This article is part of our digital feature on petcare

Meet the buyer…

Charlotte Taylor
 Petcare buyer, Poundland

Charlotte joined Poundland in 2012 and has experience across all fmcg categories including grocery, chilled, household and petcare. She says petcare is a highly emotive category as pets have a positive impact on people’s lives, something she really enjoys contributing to.

How would you sum up the past year in petcare?

CT: We’ve seen growth in our petcare range with the value of the products increasing. This has been achieved by working closely with our suppliers to ensure we offer amazing value every day to our customers.

What can be done to add value back into the market?

CT:  Increasing the quality of the product is key and driving premium in the wider market will certainly add value. Pet owners are more likely to continue to treat their pets rather than themselves when times are hard and having a range that reflects this is key to success.

What’s been the best petcare launch of the past 12 months?

CT:  We’ve had a great year with Mars Petcare, including relaunching the Whiskas dry catfood - the product was upgraded and packaging redesigned.

The pet event we launched in April was a real success and drove strong like-for-like growth. We launched new brands as part of the event, including Iams and Butcher’s. Marketing and online activity supported the event, which proved effective and attracted new customers into stores.

How has your range changed over the past year? What trends do these changes reflect?

CT:  Treats and premium brands have worked particularly well for us as customers are happy to spend more to treat their pets. Dress-up is hugely popular and we have increased our range year on year with additional space in store to reflect this.

How will the market shape up in the next 12 months?

CT:  We will continue to drive the value in our own label offer alongside top brands, offering amazing value to our customers. In addition, having a great proposition online to make it easier for customers who have to use public transport for heavier, bulkier items is very important.

Previous article: Revealed: Better advice on specialist pet diets needed

Next article: Creative challenge: could kitty ice cream really take off?

10 Things You Need To Know About... Petcare