Seasonal Dog Toy Trends: Stocking for Peak Sales

Seasonal marketing is an important part of general marketing for pet-care businesses. Seasonal marketing helps companies attract new clients and strengthen the relationships they have with their community. Companies can prepare for high-demand season with holiday-themed campaigns, seasonal events, and well-timed promotions to keep the business relevant and exciting throughout the year. Let’s take a look at all the ways pet companies can get into the seasonal dog toy trends.

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Holiday-Themed Campaigns

Holidays provide great opportunities for pet companies to connect with pet parents and introduce them to their services. A good holiday campaign can greatly increase a pet company’s visibility if it goes viral. Even smaller campaigns can help pet toy companies connect with the community and reach new clients. Here are some ideas:

· Pet photos with holiday characters. Depending on the holiday, you can set up a festive photo booth in the facility where clients can bring their pets for a holiday picture. The event doubles down as a fun memory for pet owners. Companies in the e-commerce business can make digital campaigns, offering their company-themed templates for digital pictures with their own logo.

· 10 Days of pet care discounts, offering a special service each day leading up to the major holiday. Usually, companies do this for Easter or Christmas, but there are no limits.

· Valentine’s Day Specials. With more and more people considering pets as their special partners, companies in the pet industry should take advantage of it. Offering special product services and discounts for “date night” is one way to do it.

Seasonal Promotions

Certain seasons bring more pet customers. Well-timed promotions can help draw higher demand during the peak season. Here are a couple of ideas.

· Summer vacation deals, when pet parents travel, whether with their pets or not. Toys are a natural part of any vacation, and discounts during this period can make pet parents spend a bit more.

· Winter wellness packages, when the weather doesn’t allow a lot of time outside, pet parents might look for toys that provide plenty of mental stimulation for their furry friend. Dogs need to get exercise, no matter the weather outside.

Cross-Selling

Up-selling and cross-selling are great ways for companies to partner, or increase the amount customers spend. The holidays, when pet parents are willing to spend extra on their furry friends, offer a great outlet. Here is an example, a company selling dog treats can partner with a company selling puzzle dog treat dispensing toys.

Giving Free Gifts With Purchase

Everyone loves free stuff, especially if it is free stuff for their pets. One way to increase holiday sales is to give away free gifts with each purchase. For example, a pet company selling dog toys can give free treats with every purchase during the holidays. Customers will make more purchases knowing they get something for free. And let’s be real, nothing is free, it is just calculated in the price.

Sending Digital Cards to Current and Past Customers

Holidays are the perfect time to show appreciation to your clients. Sending out personalized holiday cards, and sometimes small gifts will leave a lasting impression. Customers are more likely to come back again to businesses that show they care for clients. Digital cards are not expensive, and marketing teams can make them using apps like Canva.

Get Into the Holiday Spirit

During the holidays, companies can decorate their business in a festive design. It creates an inviting atmosphere for customers. Retailers can decorate their offices, while online pet businesses can get into the holiday spirit by updating their social media channels and logos with holiday-themed images and graphics.

Holidays are an amazing period to engage with customers. Have fun and get creative.

It is All About the Discounts

Everybody loves a deal, and pet owners are no exception. They offer a shop at big-brand specialty stores where they can find price cuts. Leveraging promotions and discounts is a surefire way to attract budget-conscious pet owners during seasonal trends. It helps with acquiring new customers, as shoppers explore new stores that give attractive discounts.

Planning a Marketing Schedule

Let’s take a look at a couple of dates that should be on every pet company’s calendar.

· March 17 – St. Patrick’s Day (great opportunity for green pet products)

· March 23 – National Puppy Day

· April 20 – Easter

· April 27 – National Pet Parents Day, inspired by many people considering pets as family

· May 5 – Cinco De Mayo

· May 11 – Mother’s Day

· May 26 – Memorial Day

· June 15 – Father’s Day

· August 10 – Spoil Your Dog Day

· October 4 – World Animal Day

· October 31 – Halloween

· December 25 – Christmas Day

· December 31 – New Year’s Eve

Pet Owners Spend More During the Holidays

Pet toy companies would love owners to spend throughout the entire year, but the reality is that during holidays, sales go up.

One of the reasons why owners spend more during the holidays is the recent trend of pet humanization. As we talked about?in a previous article, pet humanization is one of the four key trends for growth among companies.

The ongoing humanization of pets means that our furry friends are seen as family members and stress relievers. More and more owners are willing to spend more on pet care, toys, food, and everything in between.

According to a recent survey, 18% of people in Britain planned to spend more on their pets at Christmas than on their significant other. Similar studies appear all the time, with more and more people cutting back money on themselves to keep their pets happy.