The client is a national grocery chain retailer which includes a range of categories areas such as food, clothing, household goods and pharmacy.  With the majority of Canadian’s being pet owners, and the category growing during the pandemic, the pet category has proven recession proof as owners look for high quality and convenient care solutions for their animals. 

 As the market becomes increasingly saturated, with a wide range of options for shoppers to choose from, our client was looking to conduct foundational research to understand breakthrough and appeal in the pet food category, claims pet owners are looking for, and better understand how customers shop at shelf.  

A key priority for this client was to understand how their current customers shop for pet food and to convert their regular grocery shoppers in to pet food customers. To do this, we conducted in-store mobile shop-alongs with current grocery customers that were pet owners – split between those that purchase pet food from grocery vs. specialty stores.  

Consumers were sent to the pet isle of the store and answered questions via text, photos and videos on first impressions, resonance, assortment, quality, appeal, clarity, likelihood to purchase, and areas of optimization.  

The client was able to build customer understanding and develop and pilot actionable solutions that allow them to build awareness and increase conversion in the pet category among existing customers.