Low-key yet vital 

Cat litter is a product that was made for selling online, or at any rate that is a view held by many people. It is surely more convenient for many consumers to order a bag of cat litter at the click of a mouse and have it delivered, than having to buy it in the shop and then lug it home.
However, convenience comes at a price, and the shipping costs charged by online retailers for transporting heavy items such as cat litter are accordingly high. There's a reason for this: after all, the effort involved is considerable and as we all know, service has its price.
Peter Versefeldt, owner of the Dutch cat litter specialist Sivomatic and one of the most knowledgeable players when it comes to the global cat litter market, is firmly convinced that the majority of cat litter products will continue to be bought from traditional retailers in future. "Only a small portion of high-income households in urban areas will buy online," he states in a report for PET worldwide (page 28). 
Ver­sefeldt even goes a step further and encourages the pet supplies trade to give a higher priority to the cat litter category in future. This is because, like pet food, this is a product that pet owners need on a regular basis, giving rise to the opportunity to secure these owners as regular customers.
Versefeldt's advice is heading in the right direction. Many pet product retailers don't like cat litter; in most stores this product is poorly positioned and tends to be unobtrusive. 

Obviously the products are heavy and not particularly attractive from the design point of view, even falling into the pallet goods category. And yet, cat litter is important, especially as new products are coming onto the market all the time that profess to be more pleasant for pets and their owners.
Some specialist retailers offer their customers an opportunity to try the product by presenting samples in small chutes. Some have put up signs next to the products explaining the various types of litter material. These are certainly a positive approach to giving greater prominence to cat litter products at the POS. They could be instrumental in growing the market share of the pet stores in the future.
Ralf Majer-Abele
Contact details: Phone +49/72 43/575-231 • E-Mail r.majer-abele@daehne.de