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Beginner’s Guide To Selling Pet Accessories [Hidden Blueprint]
Almost $136B was spent on pet products only last year. And the number is only estimated to rise every year. That sounds like a really good opportunity for the beginners. But even though there is scope, a beginner needs a proper guide plan before stepping foot into the competition.
As a new pet accessories seller, identify which pet products have been consistently popular and note their features. Study the latest market trends and select a product in high demand. Next, set up an online store and consistently advertise your products.
It’s the secret sauce to all profitable pet businesses. But every beginner like you already knows this. To make you stand apart from the crowd, make sure you are planning ahead. I will explain exactly how to do that for each phase of opening a pet business down below. Have a look.
Key Takeaways
- Almost 80% of Amazon’s best sellers in the pet section were from the food category.
- A profitable product must solve a pain point without causing another one.
- Pricing strategy is equally important for beginners.
- Offering frequent giveaways, arranging fun contests, and promotion through influencers usually work to acquire customer’s attention.
- If you are a little hesitant to spend so much money this early, try selling products online.
Which Pet Accessories Sell Best?
I know you are intrigued by the exponential numbers of people’s spending per year to maintain pets. But not every pet accessory sells. That’s the first thing you need to learn about this business. Otherwise, you will be one of the few shop owners who fail to profit from the lucrative pet industry.
Let’s take a quick sneak peek at the best & worst-selling pet accessories in 2023. Hopefully, it will give you some insight on what not to sell.
| Amazon Best Sellers | Worst Sellers |
|---|---|
| Ball Launcher | Babble ball toy |
| Slow Feeder | Pet stroller |
| Pet Camera | Doggles |
| Treat Puzzle | Suits for dogs |
| Cat Charmer | Poop Freezing spray |
| Non-Slip Dog Leash | Massage mitt |
| Donut-shaped dog bedding | Secure cat nets |
If you notice carefully, both ball launcher and babbling ball fall into the toy category. But the first one solves a real issue. For example, you don’t have to throw balls manually & end up hurting your arm muscles. The ball launcher throws the ball at a pre-set distance every time you pull the trigger. So both you & your puppy can enjoy a little play time without any pain.
However, the babble ball has a collection of dog sounds. So, it might help soothe a lonely pup. But the users complain that the nonstop barking sounds actually give them a headache. Of course, you don’t want a random dog’s noise in your house 24/7.
Let’s look at another product: non-slip dog leashes & pet strollers. Both products are meant to be used while you are taking a walk with your pet. The first one is a leash designed with non-slippery material. So, your dog can’t escape from you in the middle of the road. Sounds pretty helpful. However, the next one (stroller) is a replica of a baby stroller, but only for pets.
It kind of misses the whole point of taking your dog out for a walk. You have to let the animal walk by itself, right? No doubt, the seller is hardly getting any sales. So, what do you learn from these comparisons? First of all, ask whether the product is solving any problem or not. If yes, is it giving birth to another set of problems?
Take the pet massage mitt, for example. It is supposed to massage the pet through a vibrating belt. But it causes more trouble than benefit. Many buyers claim their pets were scared by the “vacuuming” sound coming out of the machine.
Now that you know how to identify “good” accessories, try navigating online marketplaces. It will give you an idea of how much sales you can expect. Also, don’t forget to check out customer reviews or, better, buy it yourself to examine features.
Is An Online Pet Store More Beginner Friendly?
There are two ways to sell anything. You can open a physical store or an online e-commerce platform. So, if you don’t have the budget & mindset to run a brick-and-mortar store, it’s ideal to start online.
And, even if you have the budget & every other resource, it’s a wise step to establish your stores’ online presence first. I have seen how it works wonders for businesses in different industries.
Plus, once you have a list of interested or potential customers (retrieved data from the website), it will help you pick a good location for the store.
You can open your shop in a neighborhood that has a majority of your regular buyers. If you start with a physical store, you miss out on these amazing opportunities.
Here are some other reasons why I recommend launching online stores to newcomers.
1. More Cost-Effective
You need to pour in a lot of money to start a physical store before earning a penny. For example, you have to rent a place, renovate it & be present at the location. All of it costs you both money & energy. But as a beginner, I don’t expect everyone to have such resources.
That’s why almost 83% of businesses registered in the U.S.A during 2023 are all online-based.
It’s easier to start, and you can just operate from home. You can even use a portion of your home to keep inventories and other supplies.
2. Ability To Reach A Worldwide Audience
With a physical store, you can only attract buyers from a certain area. But, an online store gives you the flexibility to target an international audience and promote your business.
For example, your research suggests that the majority of your product’s buyers live in a foreign country. You can reach out to them and compete with the local stores using an online store.
And, thanks to millennials’ tendency to prefer comfortable & easy shopping, you might outsell the physical stores in their neighborhood.
3. Earn While You Are Asleep
Who doesn’t love earning without doing anything? I know you do, too. Unlike a brick-and-mortar store, you don’t have to monitor your store all the time. A person can place an order on your website at 2 a.m. You will process it the next at your convenience.
That’s not possible with a real pet retail store. You have to flip the “Open” sign over at some point.
4. Cheap Advertising Options
To promote a physical store, the most effective technique is sponsoring local events. Check out this article to find out more effective marketing methods. Nonetheless, sponsoring events can require quite a chunk of money. But online small businesses hardly require anything close to those numbers for promotion.
Even if you have a budget of $100, you can run ads on several social media platforms. And these ads are not random, as one might assume. You can specify the target customer segment by answering several questions.
Overall, starting your pet shop online can give a real taste of competition without putting too much money on the table.
Which Online Business Strategy Should I Follow To Sell Pet Accessories?
The straightforward method is building an e-commerce website. I am sure you have encountered such platforms recently. Unlike a blogging site, e-commerce sites contain product lists with labeled prices.
Once someone clicks on “check out,” they come across a payment gateway to pay for the products digitally. It’s a pretty simple formula.
Don’t worry; you don’t have to build a functional website yourself. You can simply outsource this task.
Estimated Cost To Launch A Business This Way
| Particulars | Estimated Amount |
|---|---|
| Designing an e-commerce website | $10,000 |
| Designing Logo | $30-$100 |
| Registering Business | $300- $500 |
| Wholesale Purchase | Depends |
| Social Media Ads | $150- $300 |
So, without considering how many bulk products you buy, your cost to start a business would be $10,700. That’s a very modest amount compared to a real store in an expensive area.
Suppose you will invest the same amount of money to buy goods for your store ($10,000). That will bring your total start-up cost to $20,700.
1. Create A Dropshipping Website
The second strategy is dropshipping. It’s okay if the term doesn’t sound very familiar. The process is pretty similar to selling through a legit website. The only exception is you don’t actually buy any of the accessories. Instead, you promote products listed on your website.
It looks the same as any e-commerce platform. Once someone clicks on a product, likes the description & wants to check it out, they place an order.
The money they pay in the gateway, as well as the order information, will be sent to the original manufacturer of the product. They control the whole manufacturing & shipping process. You get paid in commission like an affiliate.
I know there are many issues with operating a business like that. But it has worked pretty well for many beginners. To find out more about how to build a business using a drop shipping website, check out this article.
Estimated Cost To Launch A Business This Way
| Particulars | Estimated Amount |
|---|---|
| Designing a drop shipping website | $3000-$6000 |
| Designing Logo | $30-$100 |
| Registering Business | $300- $500 |
| Social Media Ads | $150- $300 |
Your total cost is around $3670. That’s way lower than creating & running a legit e-commerce website. But you know what’s even more interesting? You don’t have to spend so much on creating a basic website. You can still make it work with a lower budget.
There are hundreds of freelancers on Fiverr & Upwork who will make you a professional website for $1000.
2. Unique Pet Accessory Business Ideas For You
There are thousands of products on Alibaba designed for both pets & their owners. But the only problem is competition. Want to sell pet food? Someone is already selling a variety of flavors at an affordable price. Are you interested in probiotics for pets? I don’t think you can beat credible sellers so easily & quickly.
You need products that are still in the growing stage with an increasing number of buyers. Products like pet cameras and pet GPS tracker has stood out to me. I think such products solve a real problem & are an essential tool for every household.
Reportedly, the pet-sitting industry is worth $5B right now. It was $349M in 2021 & jumped to $2.4B in 2022. And it is estimated to grow at a 10.5% rate.
That’s pretty impressive statistics. Even if there are enough pet shops selling such gadgets, the report suggests there is scope for beginners like you.
These cameras or trackers do the same thing a nanny cam or dashcam does. When parents go outside, leaving their babies in daycares, they install cameras to see whether the baby is being taken care of. Considering pet parents are no less concerned about their furry friends, these cameras are already in high demand.
As for the trackers, they help the parent check their pet’s real-time location when a pet sitter takes them out for a walk. Pretty smart, right?
Other unique products are donut-shaped beddings. The material and the shape of such beds help dogs (even cats, too) to feel less stressed. It’s a wonderful product for parents dealing with an anxious pet.
You can also introduce chewing toys that release stress and anxiety. Just work hard and promote your website accordingly. I think you have a high chance of making sales with such unique & trendy items.
What Do You Require To Build A Profitable Pet Accessories Shop?
1. Research Tools & Data
The first thing you will require is access to all the data of your competitors and the overall market. For example, you are planning to sell pet toys. Before you start, you have to check the current trend in the “toy” market.
What type of toys are selling the best? Is there a common element in all the best-selling products? What’s the average price range of successful products? What are the products your competitors have chosen? How well have the products performed in the past years?
These are all the information you will need before you even pick a product. List out all the characteristics of best-selling products. Now, look for those patterns while choosing products from a supplier. After that, implement a pricing strategy that you know will work.
2. Attractive Website
Your website is your shop. So, treat it like one. Design the website according to your taste and make sure it is loading fast enough. Thankfully, changing a website’s appearance is way easier and affordable than renovating a full-fledged shop.
Also, pay attention to your website’s payment gateway & usability on different devices. You don’t want a potential buyer to leave just because the payment gateway is too complicated, right?
3. Social Media Pages & Followers
No matter whether you sell products from a store or website, you need recognition from social media users. It’s not that hard, considering an average person spends more than 900 hours on social media every year.
All you have to do is create a page on relevant social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, etc. Regularly post content and keep giving updates about your shop.
Once you have a substantial number of followers, you can easily earn a big chunk of money selling to your loyal customer base. You are pretty much good to go if you have secured these three elements.
However, once your brand starts growing, you will need to focus on some other aspects as well.
For example, the majority of successful business owners are part of a bigger “seller & supplier” community.
An active member of such communities attends trade shows frequently. Here, you can learn about all the upcoming products in the market. Plus, meeting your suppliers and establishing a strong network will help you to secure shipment at a cheaper rate.
How Do You Promote Your Pet Accessory Shop For The Best Results?
Promoting your business online might be cheaper, but it’s way trickier than the traditional methods. Here are some tips to increase traffic on your business website & social media handles. Remember, more visitors will eventually lead to more sales.
1. Write Engaging Blogs
You can use the website to write engaging blogs on relevant topics as well. For example, if you are selling pet food. You can write about the nutrients different pets require to grow healthy.
Find relevant topics by properly researching keywords on Google. Integrate keywords in your content strategically to increase reach.
This only method will drive quality leads to your websites. If your advice is genuine, there is a possibility the readers will prefer buying from you only. Since you already have a website, it won’t cost you anything more to publish content like this.
2. Promote Through Pet Influencers
If you don’t have enough followers on your page yet, you can use someone else’s. How? Well, there are hundreds of influencers with millions of followers. You can partner with some of them to promote your shop. The key is to find out the quality of followers an influencer has.
Just looking at the number is not enough. The majority of the followers must fall into your ideal customer segment, including age, gender etc.
Also, the influencer must have a history with the industry you are in. For example, you don’t want a tech influencer to talk about pet food in his videos. It looks way too superficial. Instead, find influencers who actively talk about pets or create content with animals. The money you have to pay for such advertising depends on a lot of factors.
Influencers with less than 1 million followers might charge you $700- $800. At the same time, the payment will only increase if you want someone with a larger audience.
3. Sabotage Viral Trends
Jumping into a viral trend is the fastest way to increase followers on your business page. The key is to find out how you can make the viral trend relevant to your business. Use your creativity and post viral memes or shorts on your page. Don’t forget to use the trending hashtags to reach more audiences.
It’s not too hard. Just go to Instagram or Twitter and check out which hashtag is trending. This works wonders if your ideal customers are Gen-Z or millennials.
4. Offer Giveaways
Who doesn’t love getting stuff for free? It’s another tactic to increase traffic on your social media handles. Start a contest and announce free giveaways to the top 5 contestants.
Instruct the participants to share your page to their individual accounts, share your content with at least ten friends, etc. People will try to follow the instructions for the prize.
Or, you can announce a giveaway only when your page reaches 10K or 100K followers. It instantly encourages viewers to subscribe or follow your page.
Is It Possible To Launch A Pet Accessory Shop With $1000?
It’s very much possible to launch a pet shop with less than $ 1,000 in your pocket. Here’s how you do it. You forget about opening a physical store. Instead, focus on building an online platform. You can create a dropshipping website and start promoting & selling.
It only takes $25 to buy a business domain & hosting service.
If you have a little background in website design, you can build one for yourself free of cost. There are lots of free and starter plans on software that you can try. Use the money to promote your website across the internet.
If you are good at writing, try to create engaging & helpful content. Once you hook a reader, it’s not a big task to convince him to buy from you. If you are not comfortable writing large content, try uploading short YouTube videos.
You don’t have to show your face. Just find a pet and record it using the products you want to sell. For example, if you are selling cute vests for pets, make your pet wear them. If you don’t have a pet, just tell something really interesting about the product on camera for a few seconds.
Leave your dropshipping website’s link in the caption. It’s a free method. Anybody can try to generate more visitors to your website.
You can also follow a Shopify business strategy. Like a dropshipping method, you don’t carry any inventory. All you have to do is create a Shopify shop on the already existing website. You will be in charge of the creativity without worrying about how & where the product is manufactured.
For example, you can design quotes on puppies using any design software. Your store might be all about printing those messages in a tee shirt.
Any visitor can pick a message they like and choose the tea-shirt size & place an order. It will automatically notify the actual manufacturers, who will print that message on a tee shirt and send it to the customer. You get paid a decent share of the price anytime anyone orders. No doubt, you must have a creative eye to be successful in this way.
But if you take some time to learn how to create designs, I think it is the best strategy to launch a business without any budget. What do you say?
Before You Leave!
The guideline in this article is sufficient to launch your pet business off the ground. But who doesn’t want to earn profit a bit early, right? I know you do, too. For that, here is an article where I explain the next steps after setting up a business. It’s all about earning money faster than the conventional routes.
About Author
Hello, I’m Muntaseer Rahman, the owner of AcuarioPets.com. I’m passionate about aquarium pets like shrimps, snails, crabs, and crayfish. I’ve created this website to share my expertise and help you provide better care for these amazing pets.
Disclaimer
This site is owned and operated by Muntaseer Rahman. AcuarioPets.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site also participates in other affiliate programs and is compensated for referring traffic and business to these companies.