SMG delivers customer insight for Pets at Home

Pets at Home, the largest pet supplies retailer in Britain, is looking to extend its Fish 4 Opinion customer feedback programme, following a hugely successful first year. Implemented in partnership with SMG in March 2011, the programme set out to obtain feedback from real customers in real time.

The programme, well received by customers and colleagues, has exceeded expectations with first year responses totaling 102,316. It has given Pets at Home an accurate assessment of customer satisfaction and colleague performance, as well as demonstrating the positive impact both can have on sales.

The nationwide Fish 4 Opinion programme reveals the key driver in customer satisfaction is quality and knowledgeable engagement with Pets at Home colleagues. With 92 per cent of colleagues owning a pet, customers found colleague interaction a richer and more beneficial experience – prompting higher spend and greater customer loyalty.

Key findings from the Fish 4 Opinion programme include:

– Highly satisfied customers spent, on average, five per cent more, demonstrating that happy customers are likely to spend greater amounts in-store

– Overall customer loyalty has increased to 81 per cent which reflects Pets at Home’s internal colleague engagement programme, ‘We’re all Ears’

Dave Poole, retail operations manager, Pets at Home comments: “Our Fish 4 Opinion programme has provided us with an even deeper understanding of our customers through the volume of data we have captured from our customers. By exceeding 100,000 responses we have been able to see how engagement with our knowledgeable and friendly colleagues improves the customer experience in our stores and supports our ongoing commitment of putting ‘pets before profit’.

“SMG has developed a thorough understanding of our business and helped support our business objective of being the world’s leading pet shop, providing our colleagues with a great work environment, and our customers with a great place to shop.”

Jeremy Michael, managing director, SMG: “We are delighted to help Pets at Home achieve its aim of 100,000 customer responses, providing significantly more accurate feedback than traditional customer insight methods. The in-depth understanding into the key drivers to Pets at Home’s customer satisfaction provides an excellent opportunity to enhance and support these areas of strength. SMG looks forward to building on this successful partnership and helping Pets at Home improve their customer service even further.”

Pets at Home has used the importance of informed colleague-customer engagement to develop a new marketing, advertising and colleague awareness campaign.

The Fish 4 Opinion programme invites customers to complete an online survey accessed through details listed on their till receipt. Completing the questions enters customers into a draw to win £200 worth of Pets at Home vouchers. Pets at Home will extend its customer feedback programme with SMG onto its e-commerce programme in order to better understand the drivers and needs of its online customers.