Thursday, October 8, 2009

Market Research Case Study:
Export of US Made Pet Products

This posting shares some brief market research gathered online using easily accessible information. The goal is not to produce a comprehensive list of contacts, it's simply to provide a brief conjecture of readily acquirable information, with some actual examples and to discuss the process and methods used to find contacts which could be applied across other industries.

Pet products was chosen arbitrarily as a general industry focus, with the goal of gathering potential contacts for a hypothetical US supplier looking to grow its export business. The list of companies gathered is posted at the end of this entry. For companies looking to grow their US sales, or for foreign manufacturers interested in selling in the US, a good starting point is the Pet Industry Distributor's Association, online at http://www.pida.org. This list produced here was gathered without any experience or special knowledge of pet industry and without a particular focus within the industry. The list has been limited to companies with websites. There is a mix of distributors and retailers of pet products with varying specialties which have not been vetted or screened other than a brief glance at and quick assessment of their websites.

As a starting point we identified with a basic search a manufacturer of pet products that has already established an export network for their products, coming up with Chris Christensen Systems pet shampoo products. Their website contains a list of international distributors which were entered into a list to begin a database of contacts. From this list, each individual distributor listed was searched to find other sites where these same distributors are listed. Through this process of cross-referencing one can form a seemingly endless list of contacts. Naturally, the idea is to choose the more relevant companies for your particular needs and thereby find more companies that would fall into that same category of interest. To find producers of a similar product to yours you might try searching the World Wide Pet Industry Association's Pet Industry Resource Guide which has an extensive listing of product categories and corresponding companies listed.

Other places to check for company lists are corresponding industry trade shows and associations. Often their websites contain lists of exhibitors and members and links to other resources available to the public. Some examples of pet industry trade shows are Pet South America, Global Pet Expo, Zoo Russia, and Pet Fair Asia. Examples of industry trade associations are the American Pet Products Association, The Pet Industry Association of Australia, and and the Pet Industry Joint Advisory Council.

According to your particular product and regional focus, there may be more specific resources. For example if the product being marketed were a line of aquarium lamps, and Australia was identified as a market that you wanted to pursue, you could start to focus in and find contacts by searching a keyword like aquarium through the Pet Industry Association of Australia online at http://www.piaa.net.au. For Great Britain, the Ornamental Aquatic Trade Association has a database of importers, consultants, manufacturers and retailers at http://www.ornamentalfish.org/. If you wanted to focus on Japan you might try contacting the Japan Aquarium Fish Association http://www.jafa-net.org. Ornamental Fish International is an organization based in The Netherlands which has a membership directory that enables searches by country, online at http://www.ornamental-fish-int.org. Once you have identified some particular contacts that look promising, these can be cross-searched to find more companies that are similar.

Gathering potential contacts is not difficult. Real challenges and work come with knowing where to focus efforts, getting in touch, communicating the right information, following up, and developing relationships with time. For our hypothetical company working to export a US-made product, the US Department of Commerce US Commercial Service offers export assistance services. They have trade specialists that are available to assist with exporting, and also have market research available to registered users. As an example they have an article about Italy's pet products market, which even includes best product prospects for Italy: http://www.buyusa.gov/italy/en/pet.html.

With some analytical searching and thoughtful implementation of information readily available it may be possible to find potential business partners online on your own with a little time and effort. Here is the list that was created, and following it a customized search tool with related sites that might help find information for your specific topic within the pet industry.


Country   Company   Website
Australia   Pet Network   www.petnetwork.com.au
Australia   W.A. Show Pet Supplies   www.iinet.net.au/~wasps
Australia   Rudducks   www.rudducks.com.au
Australia   KADAC   www.kadac.com.au
Australia   Paddo Pets   www.paddopets.com.au
Austria   Dogstyle   www.dogstyle.at
Belgium   Transgroom   www.transgroom.com
Belgium   Impextraco   www.impextraco.com
Bosnia   Mambo   www.mambo.hr
Brazil   Pet Steps   www.petsteps.com.br
Brazil   Costasul   www.csul.com.b
Brazil   Elan Trade   www.elantrade.com.br
Canada   Ren's Pets Depot   www.renspets.com
Canada   Just Gifted   www.just-gifted.com
Canada   Naughty Dogge   www.naughtydogge.com
Canada   Leis Pet Distributing   www.leispet.com
Canada   Triton Animal Supplies   www.tritonanimal.com
Canada   Centaur VA Animal Health   www.centaurva.com
Canada   Hudson Sales Agency   www.hsapetsupplies.com
Chile   Fainvet   www.fainvet.cl
Chile   Polo Vet   www.polovet.cl
China   Bejing Artex International Trading   www.artexchina.com
China   Lucky Pet   www.hsapetsupplies.com
Colombia   Agro Camp   www.agrocampo.com.co
Czech Republic   Enigmatic Vittoria   www.evittoriamaltese.cz
Czech Republic   Profikosmetica   www.profikosmetika.cz
Denmark   Pit Stop for Pets   www.pitstoppets.dk
Denmark   Boxadan   www.boxadan.dk
England   North Pet   www.NorthernPet.com
Finland   Koiratarvike DIO   www.koiratarvikedio.fi
Finland   Paula Forsbacka TMI   www.forsbacka.biz
France   Chadog   www.chadog.fr
France   Jika   www.jika.fr
German   HandundPfote   www.handundpfote.com
Germany   Animonda   www.animonda.de
Germany   Beautiful Cats and Dogs   www.beautyfulcats.de
Greece   Dimitra & Eleni Agianni   www.petsfood.gr
Holand   OTSL   www.otsl.eu
Hungary   Vetri-Care   www.vetricare.hu
Ireland   Chanelle   www.chanellegroup.ie
Ireland   Glenkrag   www.glenkrag.com
Ireland   Christies Direct   www.christiesdirect.com
Israel   Professional Beauty for Pets   www.pet-beauty.com
Israel   Pet-Vet   www.pet-vet.co.il
Italy   Tibi Groom   www.tibigroom.com
Italy   Taku Botique   www.takuboutique.it
Italy   Vetefarma   www.vetefarma.com
Japan   Trihope Corp   www.dogs-sense.com
Japan   Daishin Corporation   www.daishincorp.com
Korea   Hubpet   www.daum.net
Korea   Pet Korea Co   www.petkorea.co.kr
Latvia   Dognet   www.dognet.pro
Lithuania   Kika   www.kika.lt
Malaysia   House of Groomers   www.houseofgroomers.com
Mexico   Moon's Aquariums   www.moonsaquariums.com.mx
Mexico   MAICO   www.maicodemexico.com.mx
Netherlands   Easy-Groom   www.easy-groom.com
New Zealand   Show Thyme   www.showthyme.co.nz
New Zealand   Brooklands V.I.P Pet Products   www.brooklands.co.nz
New Zealand   Petware   www.petware.co.nz
Norway   Hiawatha's Dog Supply   www.hiawatha.no
Norway   Paghanini Engros   www.paghanini.no
Norway   Hund-1   www.hund-1.no
Poland   Dog Cosmetics   www.dogcosmetics.pl
Russia   Mar's Performanse   www.marsperformance.ru
Scotland   D & V Supplies   www.dandv.co.uk
Singapore   Nilton Enterprises, LLC   www.nilton-enterprise.com.sg
South Africa   Smart Pet   www.smartpet.co.za
Spain   Hasi & Asha   www.hasiandasha.com
Spain   Healthy Pets   www.healthypets.es
Spain   Setter Bakio   www.setterbakio.com
Sweden   Magic Coat Power   www.coatpower.se
Sweden   Haromi AB   www.haromi.se
Sweden   Gibbon   www.gibbon.se
Switzerland   Espadon Shop   www.espadon-shop.ch
Turkey   Club Safari   www.clubsafari.com.tr
United Kingdom   Petcetera Etc.   www.petcetera.co.uk
United Kingdom   Vital Group   www.vital-group.co.uk
United Kingdom   National Veterinary Services   www.vetwholesaler.co.uk
United Kingdom   PP Enhancements   www.ppenhancements.co.uk
United Kingdom   Centaur Services   www.centaurweb.co.uk
United Kingdom   SPH Supplies   www.sphsupplies.co.uk



Loading

No comments:

Post a Comment