During the pandemic, many Germans got an animal. Cornelius Patt, head of the online pet supply retailer Zooplus, believes that this is not only due to the home office, but also to a more animal-friendly working environment.
2020 was a good year for pet supplies retailers: many German households have bought an animal. For families with children, the increase in times of lockdown and home office was five percent. “Within 15 months, as many people have decided to become pet owners as they would otherwise in three to four years,” says Zooplus managing director Cornelius Patt. The online pet supplies retailer had a turnover of around 1.8 billion euros in 2020 – 20 percent more than last year. The shares of the listed company also rose tremendously.
Zooplus also benefited from the fact that it only sells its products over the Internet. Although supermarkets and stores for pet supplies were allowed to remain open as systemically important shops, many customers bought online as a precaution. You could feel that “in times of lockdown, e-commerce has gained considerably in popularity,” says Patt.
Pets to “get through difficult times”
The fact that many decided to become pet owners is not just because of the lockdown, according to Patts. Of course, loneliness played a role and animals could help “get through difficult times”. However, the working world will also develop “sustainably more pet-friendly”, believes the Zooplus boss.
There are also dangers for the company: On the one hand, with the boom in the segment, a mega-platform like Amazon is also interested in the pet product business. On the other hand, the normal supermarkets remain important competitors. However, the Zooplus boss is sure that this will not damage his business: “Today we are in a position to act as highly competent specialist retailers, but at the same time to get the cost structures under control so well that we can compete directly with the supermarkets. ”
Jane Stock is a technology author, who has written for 24 Hours World. She writes about the latest in technology news and trends, and is always on the lookout for new and innovative ways to improve his audience’s experience.
