Scooping up pet care products; chains use new cat and dog products to defend market turf - Special Supplement: Food Merchandising for Non-Food Retailers

Discount Store News, Feb 15, 1993

New scoopable cat litters are getting the lion's share of attention on discount and drug store pet supply shelves. Revolutionary items, such as the scoopable litter, are helping discounters and drug stores maintain their turf against the onslaught of pet superstores.

The litter, which clumps up when a cat uses it, allows pet owners to scoop and throw away only the portion that's been used on a daily basis. The clumpable litters are attracting shoppers--who used to go to pet shops and specialty outlets for this new technology--to mass market pet supply departments.

Consumer demand for the new cat litters has been so strong that some mass merchandisers, like Target, have given the litters preferential display treatment on end-aisle cat litter gondolas.

Scoopable cat litter now accounts for approximately 30% of the estimated $750 million cat litter category (all outlets, including pet and specialty stores), according to Doug Jones, marketing manager of Jonny Cat Premium Cat Litter Products. In some retail outlets, Jones says, clumping cat litter routinely outsells regular cat litter.

"What we've found is that consumers either love it or hate it," he said. "It does track and it does require daily maintenance, so if cat owners wants to clean the box only once a week, then the regular [clay] litters are for them."

According to Information Resources, mass merchandisers sold $42.4 million of cat litter for the 39 weeks ending Sept. 27, 1992, the most recent figures available. Drug stores accounted for cat litter sales of $18.4 million for the 52-week period ending Nov. 8, 1992. The market research company does not break out sales of clay vs. scoop cat litters.

Retailers have reacted swiftly to consumer demand for the clumpable cat litters, with many creating separate sections for these new entries within the pet food and supply aisle.

Drug and discount store execs note that sales of the scoopable cat litters seem to be all incremental, attracting new users and consumers who previously purchased clumpable litters at specialty stores.

Wal-Mart reportedly asked Oil-Dri Corp. of America to develop a scoopable cat litter, which it now sells under the name, Lasting Pride.

"I think most consumers like the convenience of the scoopable cat litters," said a pet supply buyer at a southwestern discount chain. "Some consumers say it's environmentally friendly, since they're not throwing away tons of cat litter every week. We like it because it sells well and it pretty much sells itself. We haven't had to do much promotion behind it."

New technology products such as scoopable litter or the target marketed pet foods have brought more traffic to the pet care aisle.

Kmart believes so strongly in the department that it was one of several that got a facelift at the chain's new prototype in Auburn Hills, Mich. For a new look, Kmart has adopted many specialty store ideas, such as open stock glassware in housewares and mock bed displays in domestics. In the pet areas, Kmart installed a racking system that recreates the warehouse feel of the new super pet stores proliferating across the country.

Executives at another major discount chain have taken a close look at the increased traffic in the pet supply aisle, and "it is the category we are looking into the most," one said. "Clearly, it's where the opportunities are."

In the past, the pet supply department has been squeezed into a "very small area," with "not a lot of time and space" devoted to it, she said. But in 1993, the chain plans to expand the department beyond the basic items it has traditionally carried. "The category has been neglected for a long time, but when we looked at how profitable a category it is, we realized that we could be doing a lot more in this area," she added.

While mass merchandisers are expanding their pet supply offerings, drug chains appear to be holding steady or decreasing the amount of space devoted to pet foods and accessories. But they are eyeing ways to make the existing space more profitable by remerchandising to exclude low gross margin items in favor of products such as scoopable litter.

At Perry Drug stores--which once even sold live birds--the selection of cat and dog products has been carefully scaled back to let the chain stress its pharmacy image while not overlooking pet essentials. "Items such as pet are still important, but we don't want to get away from what we are--a drug store," said Perry's chairman Jack A. Robinson.

Genovese Drug Store is maintaining the space devoted to these products at current allocations. "We just carry the basics," said Arnold Portnoy, senior buyer. "We have the clumping cat litters and the top cat and dog foods."

Genovese runs regular specials on its pet foods, and January's coupon book included one for Reward dog food. "It's a nice steady business," Portnoy said, but the chain is not planning any major changes for its pet department, positioned next to hard lines and general merchandise.

"Drug stores really don't devote a lot of space to these [pet] products; they want to carry a variety of products so they carry a lot of small items," acknowledged Jonny Cat's Jones. "But selected accounts are aware of how well pet products sell and they take advantage of that to bring in traffic."