THE PET POINT'S UNIQUE STRATEGY BEHIND BRAND EXPANSION

In conversation with Akshay Mahendru, the Founder and CEO of The Pet Point, he talks about his purpose as an entrepreneur and pet parent, strategy behind his company's expansion, and his vision for the future of the company.

WHAT IS THE INSPIRATION BEHIND STARTING THE PET POINT?

The inspiration has always been to create an ecosystem, where the pet parenting becomes easy. The motivation has always been to make pet parenting not as difficult a task as it seems to be from the outside. The entire family has been pet lovers from the very beginning. We would sense there was a disconnect between the pet parents as well as the expectation pet pen has from a service provider or a product provider. So that is why, we came up with the idea of The Pet Point. We wanted an ecosystem where it is affordable and approachable. Any person who wants to be a pet parent or is a pet parent can enter into any Pet Point store without hesitation.

WHICH WAS YOUR FIRST PET STORE AND IN WHICH LOCATION? HOW MANY STORES DO YOU HAVE TODAY AND HOW MANY STORES WILL YOU HAVE BY THE END OF 2023?

The first major project as a store was in Punjabi Bagh area in West Delhi which was back in 2002. We are at eight physical stores in Delhi NCR. We are looking to expand the chain much beyond what it is right now. For 2023,the goal is to add six to seven more stores. We want to reach to a dual level of 15 by the end of this year.

HOW DO YOU CHOOSE THE LOCATIONS?

We have been very strategic when it comes to choosing the space for our stores. First, depending upon the density of pet population in that particular area. Then, building the model around affordability and accessibility of every pet parent to that store. We tried to take places where rents are controlled because if the rents are on the higher side, The Pet Pen has to pay for it. Ultimately, it is a business game. The customer has to pay for the kind of place they are coming into. Our stores look premium, but they are not. This has been the approach. I want people to come in without thinking twice about it.