How to brand a pet freeze-dried snack store?

In the booming pet economy, pet food branding is becoming a new trend in the industry. From freeze-dried snacks to fresh food experiences, how can brands capture consumers' desire for freshness, health, and trust, and create a pet food brand that has both emotional warmth and quality assurance?

As the pet economy continues to develop, users will pursue better products and experiences, and the industry will inevitably be segmented.

Since there are pet stores that focus on grooming, it is natural that there will be ones that focus on food.

No matter how you describe the selling points of traditional puffed, air-dried, freeze-dried, and canned foods and build brand power, they are essentially industrial pre-packaged foods and are not as fresh and healthy as a fresh meal or a short-shelf-life snack.

Recently, a wave of fresh food and freeze-dried snack stores have become very popular on Xiaohongshu. In fact, such stores have existed in Europe and the United States for a long time, and even pet supply supermarkets have loose snacks.

I have seen some notes on Xiaohongshu, and some customers who want to do such a brand have come to consult. Two weeks ago, I went to STOP SHOP to experience it. Maybe it is because this field is too new in China, and there are some obvious problems to be solved.

1. Fresh

Whether it is the freeze-dried food store in Changsha or the STOP SHOP in Shanghai, neither of them clearly states “how fresh” they are.

This is the core motivation for users to purchase offline.

Does freeze-drying have a short shelf life? Is air-dried meat produced within 24 hours? What about fresh dog food?

It is not enough to just write small handwritten words on the bulk boxes. There needs to be a clear and unified position to let users clearly understand "Why should I buy offline? How fresh is the product?"

We bought freeze-dried food, but we didn’t pay much attention to the shelf life. Later, we looked at the photos we took on site and found that the shelf life was 6 months. Compared with the 18-month shelf life of the freeze-dried food of MY FOODIE, I felt a little relieved.

But what about other users who haven’t made the comparison?

Everyone has different requirements for short shelf life and freshness, so if you are not informed in advance, bad reviews are inevitable.

The source teeth are presented much better in this area.

2. Trust

The first thing the pet industry needs to solve is trust . Because humans cannot replace dogs in food, to some extent, the trust cost is actually higher than that of human food.

This was the main problem we solved when we were working on Suntech.

Back to pet food stores, the current expressions and presentations are mostly very rough.

How are freeze-dried, air-dried, and fresh food made? How do you know?

Where do the ingredients come from? How are they transported?

How are the cleanliness and hygiene of the store reflected?

How about our warranty and after-sales service?

There are many more details, and in fact, catering brands already have many good examples to learn from in this regard: open kitchens, open counters, fresh food, cold chain transportation, and fresh cutting and live slaughter.

If there are no standards in the industry, create your own standards.

3. How to choose?

In addition to "freshness", the selection experience is also the reason why users come to buy offline.

Choosing fresh food for your pet is a very pleasant experience. Fresh food is OK, it is packed in boxes or bags and sold in sets.

For young people, weighing snacks is no longer a habit. Weighing means calculating the price, and the price varies from category to category. How to calculate?

Although I really like the concept and products of STOP SHOP, the experience of buying them individually is not very good.

There are mature and smooth solutions for spicy hot pot and human food supermarkets. Or you can create your own user experience process.

4. Focus

A brand must know what its core delivery is to users.

If you started out by selling pet cakes and parties, fresh snacks are just your subsidiary products, and users’ perception of you is still focused on the former.

If you are optimistic about the new track, it is recommended to use a new brand separately.

In addition, for those who focus on fresh food, it is not recommended to put a bunch of other brands of supplies and food for sale in the store in the early stage. Believe me, it will not contribute much sales, but it will affect the professionalism and trust of your brand in the minds of users.

Now that you have chosen to focus, the first thing to do is to express your "trust and freshness" in place, and the rest can be discussed later.

While the food stores are still in their early stages on the market, the first thing to do is to secure the “big attributes” in the category.

Building a brand requires building it based on the value points that users need. Each category has its own destiny.

These attributes are recognized and accepted by the majority of users and have been verified.

The category attributes of pet food are: natural, professional, safe, and healing.

Choose one that suits you, and then brand differentiation can be based on this starting point, gradually refined, focused and expressed consistently.

V. Standardization and Barriers

This track is still in its early stages. Once the business model is verified, it will be very suitable for young people in first- and second-tier cities to start their own businesses, and franchise stores will soon appear.

As an entrepreneur, you have to think about how to build the next barriers and standards.

Is it the source supply chain, brand building, or standardization and economies of scale?

Of course, it is recommended to be cautious before choosing any mode.

Fresh food snack shops, which have become popular recently, have a relatively low share in the entire international pet food industry and a limited ceiling, which is one of the reasons why they have only gradually appeared in 24 years.

It is also possible that a wave of enthusiasm will start from Internet celebrity stores in China's first-tier cities to educate the market and cultivate offline purchasing habits, but it is still unknown.

Author: Shao Kang

WeChat public account: ShaokangBlake