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3 Technology Takeaways From SuperZoo 2021

August 29, 2021 / 3 minute read / By Zoya Naeem

The industry has changed and pet stores need a game-changing strategy; otherwise you can end up in the dog house

Trade shows are back, and SuperZoo 2021 in Las Vegas was a great way to kick things off. While this year was little different, there was a good turnout of pet brands, retailers and suppliers. Retailers visited our booth at SuperZoo to demo the latest in retail technology. What they found is a solution that goes way beyond just ringing up an order.

Let’s explore the technology Celerant showcased at SuperZoo, and how it can help your pet store grow.

1.) Serve your local community anywhere and safely…

Today’s pet stores need to cater to customers anywhere- in store, online, curbside and sidewalk sales.

Point of sale Celerant’s point of sale is mobile and offers contactless payment options so you can complete transactions anywhere and safely. Your staff can easily look up inventory, run price checks, offer rebates, accept loyalty rewards and gift cards, and round up sales for pet charity donations. Learn More »

Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
With the built-in CRM, you can quickly lookup a customer’s purchase history and reward points. The CRM offers ‘parent-child’ relationship management to help you better serve customers with multiple pets; you can associate purchases with a specific pet, and track birthdays for multiple pets.

eCommerce & Curbside Pickup App
For those who shop at home, Celerant offers integrated eCommerce with options for home delivery and same day pickup at your local store (or curb). Customers can book online reservations too. During the pandemic, Celerant developed a Curbside Pickup App that uses text messages to inform customers when their order is ready, and alerts staff when they arrive. Coming soon, Celerant will be launching a web app to help retailers deliver a personalized and interactive eCommerce experience on any mobile device. Learn More »

2.) Automate purchasing for products….

With increasing demand, and new pet owners on the rise, pet stores need to streamline supply.

Vendor catalog integrations & auto ordering
Celerant integrates with major and local pet supply wholesalers, such as Phillips Pet, General Pets and Sunburst Pet Supplies. Through the point of sale, you can browse your suppliers’ catalogs, choose the items you want, and import them in bulk- with no manual entry, you can build your product database quickly and without data discrepancies. Now you’re ready to order inventory; you can create and send purchase orders to suppliers, digitally, and automate the process by setting up min/max levels for items you always need in stock.

Endless aisle eCommerce and in store kiosks
For online shoppers, many suppliers now offer online data feeds, consisting of all their available inventory. Celerant’s eCommerce sites can pull these feeds, and display data, including product name, description, images, pricing (mapped from the point of sale), and more. Retailers using Celerant’s kiosks can also leverage the feeds to offer more products in their store. The level of integration may differ based on the services provided by each supplier.

Another benefit of data feeds is knowing when a product becomes available. This allows you to offer products to customers right away; or order it for your store before your competitor does.

There are a couple of integrations we are going to use with our Celerant point of sale. ASTRO is important to keep track of our ‘frequent feeder’ program, along with the website so we can create a seamless experience for customers however they want to shop with us- whether in store or online, it becomes a very good experience.

Teresa MillerOwner & Founder, Treats Unleashed

3.) Keep customers coming back and attract new customers…

Pet stores need to keep customers engaged, compete with other stores, and attract new customers.

Incentives
Celerant includes loyalty rewards, product discounts and promotions that can be applied both in store and/or online. Celerant also includes membership clubs with the convenience of recurring billing. With an integration to ASTRO Loyalty, you can also offer manufacturer rebates from over 100 pet brands (Greenies, Blue, Fromm, Purina, Holistic Select, etc.).

Marketing
Celerant offers integrated email marketing that uses real-time customer and sales data so you can send the right message at the right time. Here is an example of an email workflow:

Trigger: Customer purchases crate for new puppy

Next Day: Send thank you email with upsell products (attachable food tray, puppy food, etc.)
1 Week Later: Send email asking for an online review
Late Spring: Send email with helpful summer tips, and coupon for tick prevention products
1 Year Later: Send anniversary or pet birthday email

You can also send ‘abandoned cart recovery’ emails reminding customers with items in cart; and leverage Celerant’s SMS text message marketing and clienteling to communicate with clients on a one-to-one basis.Online Marketplaces
In addition to Celerant’s eCommerce, Celerant integrates with 3rd-party marketplaces, such as Amazon, Walmart, Facebook, Google, eBay, and others. Through these integrations, you can easily push product data to each marketplace with all orders flowing back into the retail system- so you can manage ALL channels in ONE place. If that doesn’t get your tail wagging, I don’t know what will.