Today I thought I would have a look at what is available on the healthy dog treat side of things in Australia, online, and I was surprised by the scant quality of product and websites.
If you are just looking for any old dog treat, you will find many sites, with many images stuffed on the home page. None of them really talk about anything about the product (you know, what your dog will be eating) except for some inane comment about how they will find it tasty.
In fact one of the leading supermarket dog treat makers (who is also a leader in human confectionary LOLLIES) also makes this claim by pouring sugar all over their treats. The dog and every animal on earth loves sugar, but refined or even raw sugar is not a main nutritional ingredient that dogs need. Just helps in addicting them to bad habbits …
It seems that no one is particularly interested in feeding their dogs anything particularly healthy, its all about the cheap postage and buy more and get discount off more rubbish claims.
Back in 2000 many pundits had big hopes for e commerce, that it might be based on actual product quality, but that seems far from the truth in the dog treat space.
It is great to grab a bargain, everyone wants to, but for all those people out there saying they want the best for their dogs, why doesn’t it extend to what the dogs eat? After all, if people don’t have time to walk their dogs, the best they can do is give them good nutrition right?
We have covered the whole grains for dogs in their dog food is bad story over and over. That is why we sell meat based dog treats, to make up for the filler rubbish that the dog eats in its main meal, but people dont want to know the truth if they have to change their mind about something or admit that they were conned for years.
The big chain stores and online stores are all based on volume, not product quality or customer service. Most of their staff have no idea about what they sell or what is in it, none of them are likely to know anything about dog nutrition.
Dog treat price versus postage costs
The way to make money selling dog treats in Australia is to buy rubbish really cheaply (non meat usually) and buy it in big quantities, have it sit around in the factory for months then flog it off using social media and TV specials campaigns.
In fact if you offer FREE shipping on almost anything, nobody seems to care what they are buying.
The dog treat price can be 30% more than another shop (such as mine) and the cost of the dog treat PLUS postage of their offering can be more than my total price – but everyone loves to see free shipping.
Its just a remarkable thing how the big stores get away with charging you more for an inferior product but lure and secure you in by the FREE shipping tag.
Next time you go to buy a dog treat, perhaps reading the ingredient list, and adding up the total purchase price (regardless of how many fly bys are offered) will get your dog and you a better result !
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