising potential for professional pet sitters. 35 percent of all dog owners report using pet sitters, and 67 percent of cat owners report such use. According to Thumbtack, an online service that matches customers with local professionals, 35% of dog owners who hire sitters employ them for multiple visits per day.
Pet sitting is a more convenient alternative for pet owners who travel or are away from the home for long days. Professional, trained sitters come to owners’ houses, meaning owners no longer need to board their pet at a kennel or rely on a neighbor to care for it. Pets get to stay somewhere cozy and familiar, and owners get the security of knowing their pets are being properly cared for.
There’s an End To Dog Poop Pickup
Consumers crave convenience when it comes to taking care of their pets and their yards, and what could be more inconvenient (and unpleasant) than picking up dog poop? Pet waste removal companies will visit customers weekly and remove all pet waste from their lawns, no matter what the weather is like or how any pets they have. Picking up pet waste isn’t just a nuisance, either—it’s important for good health. Many infectious diseases are known to live in pet feces, from e. coli to tapeworms.
“Since parasite eggs are transmitted in stool, I recommend regular pickup of stool, no matter who is doing it,” says Dr. Lisa McIntyre, Pet Butler’s Pet Wellness Series Contributor, “there is a greater environmental contamination if it’s left in the yard and owners often find regular pickup of waste to be a grueling chore, and pet waste removal companies offer customers a safe and convenient way to get rid of the waste in a timely fashion.”
No matter what particular services pet owners decide to take advantage of, one thing is clear—innovations in the industry are giving customers more options to choose from and more time back in their days. After all, the less time they spend on pet services the more time they have to snuggle and play with their furry friends. Learn more about how Pet Butler can expand your pet services. Call 1-844-777-8608 or visit us at Grow My Pet Industry.
