Imagine this: Your pet store takes the leap to stock up on a new premium dog food you think will fly off the shelves. Weeks later, it’s barely moved, resulting in a poor investment that cuts into your bottom line.

Situations like these are all too common for pet store owners who rely on instinct and intuition to make decisions. As you grow your business, it becomes more and more important to make decisions based on data.

Organizations from all types of industries follow this best practice—for instance, nonprofits use donor data to improve fundraising, restaurants track order trends and peak hours to optimize staffing, and healthcare clinics track treatment outcomes to identify the most effective care practices.

By tapping into the numbers behind your pet store, you can make smarter decisions that help you grow your business’s profitability. Let’s break down how you can use data to your pet store’s advantage.

Identify Your Key Metrics

Before you start making decisions, you need to know what data points to track. There are thousands of potential metrics you can track, but not all of them will be useful in informing your decisions.

Start by determining your current business priorities. Are you trying to boost profitability, improve customer retention, or streamline inventory? Are you trying to do all three, or maybe something else entirely? From there, you can select core metrics to track to help you make smarter decisions in these areas.

Generally, pet businesses track metrics in the following categories, which we’ll cover later on in this guide:

• Inventory
• Marketing
• Customer data
• Staffing

Many small businesses get excited about using data and start tracking many different data points. However, this can quickly overwhelm smaller organizations. Instead, select a focused set of key metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) and build your strategy around them to keep the data-tracking process manageable and impactful.

Additionally, consider investing in a software solution built for pet stores to track data properly. In addition to fulfilling other needs, such as inventory management or point of sale (POS), these tools can automate data collection, track data trends over time, and even generate reports that quickly summarize key findings, making it easier than ever for you to make smarter decisions and grow your business.

Use Data to Optimize Inventory

Managing inventory effectively is a balancing act, and tracking the corresponding metrics only makes it easier. If you’ve ever been in a situation where a customer wants to purchase an item you don’t have in stock or had too many items that weren’t selling, these data points can greatly improve your inventory management practices.

Here are a few metrics to track:

• Product sell-through rates: This metric shows how quickly a product sells after arriving in your store. Products with high sell-through rates can inform future restocks, whereas products with low sell-through rates may need to be discounted or phased out.
• Stock-out frequency: This metric indicates how often items are unavailable for customers. If this metric is high, that means your pet store isn’t meeting its customers’ demand. Generally, this metric applies most to seasonal items, such as flea and tick treatments or heated beds.
• Dead stock: This metric identifies unsold inventory over a set time period, such as 90 days. Holding onto inventory for a long time has a high opportunity cost, as storing those products takes up space that could have gone to a product with a higher sell-through rate.
• Inventory turnover ratio: This metric refers to how often you sell and replace inventory within a specific time period. A healthy turnover rate means your capital isn’t tied up in excess stock.
• Carrying cost of inventory: This metric measures the cost of storing and managing your unsold inventory. The expenses are usually related to storage, labor, insurance, obsolescence, and cost of capital. Your pet store may want to reconsider stocking items with a particularly high carrying cost.
• Lead time: This metric tracks how long it takes to restock items, which is essential for when you’re planning to order inventory. Ideally, you want to minimize stockouts, so knowing how long products take to arrive at your store informs how far in advance you need to order new stock.
• Shrinkage rate: This metric measures inventory loss due to damage, theft, or errors. With this information, you can make loss prevention decisions, such as requiring additional staff training, reviewing vendor and delivery processes, or updating store policy.

With these metrics, you can stock your store with the most profitable items, decide on shelf space allocation per product, and predict and prepare for seasonal spikes. For optimal pet store inventory management, pair data tracking with automated alerts from your POS or inventory system.

Make Smarter Marketing Choices

You know that having tons of exciting products is only one element of running a profitable small business. You must pair enticing offerings with a successful outreach strategy that promotes these products, connects your store to customers, and encourages them to visit your brick-and-mortar or e-commerce store. Bolster your marketing strategy by tracking the following metrics:

• Customer acquisition cost: This metric measures the average cost of acquiring a customer for your pet store. It informs how expensive your marketing efforts are and can help you assess if certain channels are worthwhile for your business.
• Conversion rate: This metric tracks the percentage of marketing message recipients who take a desired action. For your customers, this will likely be making a purchase. This data point gives you a sweeping overview of how effective your marketing messaging is.
• Referral source: This metric indicates where customers are navigating from to find your pet store website, such as through Google, Yelp, email, or social media. You can use this information to determine your most and least effective marketing channels.
• Coupon/discount redemption rates: This metric shows the effectiveness of your promotions and incentives. If your traffic is high, yet your sales and coupon or discount redemption rate are low, you may need to brainstorm other ways to entice customers to make a purchase.

These metrics help you pinpoint key changes to your marketing strategy that will improve your success. For instance, you might take an omnichannel marketing approach, determine the best days or times to send promotions, or focus on reducing the cost of your marketing efforts.

You may also segment your audience to ensure your marketing messages resonate with each individual. Store customer demographic data and create audience groups based on shared characteristics. Then, send messages that are tailored and personalized to each group. For example, dog owners won’t be interested in your 15% discount on cat food, but they might leap at the opportunity to buy the new leashes you just stocked.

Improve Customer Retention Through Loyalty Insights

Acquiring a new customer can cost five to seven times more than retaining an existing one, which is why your pet store needs to prioritize turning one-time buyers into repeat customers. Increase retention by tracking the following metrics:

• Customer retention rate: This metric indicates the percentage of customers who continue to shop at your store over a certain time period. Most business owners measure it annually, but you can also measure it monthly.
• Customer lifetime value: This metric shows the total projected revenue a customer will generate over their relationship with your store. If this value is low, then you may need to explore customer retention strategies and ways to encourage them to upgrade their purchases.
• Purchase frequency: This metric measures how often customers shop at your store. If this metric is low, you may need to investigate what’s preventing customers from making more purchases. However, you can also expect some natural variance here. For instance, an owner of a small dog will purchase pet food much less frequently than the owner of a large dog.
• Average order value: This metric tracks the average amount of money customers spend per visit or order at your pet store. This information allows you to identify groups of high-value customers you can target with your marketing efforts. You can also use this metric to track your upselling success.

Depending on how well your pet store is already retaining customers, you may consider implementing retention-specific strategies. One of the best ways to do that is by establishing a loyalty program, which incentivizes customers to continue spending money at your pet store through perks like discounts and point redemptions.

According to eTailPet, the top pet store POS systems come with features that make managing your loyalty program easier. For instance, you can implement a simple points-based system, where customers earn points for each purchase that they can redeem for discounts or free products. Your POS system can track these points on your behalf and even enable point redemptions for customers shopping online, taking the pain of management entirely out of the equation.

Enhance Staffing and Hiring

Data can help smaller pet businesses make informed staffing decisions, such as ensuring they are never overstaffed and hiring the right talent for their open positions. Tracking the right metrics can help you keep staff members organized and your operations running smoothly. For example, you can use data to:

• Analyze peak hours and days to adjust staffing schedules for better efficiency.
• Track sales or upsell data per employee to inform training and recognition.
• Use past performance data to define the roles or experience needed for new hires.
• Monitor employee satisfaction to anticipate turnover or disengagement before it affects performance.

If you determine that you need to hire new employees based on your key metrics, JazzHR recommends investing in a small business hiring platform. Your team is your store’s frontline, which is why staffing and hiring decisions should be just as data-driven as other operational choices. A dedicated hiring platform allows you to manage complex recruiting datasets, reduce human error, and create comprehensive reports that enable you to choose the best candidate for the job.

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Transitioning to a data-driven approach doesn’t mean you have to overhaul your business or invest in expensive software (though a dedicated solution can greatly help the process). It simply means using the information you already possess to make smarter, more informed decisions. Start small, stay consistent, and let the numbers lead the way to a stronger, more successful pet store.

Association events are essential for providing value to members but are also often costly investments. This can put pressure on your team as they try to balance your budget while still creating an engaging experience for your members.

That’s why your trade or professional association should leverage the right event management tools to boost attendance, maximize engagement, streamline operations, and make the most of each event. 

We’ve identified essential association event software solutions and what features to look for in each tool. Make sure that you come prepared with these tools for your next event:

• Event Management Software
• Community Engagement Platform
• An Event Platform
• Membership Data Software

Ready to supercharge your in-person, hybrid, or virtual association events? We’ll explore top solutions and practices for making the most of them, from practicing good data hygiene to ensuring you choose the right vendor for your needs.

Event Management Software

Event management software refers to a broad set of tools that help associations plan, promote, and manage events. This software facilitates every step of the event lifecycle, from multichannel marketing to post-event reports. Plus, these systems improve the event experience for organizers and attendees alike.

That being said, some event management systems are more comprehensive than others. If you’re looking for an all-in-one platform to manage the creation and execution of your events, a few top features to keep an eye out for include:

• The ability to plan and manage all event formats—virtual, hybrid, and in-person
• Easy-to-use, mobile-optimized forms to streamline registration
• Ticketing and QR code or barcode scanning capabilities
• Seamless data integration with your association management software
• Reports on event and attendee data
• Management capabilities for vendors, sponsors, speakers, and exhibitors

When assessing event management software, be aware that many top providers cater to a range of audiences and may not have association-specific features. Narrow your search to vendors used to working with associations and have the resources you need to host your unique networking events, new member welcome meetings, conferences, online courses, and other events.

Community Engagement Platform

Associations don’t just need tools to host their events but to announce events, promote them, and continue conversations long after each event wraps up.

This is where a community engagement platform comes in. These tools enable associations to create private online platforms where their members can post content, interact with one another, and engage with your association’s offerings. Think of it as creating your own private Facebook or LinkedIn just for your association’s members.

When assessing community engagement platforms, look for the following features:

• Community feed. A community feed not only allows your members to connect with one another but also provides a place for your association to announce and promote events. Then, after the event wraps up, your team and your members can keep conversations going.
• Event hosting. Your community engagement platform should have basic video conferencing software for hosting virtual events. Plus, even if you have other event hosting tools, your community engagement platform should still have event scheduling tools so members can RSVP and stay updated with all event details.
• Marketing automation. Prior to your event, your community engagement platform can send alerts to RSVPed members to remind them about your event. Schedule when these reminders go out, such as one week, a day, and an hour before the event.
• Sponsorship promotions. Look for community engagement platforms that open the door to non-dues revenue opportunities, like sponsorships. For example, our favorite community engagement platform, Tradewing, allows associations to promote sponsors through a visible but non-obtrusive tab during events.

For trade and professional associations on a budget, Tradewing can double as your community engagement platform and your virtual event software. Compared to subscriptions for services like Zoom, you might find an all-in-one platform like Tradewing to be the most cost-effective option.

An Event Platform

Virtual and hybrid events are essential for engaging members throughout the year for many associations. As such, it’s essential to invest in an online event space where all attendees can gather to enjoy everything your association offers.

While there are plenty of free conferencing apps with basic streaming and discussion features, a dedicated event platform gives your association the power to connect with virtual attendees, encourage greater member engagement, and facilitate networking and community-building.

Many professional and trade associations have a significant number of members join solely to network. As such, hosting only a handful of in-person events a year isn’t optimal, nor are virtual events where attendees are passive.

Ensure your members get the most out of your event experience by seeking out an event platform that offers:

• Live chat and reaction features
• Polls, highlighted questions, and other interaction features
• Virtual community and committee creation features
• Viewable attendee profiles
• Chat and video invitation capabilities

These tools aren’t only important for virtual attendees, but they also help in-person attendees use their mobile devices to connect with others and enjoy a fuller, multi-faceted event experience.

Membership Data Software and Resources

Events provide an opportunity for associations to connect with their members. If done correctly, your association can encourage members to move to higher membership tiers, purchase add-ons, or increase their value by engaging in other activities. However, this is only possible with high-quality membership data management.

Having software to manage your memberships makes it easy to continually learn about your members and enhance your event follow-up. When members first join your association, ask them to create detailed profiles. While they should be able to pick and choose which of this information is private, your association will have access to essential details you can leverage to improve your communications.

Using membership management software is the best way for your association to keep detailed records at your event so that you always know how to contact your members afterward.

Unsure what data you should be targeting? Here are some suggestions for what data you should collect:

• Preferred name
• Age
• Email address
• Phone number
• Physical address
• Employment status and employer
• Educational background

You can ask for other information relevant to your association’s specific industry or about members’ interests and hobbies. While this may seem intensive, members are more likely to give out this information when completing their profiles since these details will help them network with other members.

Data Appends

If your association lacks member data or you fear your members’ information is outdated, you can ask members to take a second to update their profiles. If this proves ineffective, your emails are bouncing, or your physical invitations are being returned to sender, that might be a sign to kick your data collection practices up a notch with a data append.

Having updated records is critical in preserving your relationships with your members. Appending your data also encourages strong event turnout. Appending services such as those NPOInfo offers empower you to maintain contact with your members.

To conduct an append, reach out to secure appending services. During the appending process, you’ll share your members’ contact data with their team, who will then deliver appended records of phone numbers, email addresses, or any other information you request.

 

Regardless of whether you’re hosting a virtual networking fair or an in-person awards ceremony, all events can be improved when the right software is powering the planning, management, and hosting processes. 

By taking advantage of the software platforms we’ve highlighted, you can increase member engagement, leverage your data, raise the value of your membership program, and reduce stress for your event organizing team.

Anyone can see why adding data to the decision-making process is worthwhile. By establishing credibility and unifying collaborators, data informs you to take the next step with confidence, whatever that may be.

However, having data-backed decision-making become second nature in your organization can pose a challenge, especially if you’re unsure of which insights to prioritize. Not to mention, unorganized, missing, or dirty data can stall your progress or lead you down the wrong path.

To strengthen your organization’s informed decision-making, we’ve compiled a list of five strategies you can employ to back your ideas with solid evidence.

1. Lead by example

When your organization’s leaders set an example, the rest of the team will likely follow suit. Start at the top of your organization to explore ways your leadership can set the tone for following evidence-based strategies. A few leadership techniques could include:

• Setting a regular cadence of reviewing organizational performance metrics to remind teams of what metrics to go after, what healthy results look like, and how to navigate any lacking or surprising results.
• Sifting through case studies before finalizing decisions to allow previous insights to guide your strategy. This could mean diving into studies your organization has conducted or reviewing relevant ones within your industry.
• Reviewing evidence-based action plans to ensure you have informed each step of your process with relevant data. For comprehensive action plans, this would mean citing multiple sources and proactively explaining any gaps.
• Offering data research and presentation best practices from leadership’s expertise. Give tips and strategies for presenting data and research in a way that is both compelling and relevant for your audience.

These strategies should be unique to your company’s needs and objectives. For example, a healthcare organization may set expectations to review the risk adjustment process with new employees so that they understand the workflow and compliance requirements. According to Arcadia, this may mean breaking down each step to accurately suspect, engage, and assess patient needs while maintaining quality standards.

2. Provide data literacy training

While data is a useful tool for decision-making, it can sometimes be tricky to interpret, especially when gathering actionable insights from specific data points. Ensure everyone has the needed level of data literacy training to manage your organization’s data. Explore the following:

• Hands-on data analysis projects related to team members’ roles, allowing them to explore and analyze data independently.
• Peer-to-peer learning sessions where team members from various departments can collaborate and share their best practices.
• External training opportunities, such as workshops or conferences, that provide team members with opportunities to learn more about data analysis.

By offering training and collaboration opportunities, your entire team will be on the same page when approaching various decisions. Additionally, you should avoid sequestering your data science team from the rest of the organization to ensure transparency across the team. Instead, make sure they are heavily involved in explaining any process or system updates and catching any new team members up to speed.

3. Offer secure data access and management

Although the majority of your team could benefit from data-backed decision-making, it’s important to safeguard sensitive information by ensuring it’s only viewed by authorized team members. Offer secure data access and management by employing the following strategies:

• Leverage integration: Disorganized data lacks both efficiency and security, since it’s difficult to find and may be accessible by unauthorized parties. Convert your data to a digital format and aggregate it into a central location to keep it secure. For example, a healthcare organization might consolidate patient data by leveraging EHR integration.
• Provide data security training: Set up a series of meetings or an official training program to cover basic security principles with your team. This may include tips on how to create strong passwords, identify phishing scams, and update software. You might also offer hands-on training through simulations to help your team put these tips into practice.
• Use clear data access controls: Employ strict access controls to ensure only authorized users can access sensitive data. For example, you may use multi-factor authentication (MFA) or biometric authentication to verify a team member’s identity before allowing them access. You can also implement logging and monitoring mechanisms to keep an eye on who accesses this information.

Beyond implementing controls on which team members have access to specific data, you can also protect the organization’s information by determining which data sources are most relevant for certain team members. Consolidating data provides a comprehensive overview of your organization’s most important information.

This way, you’ll be able to build data-backed, team-based workflows so each department can access the data they need without sacrificing security. Just be sure to identify any incomplete or missing data before you finalize any workflows. If needed, request a data append to fill in any gaps.

4. Define clear objectives and KPIs

To reinforce a culture of data-backed decision-making, your organization must build its overall goals around relevant metrics. Double the Donation’s nonprofit marketing guide recommends using the SMART method to create specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound goals. Then, you’ll have a clear plan for how and when you’ll achieve these goals.

Enforce a coordinated effort to leverage data in decision-making by aligning these data-backed goals across departments. A few ways you can do this include:

• Encouraging collaboration: Enable teams to collaborate on projects by sharing relevant data and insights.
• Establishing Key Performance Indicators (KPIs): Develop KPIs for each team that support the organization’s overarching goals. Track them regularly and share progress across the entire team.
• Implementing data-backed performance reviews: Use KPIs to track team performance and acknowledge team members who go above and beyond.

A collective effort to achieve goals based on actionable data will not just enhance your organization’s culture. Equipped with clear goals and the support needed to accomplish them, your team can work cohesively toward the success of the organization.

5. Provide relevant resources and support

While you may have an organized approach to data collection, you should also leverage relevant resources to simplify decision-making for your team. Consider the following ways you can support data-backed decisions:

• Leverage knowledge-sharing platforms: Enable team members to access tutorials, case studies, and best practices through internal knowledge-sharing platforms.
• Use analytics: Allow your whole team to access analytics tools to collect data analysis from various perspectives.
• Continually improve the process: Regularly evaluate and improve your organization’s data processes and practices. Ask for feedback from team members to determine data needs and address challenges.

An organization’s team can only employ data-backed decision-making when they’re equipped with the right resources and support. In addition to these tools and resources, provide data quality assurance so that team members can work with consistent and reliable information.

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An organizational culture that encourages data-backed decision-making benefits not only your organization as a whole but also your individual team members. With enhanced collaboration and greater technical skills, your team will produce better organizational results.

Embrace data to drive innovation and growth relevant to your organization’s objectives, and establish clear expectations for team members to support this strategy. Where possible, explain the importance of data in team members’ roles to transparently implement data-driven processes. Prioritize data across your entire team for better results in every initiative.