Are you thinking about extending your offline animal business or want to help people find animals they want, creating an online store is an amazing opportunity. Think for yourself! Online stores are easy to find, because everyone is searching online. It can be local and gradually scale to global. It doesn’t cost much and is very
However, to start selling animals online, you need to go through several basic steps. Read on and you’ll see how easy it is to connect people and animals online.
Is it Okay to Sell Animals Online?
Ecommerce is an amazing way to start your animal business and it helps you to get traffic quickly. Because you can find many animal lovers or enthusiasts all over the world who will frequently look for healthy animals and quality animal products online. So, an online animal shop will help you to reach more customers.
Also, selling animals on the internet is legal in most of the countries if you’re kind to them and care about their living conditions and health.
Find Your “Animal” Niche
Different animal lovers are interested in different types of animals. So, you have to decide which animal niche you want to sell — dogs, cats, birds, fishes, horses, pigs , snakes , etc.
Answer the following questions:
- Which category are you interested in?
- Which animal niche suits you?
- Do you have the passion necessary to stick with this field for the long haul?
- Can you answer different questions in that category?
Find your niche.
Once you have chosen your animal specialty, you can either focus on many different types of animals or become an expert in one particular category.
Next, you have to choose if you want to only sell animals, or also expand your merchandise to animal products. Selling both will help you find a wider audience.
Competitors Will Help You
Though it may come as a surprise, you are not the only one selling animals online. In fact, there are several entrepreneurs just like you in every niche. But don’t look at them as enemies; instead, use them as resources from which to learn more about your industry.
You can use your business keywords in any search engine, like Google, to find competitors. For example: if you Google “best online pet shop”, a list of competing businesses will come up. You can zero in on local competitors by adding your location to the search query; this way, you’ll get all the pet shops located near you.
Another strategy is to scan social media and classified websites like Craigslist. Most businesses post their content on social media, so it’s a great place to start when searching for your competitor’s store.
If you want to stay ahead of the competition, it is crucial that you take the time to analyze what they are selling and how they engage with their customers. This will allow you to identify their strengths and weaknesses so that you can come up with new ideas and be more successful in your own business venture.
Build Up Your Brand
After you select your desired animal niche, it’s time to construct your dream website. While building the store, here are a few factors to consider:
Website design
Your website is the first step in getting potential customers to visit and shop at your store. Creating an appealing and
Creating a
Products categories
Categorize animals and products clearly, so that the customers could find what they want quickly.
If you are looking to sell many different types of pets, then create separate categories for each animal, such as dogs, cats, and birds. Within these main categories, you can showcase products that would be suitable for each type of pet.
For example, categorize dog food products under the “Dogs” section and cat food under the “Cats” section. This organization will be more appealing to users and they will find it simpler to navigate your website.
Payments
By integrating multiple payment gateways, you can make the payment process more efficient and streamlined by carrying out the entire checkout process on a single page.
Shipping
Now it’s time to get animals and products to your customers. You need to find reliable delivery people who will get the job done on time and in the right way. Remember, you’re selling animals, so they need to be treated with care.
If you deliver on time, your customers will trust your brand more. This good customer service will encourage them to shop with you again in the future.
Promoting Your Pet Store
You have a quality online pet store — congratulations! Most likely, you also have valuable and free content to give your customers. So, how can you let people know what you offer?
Advertising has always been the quickest way to make a brand reach their customers. Even though there are some free ways to promote your animal store:
- post on Instagram: with beautiful images under the spotlight, you can’t go wrong with Instagram while selling animal;
- post on Facebook: Facebook is the number one information sharing platform, and your customers are definitely using it;
- post on Pinterest: Pinterest is a
well-known image posting platform similar to Instagram. It’s perfect for sharing large images and infographics about animals and pet products.; - publish on YouTube: You can increase your audience by uploading videos to YouTube. In fact, it’s the second most popular search engine next to Google..
These are the unpaid ways to promote your online pet store. If you have a budget, you can also invest in online ads like Facebook ads, YouTube ads, Google Ads.
Can you sell animals on Facebook?
You’re not allowed to sell animals on Facebook Marketplace or
Can you sell puppies on Instagram?
Instagram doesn’t allow the private sale of live animals between individuals. The only exception to this rule are
Сan you sell animals on Craigslist
In spite of Craigslist’s policy banning the sale of animals, users continue to sell them routinely. Animals like pigs and dogs as well as snakes and lizards are being advertised and bought on Craigslist under the pretenses of
Advanced Tips for Animal Sellers
- You can make your brand more accessible by providing cheap or free services like pet care, grooming, and walking in local areas. It will buy your brand some love from the customers’ side and boost brand awareness.
- If you are selling products or services internationally, it can be helpful to partner with local service providers in the countries you are targeting. This way, your customers will have someone experienced to take care of their needs and inquiries, and you can share in the profits.
- It’s a great idea to use special offers as marketing tools to bring in new business, but it’s important to make sure that the quality is equal to the amount you’re offering.
