Editor's Note

Simply The Best

Nearly 500 of our most loyal readers took The 2023 ‘Big Survey’.

Published

5 months ago

November 16, 2023

Pamela Mitchell PETS+ November-December 2023

I AM BEYOND GRATEFUL. We ask a lot of you as a PETS+ reader. And I am regularly in awe of your generosity of time and expertise.

You take our monthly Brain Squad survey, sharing your insight and advice with fellow pet professionals for the pages of this magazine.

If you’re a member of our Sample Box program, you take an accompanying survey about the products you receive, helping our advertisers better meet your needs and those of your fellow pet retailers. We sent out nine boxes in 2023!

And when we asked you to take our second-annual Big Survey, with its 68 questions, you didn’t hesitate. Sure, some of you took it later rather than sooner, but 471 did and that’s all that matters. Thank you!

You’ll find the results of said survey, along with insights pulled from the data, on pages 30 to 43 of this issue, as well as online with plenty of additional content at petsplusmag.com/bigsurvey2023.

We’d like to give extra-big thanks to Candace D’Agnolo of Pet Boss Nation. As Big Survey Contributing Editor, she helped us craft the questions in the Performance section, then gave her expert analysis of the results — plus tips on how to improve sales if you’d like to report higher numbers next year.

And last but certainly not least in this year’s gratitude thread: the American Pet Products Association. It sponsored our Big Survey for a second year in a row!

Finally, as an incentive to take the Big Survey, we again entered all who provided their name and email address — just to us, the survey is otherwise anonymous — in a random drawing to win a professional portait session for their pet, with the best photo appearing on a PETS+ cover in 2024. We are thrilled to announce that Paul Lewis of The Green K9 in Mount Dora, FL, won. We can’t wait to see the pics of his pup, Allie!

Five Great Tips From This Issue That You Can Do Today

Park a pickup truck outside your business. (Calendar, p. 8)
Have a “cease and desist” letter ready to go. (To-Do List, p. 10)
Recommend this every time a customer mentions their pet has diarrhea. (Hot Sellers, p. 14)
Add pet-themed handles to your front door. (Lyn M. Falk, p. 48)
Designate a team member to hand out samples to holiday customers in line. (Candace D’Agnolo, p. 49)

NASC Media Spotlight

At first it was just an idea: Animal supplements needed the same quality control that human-grade supplements receive. But that was enough to start a movement and an organization —the National Animal Supplement Council — that would be dedicated to establishing a comprehensive path forward for the animal supplements industry. In this Media Spotlight interview, NASC’s president, Bill Bookout, talks to PETS+ interviewer Chloe DiVita about the industry today: Where it’s headed, what’s the latest focus and why it’s vital to gain the involvement of independent pet product retailers.