Get your slice of e-commerce
Keep clients within your healthcare ecosystem and help your business thrive
Despite predictions of a post pandemic crash, e-commerce is booming - and that’s across all industries. In fact estimated that an incredible 38.1% of all UK retail sales are are from online channels, with that figure set to hit 38.6% by 2025. [1]
With so many competitors out there for every pet owner’s spend, it may seem a daunting prospect for independent vet practices to try and compete. However, it’s time to reimagine e-commerce as an essential service, enabling you to connect with your clients and meet their needs rather than a separate business venture. There's no need for awkward third-party contracts and other barriers between you and your clients.
A boom across industries
We live in a culture of convenience. Your clients experience it in all other aspects of their life, from groceries to fashion, health and beauty or other luxuries. And it's not just fuelled by giants like Amazon anymore thanks to e-commerce embedded into where people spend their time online. Social media being the obvious winner, with Instagram and TikTok seeing success. Instagram’s user survey found an incredible 44% of active users (those logging on at least every month) had purchased something through their own embedded shopping [1].
As younger generations spend a great deal of time on these platforms, native advertising and ‘influencers’ offer new opportunities for driving sales in the well-established channel of e-commerce. Aside from easy conversions to sales, they leverage existing connections to help win business, and this is something vet practices can learn from.
Changing expectations
It’s well established that the same generations, Millennials and Gen Z, being catered to in this way are also the largest pet owning ones. They've grown up in the age of convenience and offering anything less isn't an option, with the same being true when it comes to their pet essentials.
These dominant pet owning generations want to go the extra mile when it comes to giving their beloved companions some TLC and ensuring they have everything they need, from food to parasiticide treatments. This audience isn’t just enjoying cute videos of dogs and cats, it’s keen to absorb info about nutrition and behaviour too. They want the best for their pets and thanks to the power of social media, niche subjects like raw food diets can now more easily find their audience or expand into content feeds of those likely to engage with them.
Ultimately, pet owners want to do the right thing by their furry friends. It’s also why they also continue to love vets and hold them in such high regard. Vets remain in an unrivalled position of trust to meet this desire, despite new sources of pet-related content engagement, and this is one constant in a a world of changes surrounding how we treat our pets. They could do so much more to capitalise on this relationship.
Compete where you're strong
Keeping clients in your healthcare ecosystem is increasingly vital, whether that’s for purchases of everyday pet essentials like food and litter or prescriptions.
Vets need to keep pace with their client’s evolving habits and needs in order to drive customer loyalty and long-term compliance. The demand for a convenient shopping experience, wherever the client is and whatever the time, has never been higher.
By offering a convenient, quality customer experience, you can shore up your business. Many competitors are straying into what should be easy practice territory with monthly parasiticide and ‘wellness’ inspired subscription services proving especially popular, so you can't afford to be complacent.
A truly unique opportunity for vets
This is why it’s more vital than ever that veterinary practices utilise their unique position of authority and win their clients back as customers. Tapping into their powerful client relationships and offering exactly what’s needed is key for sustainable business. So, what does this mean?
This is where vet tech marks you apart. Whether we’re talking personalised smart communications or fully customisable subscription platforms with regular home deliveries of pet essentials, smart solutions up the ante. They enable practices to optimise existing client relationships and boost their bottom line, with minimal man hours required.
In fact, the right tech will significantly reduce the time your team spend dispensing. Those hours traditionally spent picking, packing, manging or ordering stock contacting clients about their orders all add up but can be drastically streamlined.
Keen to explore what smart solutions could do for you? Get in touch with us below or book a demo here!
hello@virtualrecall.com
0208 123 3965