What’s Next?

What I Think Is Next:

Moving forward, I think the next logical step for my product/service is to expand on the customer convenience aspect. In regard to the actual product/service I am offering, I see very little room for innovation or addition. The whole idea of my product is to keep the shopping, selection, and delivery process quick, easy, and painless for the customer. As far as the convenience aspect of the service goes, I can implement more appealing policies so customers can more easily transition into this new form of shopping for their pets. For example, for customers that have a pet that is not quite adjusting to the new food as well as they would have hoped, I can send additional recipes at no charge or issue a refund if the customer is willing to donate the remaining food to an animal shelter.

Reflection
After speaking with my three interviewees, I learned a small bit of information about what possible steps to take moving forward. When asking my interviewees what they thought we should be planning to do that we currently are not, they offered the advice to add on more products like treats and toys. This proved to be interesting because it makes sense to offer treats, as customers would be able to purchase all their pet’s food needs at once. This could be a relatively easy transition for my business, as we would already have all the necessary tools/ingredients in place to prepare healthy treats. Overall though, the common response was that it the product/service seemed complete, in that they could not really think of anything to add on. One person suggested that I include wet foods in addition to the dry food I had planned on offering, as this was a major part of their dog’s diet.

New Market:

I think a new market I have not thought of is perhaps a lower income area of society. I have been basing my assumptions for my business off a certain income bracket, but the reality is, there are people with low incomes that also own pets. One important question going into this new market would be, how can I provide customers that have lower income the same opportunity to provide their pets with quality foods. 

Reflection:

These interviews were definitely interesting and rewarding as they highlighted the harsh but obvious reality that lower income simply means that quality will take a hit. Or in other words, dog owners who do not earn enough, usually view their pet’s nutrition and health with less of a priority. This provided me with more motivation to find ways to innovate my product/service to meet the needs of all. Unfortunately, the reality is that the more work and effort that goes into obtaining fresh ingredients for pets and taking the extra steps to prepare it properly means that more money has to be spent in the beginning stages, which translates to a higher selling price. My interviewees expressed little to no interest in changing their pet’s diet, especially if it meant more money out of their pocket. This can be understood, as they hadn’t prioritized their pet’s diets before, so why would they now. After explaining the possibility of a free trial period, interviewees expressed more interest but were not quite sold on it yet. I also explained the possibility of point/reward system for customers, so they could receive free gifts, which certainly drew in their attention in a bit more. The overall take away from these interviews were that customer experience/ease of shopping were extremely important, as those along with the fresh foods illustrated what customers were actually paying for. They would see the value of their investment reflected in their whole shopping experience.