A New Vision for Petco
Last month, Petco made news with the announcement
that it is removing from its
product mix food and treats
that contain artificial colors,
flavors and preservatives.
While it is a bold move
on the part of the big-box
retailer, however, it is just
part of the vision that new
CEO Ron Coughlin has
for the chain—a vision
that he shared in a recent
interview with Pet Business.
In fact, Coughlin sees Petco evolving into
something akin to the many independent pet
specialty chains that have enjoyed phenomenal
success over the past two decades by focusing on
healthy, wholesome nutrition, along with services
that offer a real value to pet owners.
“We think that a lot of these retailers do a
great job, and part of our ambition from a
merchandise standpoint, particularly with food, is
to be the scale specialty independent—meaning,
we look out for the pet’s nutritional needs and
give informed nutritional guidance in the aisle.
Some of these independent specialty players do
that very well, and they set the bar that we are
looking to match or beat,” he said.
On the services side of the business, Petco’s
commitment to bringing these offerings to the
forefront is evidenced by the company’s new
PetCoach store concept. “I’m super excited about
PetCoach and what it symbolizes—our shift to
more of a service-oriented concept,” Coughlin
explained. “We’re ahead of our plan thus far with
PetCoach; we will open another store before the
end of the year. It’s a phenomenal learning lab
for us, both as a stand-alone concept, as well as
Mark Kalaygian
Publishing Director
& Editor in Chief
informing future Petcos.”
Of course, given the ongoing impact
that internet sales are having on the
retail pet industry, building up Petco’s
online business—an area in which
the big-box chain wasn’t particularly
successful in the past—is also a
priority. And according to Coughlin,
the company is already seeing
improvement.
“Our digital business has grown
by double digits. Would I like it to be
triple digits? Sure, but it’s growing and
we’ve come up with important offers—
like buy online, pick up in store, ship
to store and repeat delivery—that
are resonating with customers,”
reported Coughlin. “It’s important
to understand that we are not one-
dimensional; our whole concept is
around customers being able to buy
when they want, how they want, and
being able to go across from digital to
brick-and-mortar, and eventually to
in-home services as well.”
While the wheels of transformation
have already been set in motion,
Coughlin apparently understands that
Petco will have to continue to make bold
choices to ultimately achieve his vision.
“We are going to be bold and
redefine a new Petco that takes the
nutritional high ground and transforms
the business into more of a services
offering, as well as unique supplies,” he
explained. “When you bring that all
together, we don’t believe that anybody
in the world can be a better partner for
pet parents than Petco can across all
channels, all offers.” PB
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