Dive Brief:
- To grow its offerings, Petco on Tuesday announced it has expanded its partnership with Rover.com, an online marketplace for pet care.
- Consumers will now be able to access pet boarding, sitting, dog walking and “doggy daycare” from Rover through Petco’s website, according to a company press release.
- Rover will also educate its customers about Petco’s Vital Care offering, which Petco introduced in October 2020. The annual plan, which has attracted over 130,000 members as of October, includes routine vet exams and discounted grooming sessions.
Dive Insight:
The expanded partnership with Rover helps Petco grow its service offerings, which already include training, grooming and veterinary care.
The partnership is also just the latest in a slew of initiatives Petco has introduced recently.
Just last week, the company announced it teamed up with Lowe’s to open shop-in-shops within 15 of the home improvement retailer’s stores in Texas, North Carolina and South Carolina. Petco services like Vetco vaccination clinics, microchipping, prescription pest prevention and mobile grooming will be available at the locations.
Petco, which experienced a boost at the onset of the pandemic as consumers shifted spending to their pets, appears to be maintaining momentum. The brand re-entered the public markets early last year and in its most recent quarter, reported net revenue increased 15% year over year to $1.4 billion, while net income reached $51.5 million from $2.1 million the year prior. Petco also added 830,000 net new customers during the quarter pushing its total to 23.3 million active customers.
And to help extend its reach even further and attract urban consumers, the retailer last year opened a flagship dedicated to its private label, Reddy, in New York City’s SoHo neighborhood. The flagship also provides a concierge to plan activities with pets, food from JustFoodForDogs and services for custom pet tags.
