Different points of view

In July Centro Studi Zoomark quizzed 70 Italian pet product retailers and 30 suppliers on various aspects of the pet product market. It has now published its answers in a survey report.
One of the questions asked was which pet products would grow most rapidly in the next two years. 40 per cent of the retailers thought it would be dry food, while 35 per cent believed that growth would be achieved faster with moist food than with other product groups. 30 per cent went for accessories, 12 per cent for live animals and 22 per cent for other products as favourites for rapid growth. Many speciality retailers were hoping for possible growth with biological pet food products, grooming products and toys for pets. The answers given by the suppliers showed a marked similarity to the views expressed by the retail trade: 37 per cent believed that accessories would be an area of particularly rapid growth, while 33 per cent thought that dry food would grow faster than other products in the pet trade in future. Only 23 per cent said moist food, 13 per cent said snacks, 10 per cent live animals, 7 per cent supplementary food and 30 per cent other products, including aquatics products, special diet foods and grooming accessories.
What procucts will increase most in the next two years?
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When questioned about the fastest growing services in the pet product trade in the next two years, 47 per cent of the retailers thought grooming services would achieve the highest rate of growth, followed by board and lodging services (11 per cent), training (1 per cent) and vet services (1 per cent). A further 31 per cent mentioned other kinds of services such as dog-sitting, home delivery and customer assistance. Of the suppliers quizzed, 10 per cent said grooming services, 7 per cent board and lodging, 7 per cent vet services and 7 per cent other services, such as setting up a delivery service.
How do you think retailers select their suppliers, apart from price? (The suppliers point of view)
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Another question in the survey was “How do you select your suppliers, apart from price?“ Here retailers and suppliers gave very different answers. 94 per cent of the retailers mentioned elements related to the interpersonal relationship with the supplier, such as professional ethics, kindness and cooperation. In contrast, 7 per cent of those interviewed said they chose suppliers for the importance of their brands, 7 per cent for the wide range…