November 25, 2009

For Immediate Release

New online pet e-tail venture aims for top

Pet owners are spoilt for choice this Christmas with the launch of the country’s newest online pet supply company, MyPetShop.co.nz providing internet shoppers with the largest pet supply range in the country with over 1500 products .

Pitched squarely at dominating market share of the estimated 400 million dollars spent annually on New Zealand pets, MyPetShop.co.nz launched early this week with the support of the industry’s most established brands such as Masterpet with its popular dog food Eukanuba and Petware.

“A large product range, and crucially, price point and convenience for pet owners are key in this venture”, MyPetShop company spokesperson Scott Walker said.

As well as catering for cats and dogs the range includes accessories and health products for most aquatic species, small animals and birds.

 “We’ve got the product knowledge, animal health expertise and we’ve invested heavily in e-commerce and new online retail technology and methods. We’re also pet owners ourselves so we’ll understand if someone wants a Xmas pet stocking.” Mr Walker said.

Using recently developed online marketing, sales and service technology, much of MyPetshop’s start-up budget was allocated to studying online shopping demographics for user trends and using keyword research for the sites search engine optimisation and content.

E-commerce and internet research consultants were employed to stake the company territory online instead of the traditional establishment of commercially suitable retail locations.

Modelled on successful U.S. based online retail pet suppliers, the site includes one click ‘pet gift’ certificates and the company has plans for developing social media such as an online pet owner’s forum and an advice column.

MyPetShop is the second online retail venture for a consortium made up of farm advisors in the North and South Island.

The group set up farm retail site MyFarmStore a year ago and has built on the successful model to handle the large range of pet supplies and accessories.

Of the estimated $400 million spent every year on pet supplies, cat and dog food turnover alone is estimated at over $200 million, with almost 500,000 registered dogs and more than a million cats in New Zealand.
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