Forlongtime,thisretailerhasbeendealingwithlimitedsalesspaceandsaturationofitscurrent300physicalstoresnationwide.MostMaskotaoutletsaregenerallycompact,andstoresareoverloadedwithproducts.
Therefore,insteadofincreasingthenumberofphysicalstoresandincurringadditionalsunkcosts,thefamily-ownedcompanydecidedtofurtherdigitizeitsoperationswhilestrengtheningtheomnichannelexperience.
Accordingtoestimates,theincreasingdigitalizationtrendhasalreadyimpactedindustryperformance.Thepremiumpetfoodmarketsegmentpostedsingle-digitgrowthincurrentvaluetermsin2018,dueinparttotheongoingonlinestrategytomaintaininglowprices.Contrarily,volumesgrewatahigherrate.
Maskota’seagernesstobecomealargerdigitalstorewillhelpfurtherstimulateonlinepetfoodsaleswhich,itisworthnoting,areexpectedtoriserapidlyinthecomingyears.
Eventually,theindustryandespeciallyonlineretailersmayrealizethatpremiumpetfoodproductscannotcompeteindefinitelyusinglowandcontestedprices.Traditionalpricingstrategiesusedtostimulateonlinesaleswilllikelyhindertheindustry’svalueandbrandequitygainedthroughouttheyears.