NEW YORK (AP) – Danielle Schwartz did not ask for an oil painting of her cat. But she loves the portrait of Stinky hanging in her home in upstate New York, a surprise gift from an unlikely place: an online pet store.
It’s one of more than 1,000 free paintings that Chewy sends to select customers each week – even during the pandemic – that reaches people’s obsession with their furry children and, hopefully, wins customers for life.
In the shocking world of online shopping, that personal touch and a bit of kitsch is how Chewy seeks to stand out in the competition, which has become more rigid as more people shop online and add pandemic pets. their families. Pet ownership is expected to increase by 4% in 2020, the first increase in a few years, according to the Petco Foundation.
Chewy’s strategy seems to work for Schwartz, who likes the blue-eyed cat to rub the paint on his cat tree.
“I just want to buy everything from them,” she says. “I am a big company. I was shocked that they did something so personal. “
Portraits have become a hit on social networks, where people share images with them or beg their animals to be turned into works of art.
Eric Sheridan, a sales specialist from Lee, Florida, requested a portrait through the Twitter account of Gozer, his Boston terrier, with over 3,000 followers. A Chewy representative replied, “They crossed my paws and we can send you one.” He arrived a month and a half later. “Christmas came early,” Sheridan posted on Twitter on Gozer’s account.
Not everyone is happy to get a mysterious portrait – the company admits that some confused customers send them back. But many who receive a pet portrait document it on social media, giving Chewy free advertising – a trend the company noticed when it began delivering them.
“Customers were carrying bananas,” says co-founder Ryan Cohen, who contributed to the idea in 2013 before leaving the company.
Chewy was founded in 2011, marrying Amazon’s fast delivery to the friendship of a local pet store. It also aimed to attract some of the wealth that Americans spend on pets, which was expected to reach $ 99 billion in 2020, according to the American Pet Products Association. PetSmart pet chain bought Chewy in 2017 for over $ 3 billion to grow its online business, but then turned Chewy into a listed company two years later. it is now worth about $ 40 billion, even though it has never made a profit.
Amazon and Chewy dominate the online pet supply industry, with an Amazon market share of over 50% and Chewy’s with 34%, according to retail consulting firm 1010data. But the pandemic was particularly good for Chewy, as people avoid physical stores. Its share price tripled in 2020. Sales rose 45% in the August-October quarter. And it has added 5 million new customers in the last year, bringing its total customer base to almost 18 million.
Phillip M. Cooper, a consultant in the pet industry, provides credit to customer service. “He set the standard,” he says.
The company’s 2,500 agents are trained to answer questions from pet parents, such as what foods are best for older poochs or where to find shelter. Chewy sends our customers handwritten notes and all buyers receive holiday cards in the mail. It even sends flowers to people whose pets have died.
“It helped soothe the pain,” said Jordan Redman of Norman, Oklahoma, who received a bouquet of flowers after Bud, the Golden Retriever, died.
But it is the paintings that make customers gasp. There is no way to buy one from Chewy, and the company does not say exactly how someone will be selected. But he usually sends them to those who have photos of pets on their Chewy account or have shared one with a customer service agent.
For clues, check out the experience of Danielle Moore, who said Chewy asked her to send a photo of her Australian cattle dog Kana during a call to return an order. Kana’s likeness appeared three months later. Moore liked it so much that he tried to buy another one through Chewy, but the customer service agent didn’t hesitate. Instead, the Dallas chemist ordered one for $ 36 on Etsy, and the paintings hang on a wall together.
Chewy does not disclose the cost of making and sending portraits. He has worked with hundreds of artists across the country to whom the company emails photos of their subjects.
Josh Lawson, who paints between 20 and 50 portraits a week, has made snakes, goats and even what he thinks are bison. It can take two hours or more to make a portrait. Fluffy kittens, for example, need extra attention and a long-tipped brush to get the right amount of fluff. “I want to make them look real,” he says.
There is pressure to do this. Chewy says he rejects works that don’t look good enough as a pet or sends them back to be reprocessed. The goal is for people to talk to Chewy about others and get a prime place on the walls of buyers, serving as a billboard for the company.
Annesley Clark, a law student at St. Louis was surprised at how much free painting looked like her mix of pit bulls, Willow. “I was next to me,” she says. “It’s exactly her.”
She couldn’t wait to show it. The next day, he took her to a social distance picnic with four others and picked up the artwork. “I said, ‘Look at this. It’s perfect. “Her friends agreed.
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Follow Joseph Pisani on Twitter: @ josephpisani