INDUSTRY TIPS: Merchandising Your Pet Care Aisle - RetailWire

RetailWire offers some tips on maximizing merchandising in your pet aisle. For more on the pet care category, check out the May issue of ihr.

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In Part 1 of this series on Creating Your Most Effective Pet Aisle, we saw a view of Pet as a "category of categories," considering such ratio principles as wet-to-dry, dog-to-cat and litter/supplies-to-food. Now, with a better grasp on your optimum Pet department space allocation, here is some merchandising advice drawn from Nestlé Purina's wealth of expertise in assisting retailers with winning in-store solutions.


To best align with the predominant in-store traffic flow, you should make sure your biggest drawing product segments are in the main entrance to your Pet aisle. Keep in mind that when consumers enter a store they generally circle in a counterclockwise pattern1, meaning that the predominant traffic flow in center store aisles tends to be from the back of the store toward the checkouts2.

Consequently, in the pet aisle...

* Dog products should always be across the aisle from cat products;
* If you don't have a full aisle for pet, put pet as close to the back as possible;
* Face in-aisle shippers toward the back of the store;
* And, most importantly, establish back-of-store dedicated endcaps - it's the gateway to the aisle.

Also, since shoppers with carts buy 2-to-1 from items on their left in center store aisles2 , flowing back to the front, place shippers and clipstrips on the left side of the aisle as much as possible.


As shoppers walk the store perimeter, the "Hot Zone" within the Pet aisle (first 8 ft.) can be seen at a 40-degree angle3.

* Since the consumers see this area first, merchandise impactful "signature" segments here to attract the "aisle skipper" - target those shoppers who skip your pet aisle completely to shop for their pet needs elsewhere.
* Place pet impulse items (treats/supplies/premium products) at the end of the center aisles where there is more visibility and shopper traffic. These hot zones can attract more shopper traffic down your pet aisle2.


One-in-four consumers "duck" in and out of the aisle without traveling the full length of the aisle5.

* To increase total aisle exposure, position planned purchase segments - Dog food and Cat food - closer to the center of the aisle, thereby drawing pet consumers past the accessories and treats which are less likely to be planned purchases.


Dedicated pet care endcaps communicate to your shoppers that this is a place for their pets. By calling attention to the pet department, you could increase your traffic flow down the aisle4 and communicate the importance of pet care. Remember, this is a very personal purchase.

* Pet End caps not only attract shoppers down the aisle, but provide a permanent venue to promote pet-related items 52 weeks a year.
* Make certain that the Pet Care endcap is on the inside corner in relation to the predominant traffic flow.


Research has revealed that vertical blocking is consistent with the way consumers buy the dry/wet pet food categories. Each segment, dry and wet, are seen as separate purchase decisions.

* Shoppers view product categories differently. They begin with an initial scan of a product category, seeing only about 50 percent of the brands on the shelf. Then they return to a more manageable "consideration set" from which they make their final decision.
* Vertical sets allow shoppers to easily/quickly make "like-product" comparisons. Shoppers need to be able to compare products, price, ingredients and package size on similar items.

SOURCE: RetailWire