In the wake of COVID-19 eTailPet has started an initiative to join forces with industry vendors to support independent pet retailers.
eTailPet has been a dominant force in helping neighborhood pet stores create comprehensive online storefronts to adapt to the changing pet landscape and compete with giants like Amazon and Chewy.
As COVID-19 wreaked havoc on brick and mortar stores, eTailPet saw a rise in online sales for their independent pet retailers as well as a surge of new store owners looking to keep their stores open online or curbside during statewide closures.
Lonnie Schwimmer, Founder of Nootie weighed in on the recent boost in sales and the influx of new store owners utilizing eTailPet’s revolutionary platform, "Any stores that did not have their own online software should be counting their blessing that eTailPet was created. Today people want to buy when they want and how they want.”
Schwimmer went on to comment on the pandemic’s effects on local retailers, “COVID-19 thrust them into the future and forced them to adapt or be out of business. Now that stores have seen the future accelerated, the next steps should be focusing on brands that are not on Chewy or Amazon, so they continue to separate themselves from them."
With eTailPet’s surge in new clients, Pet Food Experts CEO, Michael Baker stepped up to announce that in lieu of a temporary furlough of his 28-person sales team, he would immediately allocate their intellectual capital to the most pressing areas of eTailPet’s operations.
Seeing a need, vendors came together as a community to see how they could help support those on the front lines of the pet industry and small business America.
eTailPet went straight to work and developed The Vendor Program, allowing vendors the opportunity to connect with independent retailers like never before.
The partnership will benefit the retailers as well as the vendors and the pet industry as a whole. eTailPet retailers will have an avenue to connect with vendors for marketing collateral and ongoing promotional materials and opportunities. Vendors will enhance catalog offering and accuracy allowing retailers to offer more products online. Vendors will be able to connect with retailers who are in front of their end-users. They will be able to gain key insight into aggregate buying habits and improve the overall offering to pet parents.
“We are always looking for ways to support our eTailers. This pandemic has upended communities and our families. The overwhelming and generous initiative on the part of our vendor community will help neighborhood pet adapt and succeed in this rapidly changing environment.” said Berenice Giannini, Founder of eTailPet.
The Vendor Program is a great example of what can happen when the pet industry comes together to build each other up and support one another.
Below are the vendors that have come together to participate:
Almo Nature USA, Champion, DuckyWorld Products, Inc., Earth Animal,Farmina, First Mate, Fromm, H&C Animal Health, Holistic Hound, Inaba Foods, Midwestern Pet Foods, Natural Pet Food Group, Nature's Logic,Nature's Variety, Nootie, Nutrisource, Pets Global, PetSafe, Plato Pet Treats,Primal Pet Foods, Red Barn, Skout's honor, Sustainably Yours,Swedencare USA, Tall Tails, The Bear And The Rat, The Honest Kitchen,Treat Planet, LLC, Tropiclean, Vetdiet, W.F. Young, WellPet, Weruva andZiwi Pets
