Pets Create an Experiential Retail Experience for Customers

Experiential retail is the current buzzword for creating sales and repeat business through positive and unforgettable in-store experiences. I have shopped in many stores over my lifetime and rarely remember the names of the owners or sales staff.

What I do remember clearly are the names of the animals that I met in the shops: Remy, the lab at an upscale consignment shop; Lucky, a lab mix at the flooring store; Red, the parrot at a garden center; Marmalade, the orange tabby at a gift shop; and several others. Most recently, I met Kermit, an engaging tortoise at a local pet shop.

Maybe an experiential retail element for your RV showroom and/or parts and service center could be meeting one of the pets belonging to you or an employee?

If you do have a pet on-site, remember that there are animal people and those that either don’t care, can’t stand them or fear them. I was at a flooring store last week and when I looked into the office for some help, there was Lucky — a big black dog. His person immediately opened his crate, and he went into it calmly. She was checking to make sure I was OK with him before she let him back out. He was a friendly guy and, lucky for Lucky, I love dogs. But I noticed and appreciated how careful she was to make sure I was comfortable first. She didn’t let him out of the crate until I told her I love animals, and it wasn’t a problem.

While bringing your pet to work can be a win-win-win for you, your animal and your customers — it can work against you as well. It depends 100% on your pet’s personality with strangers. No matter how loving and affectionate your pet is with you, how they react to others is what will make or break the experience.

I consulted for a lovely woman who had a clothing store in Portland, Oregon. She brought her manic Chihuahua, Kokopelli, into the store every day. He hated strangers and would bark furiously at each new customer for longer than seemed sane. Sales were not great and, sadly for both of them, it was a simple fix — she had to leave the dog at home. I suggested she find someone to come to her house once a day to walk and pet Kokopelli. Her immediate increase in sales made that dog sitter instantly affordable.

Parrots are fascinating creatures, and people love to get them to talk. I enjoyed going to a local garden center years ago in Westport, Connecticut, mainly to see a talkative parrot in a huge cage in the front of the shop area. Parents often brought their children to see the bird and it was an outing that included good sales for the owner. The bird was chatty, but if it knew “bad words,” they weren’t spoken at the garden center.

A different parrot in a shopping center in Southern California had a very colorful vocabulary. His large cage (on wheels) was right outside the shop. Right before I went into the pet store to consult with the owner, I watched a man who was with his wife and two kids ignore the (many) signs on the parrot’s cage that said, “Don’t speak loudly or yell at the parrot.” Of course, he yelled at the bird, who coolly turned to him and said, “xxxx you, buddy!” His wife and children almost fell on the ground laughing, as did I. Apparently, this bird was famous for his “spicy” language, and he was an attraction of a different type.

Kermit the tortoise takes walks around the top floor of Critter Cabana, a pet supply shop in Newberg, Oregon. He’s slow but persistent and gets his steps in daily. I became a customer on the spot as I saw how sweetly the staff and customers reacted to him.

Tilde was a terrific gift shop in Portland, Oregon. The owner, Debbe Hamada, finally allowed a visiting street cat to live in her shop permanently as he wandered in daily and adopted her and a comfy chair in the back of the store. When customers saw him, they smiled and asked a lot of questions.

One ideal thing about cats is they tend to sleep a lot during the day. But, just like dogs, they need to be imperturbable and tolerate or like people. Scaredy-cats who hiss and scratch must stay home.

Employees Must OK Having Pets at Work

If you resonate with the idea of bringing your dog, cat, bird or even tortoise into your showroom or parts/service areas, ask your employees how they feel about it first. One study by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) analyzed five organizations that created dog-friendly policies from very recently back to 20 years ago. Harmony and acceptance can be achieved between those who want their workspace to remain pet-free and those who want a pet (or more) allowed in-store, by meeting three criteria.

“Employees must have sufficient job autonomy; for example, the agency to take their dog out when it needs a break or to distance themselves from a bothersome pet,” according to the NIH study. “There must also be a culture of open and respectful communication, so no one suffers in silence. Finally, employees must all buy into a ‘trial-and-error mentality’ and be willing to update any agreements as needed.”

Imposing your pet on the people who work for you can feel like a boundary has been crossed to some employees, unless it’s an agreed-upon change in the workplace. Some people are highly allergic to dogs and/or cats. It would be physically challenging and difficult for a valued employee to feel ill every day.

If fear is an issue, separating the person from the animal may be the only solution. Perhaps if there is a clear separation between the pet and person, that person can be flexible. But that is an agreement that can’t be broken just because it’s inconvenient for the pet owner — and the pet.

Before an Animal Comes to Your Store

With all animals, where they “go” can affect the enjoyment of having them in store. Make plans for this, plus their water and feeding needs, in advance before they come for the first time. Dogs can be walked; cats need (covered) litter boxes, which can work well in a stockroom or office; birds can go in their cages; and tortoises do it wherever they want — so have rags ready!

Safety for the animals needs to be addressed before they arrive. All parts areas carry chemicals that are likely toxic for animals, so you’ll need to figure out how to keep them separated. Usually, the chemical smells will do the trick to keep animals away, but don’t put beds, cages, boxes or bowls anywhere near where the chemicals are shelved or stored.

If the stockroom door leads back to an open door to the parking lot or street, there is a 100% chance that a dog or cat will find that door and go for a walkabout. Keep that in mind daily! At Trinity Flooring, Lucky the lab mix is in an office with a baby gate. A big part of having a pet in-house is knowing they will be safe.

Hygiene is also an issue. Dogs, cats and birds shed. You may need to increase your floor cleaning schedule depending on the fur/hair/feather fallout.

Benefits of Pets in the Workplace

“Dogs are proven to relieve stress, relax people and make a great talking point to break the ice with customers,” according to an article in the Daily Mail. Cats are known to reduce stress — especially when they purr.

Pets in the workplace can be an employee retention strategy. During COVID-19, many people adopted a pet — mainly dogs and cats. Research from the Human Animal Bond Research Institute found “88% of employees in pet-friendly workplaces said they plan to stay at their job for the next year, compared to 73% in non-pet-friendly work environments.”

Research from the Harvard Business Review on the benefits of a pet-friendly workplace by Shawn X. Quan and Kira Schabram shows proof of how in-office pets spark collaboration. “Most surprising to our author team was the mounting evidence that pets function as a social lubricant and conduit for collaboration. In interviews, employees describe pet-friendly workplaces as facilitating better communication and information-sharing and contributing to coworker bonding and friendships.”

A diverse and increasing number of workplaces are considering welcoming companion animals. I have yet to meet a dog, cat, bird or turtle in an RV dealership, but I know I’d be delighted to! That store would stand out in my memory.

If you have a pet at your RV dealership or parts/accessories/service center, please let me know and send a photo: lindacahan@gmail.com.

Pawsitive Health Benefits

Beyond their improvement of workplace recruitment, retention and morale, animals also offer many health benefits. According to a report from UC Davis Health, pets can improve mental and physical health in numerous ways, including:

• Reduced stress and anxiety
• Decreased feelings of loneliness
• Increased physical activity
• Improved blood pressure
• Lower rates of depression in older adults

UC Davis Health also found that for those unable to own an animal, being around someone else’s pet still provides mental health benefits.

Healthy Hearts

Pet companionship may also protect cardiovascular health, according to the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Playing with and petting dogs and cats may lower blood pressure and cortisol, a hormone that, in high levels, has been linked to “chronic high blood pressure and major cardiac incidents.” MUSC says these benefits combined with extra physical activity from walking with their furry friends lead dog owners to be “31% less likely than non-dog owners to die from a heart attack or stroke.” Research also indicates cat owners have a similar reduced risk of death from cardiovascular disease.

For people who have already had a heart attack, owning a pet makes you six times more likely to survive within one year than non-pet owners due to “these patients having better social support, strengthening their hearts by remaining more physically active, and generally being happier and less stressed on a day-to-day-basis,” MUSC says.

Aging Purrfectly

According to the Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, there are advantages to owning a companion animal for senior citizens. In addition to the perks listed above, seniors may also find a “renewed sense of purpose and responsibility in their daily lives,” with animals offering structure, affection and fulfillment.

For pet owners with Alzheimer’s disease and dementia, UC Davis Health notes that “pets can improve the quality of life for people diagnosed with these diseases by decreasing distress, loneliness and depression.”