EPISODE 35: What is the importance of an omnichannel approach for pet food business growth?

The below transcript is from Episode 35 of the Trending: Pet Food podcast. Host Lindsay Beaton and Yvethe Tyszka, vice president of marketing at H&H Group North America, discuss adapting omnichannel strategies based on consumer behavior and an evolving shopping landscape. You can find the episode at Trending: Pet Food, on SoundCloud or on your favorite podcast platform. This episode was originally recorded in May 2023.

Lindsay Beaton, editor, Petfood Industry magazine and host, Trending: Pet Food podcast: Hello, and welcome to Trending: Pet Food, the industry podcast where we cover all the latest hot topics and trends in pet food. I’m your host and editor of Petfood Industry magazine Lindsay Beaton, and I’m here today with Yvethe (Eevete) Tyszka (Teeska), vice president of marketing at H&H Group North America. Hi Yvethe, and welcome!

Yvethe Tyszka, vice president of marketing at H&H Group North America: Hi, Lindsay. Thank you so much for having me in your podcast.

Beaton: In case you’re not familiar with Yvethe, here’s what you need to know. She has over 20 years of experience as a visionary leader in product innovation, brand building, and consumer marketing. As the vice president of marketing at H&H Group - North America, the international parent company of Zesty Paws, Solid Gold Pet, Swisse Wellness and Biostime, she currently oversees marketing functions of all four brands. Originally from Venezuela, Yvethe embraces her heritage and is a proud Latinx leader in her community. She was selected as one of the 2022 C-Suite Awards honorees recognizing her as one of the Orlando community’s top leaders and outstanding performer in their areas of expertise, as well as for their contributions and commitment to their professions and the local community.

The Health & Happiness Group is on a mission to help millions lead happier and healthier lives. With the acquisition of Zesty Paws and Solid Gold under H&H Group’s Pet Nutrition Care pillar, the brands have been able to seize greater opportunities and provide transformative supplementation and pet foods to people and their pets worldwide.

Yvethe’s multibrand expertise the pet food marketing space is why I’ve brought her on today to answer this question: What is the importance of an omnichannel approach to drive pet food business growth?

I want to start out by going over a little bit of history and get some foundations laid for how omnichannel came to be and why it's so important right now. Before omnichannel became such an important strategy in the pet food space, how did businesses decide which avenue to take when it came to selling their products?

Tyszka: At the beginning, they were very delineated channels for both brands to get to the consumer and for the consumer to be able to acquire products.

Let’s start with the brands. If you are a brand that had more expertise or access to retail, your first inclination would be to leverage that to launch there first. You didn't worry so much about other ways in which people could buy. Same with if you were a brand that was more digitally native, your first inclination would be to use that to launch.

Now, digital is relatively recent when you look at the history of retail. The consumer journey was more one way or the other originally. Either you went to retail and purchased and online was not as developed. As online developed, and more avenues for online shopping came about, such as social commerce or just websites like Amazon, the line became more blurred between where the brands were, and the consumers could purchase.

Now there's more of a “wherever I am as a consumer, I want to be able to find brands and products for me to purchase.” That forced brands to provide one experience and one identity wherever the consumer was. That is the omnichannel shopping experience.

As a brand, you want to be able to put out a product so that the consumer doesn't even see the differences between where they purchase through retail or when they go online. You need a seamless integration of the brand messaging wherever they are.

Beaton: It's clear the internet was a huge steppingstone in terms of developing omnichannel strategy, whether it's people going to the big Amazon and Chewy or just e-tail versions of brick-and-mortar stores.

Can you pinpoint when the omnichannel strategy first became a key focus in pet food specifically? How has it evolved into what it is today?

Tyszka: That's a tough question. I don't know that I have a date, but if you look at pet commerce in general, you can track by Chewy, for example. Chewy was the first huge pet-centric retailer that was all digital. That was a huge milestone around 2017. They were founded in 2011. In 2017 they controlled 50% or so of all the pet food in the U.S.

If I had to pick a day, even though I don't know specifically when that would be, I would say pet became huge in the e-commerce space when you had an online retailer dedicated purely to pets. That marks the pivoting point.

Beaton: I feel there's been a lot of evolution since then, especially over the last few years, which may have accelerated some of what was already going on in the e-commerce space in terms of people diversifying where they shop.

What has that looked like for pet food? Going from people having a specific place they went to get all their pet products to people now doing a hybrid model, where they get some stuff online and some stuff in the retail space. They're doing research online. They're maybe going into a store. It's not there. They get on their phone immediately and order it online instead. Even things like subscription services for pet food and autoship. There's been a lot of evolution. What has that looked like and how has it made everything more complex in terms of trying to figure out where your audience is at?

Tyszka: One of the biggest changes that happened was 2020. In 2020, obviously it was impactful for everybody in around the world, for us in the U.S., especially in the pet industry, we saw the incremental number of pets that were adopted that year by people that were able to stay home and work from home and say, “Well, now I can have a pet.”

I remember there was an article in the Wall Street Journal in January 2021 that said that the number of adoptions went from 3 to 4 million pet adoptions a year to about 12 million. The number of pet parents that, for the very first time, entered the pet world was just astronomical. In fact, there were shelters that were empty, and people trying to drive miles to another state to be able to adopt a pet. That’s one thing.

In that environment, we did not have the choice to go shop wherever we wanted. We had to shop wherever it was open. If neighborhood pet stores were closed, but big retailers were open online – they certainly benefited disproportionately that year. People saying, “I can't even leave to get my own food. I must pick everything up from one retailer,” whether that was Amazon or Chewy or any of the retailer.com sites. That was a big change.

Then once that happened, that shift in how the consumer shops, now they can go back to a hybrid normal. They can go to the store in certain times. They can shop and pick up in-store in other times, which saw a huge growth through 2020 and 2021. Then you have the regular retailer you may visit because you want to have more information, more education. You want to be able to ask questions, and you're going to be better served in that sense, when you go to the retail or even neighborhood pet stores.

Now we come back to it's all about the consumer convenience. They are going to be able to purchase, not exclusively, mostly anywhere they want. If I'm at the retailer today, and I need to buy pet food or pet treats or supplements, they're going to be able to make that decision right there and then. Then they may subscribe and get it shipped to them from an online retailer later.

I think each channel provides different benefits to the consumer, and it's all about them and their own convenience as to where they want to make that purchase decision or when they discover the brands. Many, many times they discover brands at retail because they just happen to be passing by an aisle or shopping for something else, and that may or may not happen as easy online. If we can be present everywhere -- where they shop in some shape or form -- we'll be able to service the pet parents as much as we can.

Beaton: Let's talk about that a little bit more, because I don't think anybody in the industry at this point is unaware of the omnichannel strategy. You'd have to be living under a rock to not know that an online presence and a physical presence are going hand in hand right now.

Let's say you are a smaller to midsized pet food company. You have limited marketing dollars. You only have so much upscale that you are doing with your product. Maybe you're brand new. You can't be everywhere at once. How do you prioritize where to look for your audience?

Tyszka: The first step is getting to know your consumers. Who are the people that love your brand? Who are the people that shop your brand? What are the places where they want to find you?

If you are a brand that started online, Amazon potentially could be a great outlet for you, or a retailer like Chewy, or your own website.

Your own website is going to be the most you can control, and you can offer a brand experience. You can offer customer care. You can offer increased information and even ways for the person to navigate what products exactly to buy. You can offer a quiz, for example, on your site to guide the person through the purchase process. Knowing your consumer and their shopping habits would be number one.

A lot of times people, especially in smaller companies, feel like they don't have all the resources to invest on research or on data. There are many ways to find data within your own environment that is not costly. In fact, it may be free. For example, Google Analytics, the back end of your website, where you can see all the stuff that is happening. You can look at the back end of your social properties and see who the people are engaging with your brand online and on social media and start carving that profile of your consumer. Even talk to your customer service team. They talk to your consumers day in and day out. They answer chats. They'll be able to give you, as well, information about their shopping habits.  If you're a brand that launched online, that would be the best way to go.

You can also, as a small brand, start at the neighborhood pet stores. Why? Because those stores are going to offer the most information and education, especially if you're in a new category. A few years back when we launched into supplements, pet supplements were not a big category. People didn't even know it existed. It served you well to be in a town where you can ask questions and where the shop owner can provide guidance and education for you. Usually, these neighborhood shop owners are trustworthy as people that you always go to for your pet needs. You’re going to be more willing to trust this person giving you the information about the brand.

Finally, if you're a big brand that has other products at big retail, to launch new products under that retail is the easiest. However, for small companies, it's usually the toughest avenue to go. Big retailers have more logistics and operation demands. The amount of inventory you would have to generate is huge, and you don't have as much bandwidth to fail. If you want to test things, you must be successful day one.  

If you want to test, if you want to try, I think online would be my first avenue, then small pet stores, then big retail once you've succeeded.

Beaton: There's a lot of talk, especially in the North American pet food industry because it's such a mature market, about how crowded the space is and how hard it is to stand out in the physical space, like on pet store shelves or in the grocery space or any of that. I must believe that’s starting to happen in the online space as well, because you're just inundated. You do a search, and it's just product after product after product.

What are some of the challenges inherent in the omnichannel approach? Are there extra opportunities to stand out? Does it make it more difficult to stand out because you're now trying to cater to two completely different ways of marketing your product? How can companies navigate trying to stand out, both in a physical space and in an online space, when the marketing strategies need to be different just because the experiences are different?

 Tyszka: That’s a great question, Lindsay. Part of maintaining an omnichannel presence is making sure your brand shows up appropriately according to each channel, but the brand strategy must be one. You're going to use different tactics and different tools in each environment to strengthen your brand equity and deliver the message that you need.

I'll give you an example. You can have an end cap at a big retailer, and that end cap is going to have certain messaging and certain education, but for the most part, it’s not going to be crowded with all the information that you can bring. You can have a QR code to drive somebody to a product page where they can learn as much as they want from that physical space. You can provide more information, but not necessarily on the actual end cap.

Conversely, on the online site, you can have videos or a quiz to drive or guide you through that shopping experience, especially in categories that are new. The most important part is that the communication and the strategy must be one and reinforce each other with different ways the brand can express itself.

Beaton: I know that your brands are in pet food, pet treats, pet supplements. Are there any differences in dealing with those three segments when it comes to the omnichannel approach? Or are the approaches largely the same no matter which product you're doing, and the pet space works the same way with each segment?

Tyszka: Part of what is important in the pet food category, for example, is the need to make sure you communicate what is different about your food. At the end of the day, we're talking about kibble or a version of food for your pet. So why should the consumer pick you?

You must be very clear. Give the consumer one or two reasons why you're different and better than the brands that are on shelf with you. Pet food tends to have the same street, a lot of traffic through the aisle, so you're going to get very little attention. But you're going to be in a high-traffic area if you're in a physical store. We have found that supplements are in a less high traffic area, sharing space with puppy pads and nail clippers and items you’re going to only buy once or twice a year.

The consumers, the pet parents who buy supplements, tend to buy because of a condition. Most people say, “Oh, my dog is experiencing allergies or skin dryness. Let me see what I can find to help them.” That's what's going to drive them to supplements. With food they always eat, it's very high traffic.

Online is different. People are going to search for pet food. They're going to be inundated with brands and brands and brands and brands, so it is important to make sure that you provide those one or two features that show why they should choose your food.

Brand relevancy. That's where brand equity plays even a bigger role, where the consumer sees you on a small thumbprint of your brand, or sees your packaging on the shelf, they must be able to tie those two together. Consistency of brand expression is critical to navigate omnichannel shopping for the consumer.

Beaton: Where do you think the omnichannel focus is heading? Do you think it's going to diversify even more? Do you think there are going to be some channels that are just going to come out as winners, and we're going to settle down into some type of new normal where people have one or two places they go? What is the future of this fracturing of shopping options look like?

Tyszka: We're going into even more diversification as more properties become shopping properties. One example is TikTok, which just recently became an e-commerce platform where before it was just for social content.

More and more new platforms are going to come to the market that are going to be shoppable. More people want to buy wherever they are. Social media influencers, as they share products, will want the ability to sell on the same platform. You as a consumer, don’t want to go somewhere else and click on another site where you lose that continuity of message.

I don't see this stopping anytime soon. If anything, I see it growing even more. Again, it’s about consumers and where the consumer is, where they want to shop. It started a long time ago with Instagram. When we saw the increase in shopping through Instagram, people were like, “Oh, this really has legs.” You don’t want to leave that environment. You just want to shop the brand in Instagram and make your purchase right there. That’s where we're going to go. I hear a lot of “retail is going go away.” I don't think it's going to go away. I think retail is just morphing into something different.

We've seen the pickup-in-store phenomenon grow tremendously. Now people like both. Big box retailers have expressed in different articles that people do both. They do some shopping and buy online pick-up at store, then when they go to pick it up, they shop the store as well to do some discovery treasure hunting.

They end up with two experiences, one digital and one at retail, combining the same shopping trip. They may not want to lug a big bag of dog food around the store, so they pick it up just before they leave. They want to have that time for themselves and that treasure hunting of walking around the store and seeing different things that they hadn't seen before. That's the perfect merge of both the retail environment and the digital environment.

Beaton: Let's talk to the people who are listening and taking notes on this omnichannel strategy. They're planning on going back and looking at their company strategy and seeing where they're at. They just dropped their heads to their desk because you said TikTok now has an e-commerce space. Now they're wondering if they must get on TikTok as well.

Overall, what do you think are some of the key points that companies should focus on to stay successful in an omnichannel space? What are some of the things they really need to be focusing on right now? Really need to review their strategy and go, “Okay, this is where I need to be. This is where I don't need to be.” What do people need to do?

Tyszka: The number one thing I recommend is get to know your consumer. You must know where they want to shop. If your audience is not on TikTok, then don't open a TikTok store. If all your audience is on TikTok, make sure you have a TikTok store.

If you start with your consumer, you'll be able to serve them where they are, at least to begin with, and then grow from there. Tell them, “Hey, did you know that we can also be here.” As your audience grows, your brand’s omnichannel strategy can grow with your consumer.

A lot of times we get mesmerized by the shiny object. “Oh, TikTok is here. Let's go and open a store.” Is your consumer there? Is your shopper there? Make sure you know those things before you spend the effort and time in growing a social property that may or may not be relevant to your shopper.

It sounds basic, but going back to your consumer, making sure you know who you're selling to, is number one. Then, if I had to do one other thing -- before you grow your distribution into different avenues, whether it's online or offline, make sure you know what operation needs you're going to have to fulfill.

If you're in a big box retailer again, you're going to have to work on inventory, delivery dates, types of shipments, whether it's a master carton, number of units per carton. There's a lot of complexity that you may or may not be able to address. You could say, “Hey, I can't be in this big box retailer today. Let's put it on the roadmap for three years when we, from an operations perspective, can service them appropriately.” Then you can grow your distribution with your capabilities internally.

At the beginning, again, centering on your consumer, know where they shop and grow from there.

Beaton: A lot of strategies for success that have come out on this podcast and a lot of different topics really comes back down to know your customer. Seems like a basic thing, but it can be easy to become complacent. You do a study, and then five years later, you realize you haven't reevaluated your consumer at all, and you have no idea where they're at.

Today, with so many facets to the pet parent and where they shop and how they shop, what do you think is a reasonable timeline for how often you really need to sit down and reevaluate your customer? Is once every couple of years enough? Is it once a year? Is it once every six months? Where are we at right now in terms of how quickly your customer can shift their profile from one place to another where they shop or from what their needs and desires are? And how do you keep up with that?

Tyszka: If you have a website where you can sell, like a DTC site with customer service, you’ll be able to keep a pulse on your consumer in a real-time basis. For example, our customer service team provides a weekly report to the organization to help us understand the trends. What are people saying? What are people liking or not liking about their brand experience that we can address on the spot?

The same with your website. You're going to have Google analytics on the back end, where you can say, “Okay, let me look at what my consumer is navigating. What pages are not converting?” You can adjust them very quickly. It also gives you some demographics.

A brand health tracker helps to see how your consumers are perceiving your brand and where they're shopping. We do them at least twice a year, and it's not a huge investment. It's usually under $10,000. That is more for medium to larger companies.

Otherwise, if you start with the data that you do have -- whether it's customer service DTC or your social properties – these are going to provide you with engagement and growth of your property. You'll be able to start crafting that broad experience then and there. That would be my recommendation: evaluate it as often as possible using the tools you already have in place.

Beaton: Excellent. I think that is very solid advice, and I really appreciate you coming on to talk about all this today. There's just so much happening in the market right now. When it comes to channel growth and expansion, it can be hard to keep up with. I think it's important to keep talking about it so that we can make sure we're staying on top of whatever is going on at any given moment. There really is just a lot going on right now, and a lot of stuff has accelerated. So, I really appreciate you being on to help me break some of this stuff down. Before we go, let’s do a little plug: where can people find more information about you and H&H?

Tyszka: The best place to go is our website, solidgoldpet.com and zestypaws.com. You can also visit our LinkedIn pages for Zesty Paws and Solid Gold. I'm very active on both, commenting and posting, so I'm sure you find me as well on LinkedIn through them.

Beaton: Perfect. That’s it for this episode of Trending: Pet Food. You can find us on PetfoodIndustry.com, SoundCloud or your favorite podcast platform. You can also follow us on Instagram @trendingpetfoodpodcast. And if you want to chat or have any feedback, I'd love to hear from you. Feel free to drop me an email: [email protected]. 

Once again, I'm Lindsay Beaton, your host and editor of Pet Food Industry magazine. We'll talk to you next time. Thanks for tuning in!