Since the pandemic, India has seen a surge in pet owners.
Especially in urban areas, more people have turned to furry friends in isolation and stress. However, pets like dogs can have serious health issues that need proper solutions.
Today, pets live in cities, stroll on marble floors and concrete streets, and sleep in bedrooms. As a result, they have different demands and health concerns than creatures that live in the wild.
Zoof Pets is an effective solution to such serious problems.
Becoming Pet Lovers
Electronics engineers Aneesha Pillai and Deepak Gupta both graduated from Mumbai University. Aneesha received her MBA at Jamnalal Bajaj in Mumbai and spent some time working for J.P. Morgan.
Deepak completed his post-graduate studies at Loughborough University in the United Kingdom after working for Siemens India. Before returning to India, he spent a few years working for Jaguar Land Rover in the UK.
Dogs were not part of the founders’ upbringing. The duo says their only childhood experience with pets was a stray dog here and a kitten there.
All they wanted was to create a brand that addressed actual issues for the average individual. The founders just happened to be enthusiastic problem solvers and product designers.
However, while pursuing this, Aneesha and Deepak just ran across a dog owner one day. One paw at a time, they began to fall in love with their furry friends with warm eyes and wet noses.
With an open mind, the duo interacted with over 200 canines and their parents, learning every nuance of canine upbringing and lifestyle. This led them to create a brand that will cater to all the needs of a dog owner.
While thinking of a name for their brand, Aneesha and Deepak were looking for something unique that is both adorable and evocative of dogs. Zoof sounds similar to woof! Zoof can also be a term of endearment. Thus, Zoof Pets came to be.
Why Is Zoof Pets Needed?
A common concern among urban pet parents appeared when Zoof Pets’ founders chatted with them about their dogs’ paws. Dirty paws during the rainy season could cause excruciating paw infections.
The pet parents were asked if they would put shoes on their dogs, but the majority of them responded negatively.
Nevertheless, the founders went ahead and created their first prototype, took some dog photographs, set up an Instagram page, and tried to sell. In just two days, they sold out of a 100-piece set. At that point, the founders realized this was a problem worth fixing.
At the present time, there is no other made-in-India brand that sells dog shoes. However, the founders of Aneesha and Deepak are expecting there will emerge a couple more within a few years. After all, Zoof Pets have established the need and demand for such brands.
The Nitty-gritty of Paw Care
Zoof Pets has grown straightforwardly. In the beginning, all it counted on was word of mouth, and organic Instagram reach. The business model is incredibly simple. After its first 250 sales, a website was created To date, all of Zoof Pets’ sales happen through the website.
Zoof Pets owes its success to superb customer care and a heightened understanding of dog needs.
The idea of dog shoes is quite recent. Therefore, it necessitates pre- and post-purchase client education. Zoof Pets takes the time to comprehend the parent’s needs, assist them in measuring the dog’s paw size, and advise how to ease the puppy into shoes.
The level of client satisfaction is a key performance indicator for the company’s customer service staff. Long conversations with their parents are encouraged. Meghna Roy Nair, who oversees the customer experience, is frequently mentioned in consumers’ brand reviews.
A Brief Look At The Products
Zoof Pets currently offer dog shoes in four major variants: Zoof Boots, Zoof Plops, Zoof Casuals, and Zoof Grips. Zoof Grips is indoor footwear for managing canine hip dysplasia. The other three are walking shoes.
Natural rubber is used to make Zoof boots. Some variants are also hand-stitched. Everything is done in-house, including shoe design, manufacture, quality assurance, and packaging.
Zoof Pets also offers paw care boxes, paw balms, special occasion Zoof Ethnic shoes, and high-quality and waterproof collars and leashes.
Challenges And Future Plans
Zoof Pets was launched right before the pandemic started. Lockdown was declared just as the founders had begun hiring factory workers for production. The company needed to produce and sell if it were to survive.
After a few weeks, the duo divided the items between themselves and Zoof Pets’ head of research and development, Hatim Saifee, and began producing them at home.
The team shipped the goods from their homes while delegating the packaging to friends. It was a strange solution, none the less, it worked.
Starting a business is a never-ending cycle of overcoming obstacles and crises. As of now, Zoof Pets is trying to find low-cost, long-term traction channels to boost sales.
Zoof Pets just introduced raincoats, and people (and their furry friends) loved them. The brand’s main goal is to produce items that make walking dogs safe and enjoyable for both the dog and the pet parents. It is developing canine hiking boots. It is also looking for geographical expansion.
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