It appears that Petco Animal Supplies, better known as Petco, is turning to smart speakers to differentiate itself from the competition in an increasingly turbulent pet products market. A new interview on the Geomarketing blog with a professional from Petco partner Alpine.AI, a major developer of Google Assistant apps and Amazon Alexa skills, lays out the company’s strategy to position itself as the “best source of information” for pet owners.
The development of the new strategy comes from a report from Moody’s, as reported by RetailDive, which says that online sales are the fastest growing channel for pet sales and will be for the next five years. The report also shows that U.S. pet sales are growing not because the number of household pets is increasing but because zealous pet owners are buying them more and better items.
The Moody’s report finds that pet owners are also early ecommerce adopters is an interesting nugget for Petco, which is actively developing new ways of customer engagement and experience via Google and Amazon’s respective smart speakers.
Reaching customers and boosting both online and retail sales seems like a no-brainer but the goal seems to be secondary to Petco, according to the interview with Alpine.AI’s co-founder Adam Marchick, who says that the company’s other major goal is to connect Petco customers with its new care center, PetCoach, a digital service that provides pet owners with personalized advice from veterinarians. Petco acquired the service in April 2017.
Alpine.AI’s primary role in Petco’s new strategy is to develop PetCoach Google Assistant actions and Amazon Alexa skills that facilitate requests from smart device users for instant information about healthcare. The developer is using digital analytics and sophisticated natural language understanding to help digital assistants understand the brand, key products, and key lexicons that customers might request. Some of the questions PetCoach can field include:
Petco’s bet is that if PetCoach is recognized by consumers as the best source of pet information and the ability to find pet products intelligently on Alexa and Google Assistant, sales will be driven by content strategy as equally as advertising and media.
It’s a sound strategy but it’s a pretty good bet that Petco is still looking over its shoulder for the competition that’s right on their heels. Despite declining sales at brick-and-mortar stores over the past year, sales have kept steady due to the costs of services like grooming, training, and health care, a sector where competitor PetSmart is the largest service provider. Additionally, Petsmart’s recent acquisition of online pet retailer Chewy has boosted its ability to penetrate the online market.
Meanwhile, Amazon, Walmart, and independent online retailers like Bark are also surging in the market. In May, Amazon launched Wag, one of its latest brand labels, while pet products on Amazon grew over 40 percent last year and now make up over $2 billion in sales, annually.
Few things ruin a quiet evening faster than a robot vacuum roaring through the living room. Most of us end up pausing the cleaning run, which defeats the whole purpose of owning one. Matic thinks it has the answer with its new Serene robot vacuum, and the big selling point is how little noise it makes.
The Matic Serene runs at 52 decibels even when cleaning at full power. To put that in perspective, Matic compares it to the hum of your refrigerator. It is available now for $1,695, which is $200 more than the original Matic’s current price.
Outdoor security cameras are not always practical if you live in an apartment or rental. Drilling into an exterior wall may be off-limits, while pointing a regular indoor camera through a window can create another problem once reflections start showing up after dark.
Baseus is trying to solve both issues with the new PrimeSentinel W1, a $69.99 security camera designed specifically to monitor the outdoors through glass. It mounts directly to a window without drilling and uses a 4K Starlight sensor with an F1.0 aperture for full-color monitoring during the day and at night.
This post is brought to you in paid partnership with Best Buy.
Technology evolves every day, transforming how we live and work. Our devices are becoming more than tools we use. They are increasingly capable companions that help streamline day-to-day routines and spark creative ideas. If you have been waiting for the right moment to upgrade your tech setup, the Discover Samsung Shopping Event offers an opportunity to explore what connected, AI-powered living can look like.