15 Apr Digital Pooches and RoboDogs
Innovation in the pet sector has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years, with our shelves rammed with a wider range of doggy treats, cat nibbles, gerbil runs than ever before. Product of the Year has observed first-hand the premiumisation that’s taking control of the sector, with 2019 winners including Harringtons Wet Dog Food and Wagg Peanut Butter Cookies – and the trend shows no signs of stopping.
However, it’s not just food that we’re spoiling our pets with, and there’s a lot of technology out there to make sure that our pets are just as tech-savvy as we are. From automated feeders so that we can go on holiday without worrying about who’s feeding the cat, to Fitbits for your dog so that you can be sure Rover’s getting his 10,000 steps too, the pet-tech market is booming. Technological innovations, far from slowing, are adapting to the market, and whilst many people have reached saturation point with their own personal technology, there’s no limit to what they’ll buy for their beloved pets!
It’s another win for Team Innovation, showing how new products can capture consumers’ imagination, solving problems – sometimes before they even knew they existed! It’s tempting to fall foul of the innovation curse, the belief that innovation and new product development should be the first to go when times are tight, but this couldn’t be further from the truth. Innovation pushes growth across the whole sector, and one of the reasons the petcare market has been growing so rapidly and so successfully recently is due to their unfailing, unflinching attitude to innovation. Now, the average pet owner spends over £1,200 per year on their pet – and it’s only set to rise.
Are you a leading innovator in your sector? Are you pushing boundaries? Or are you a follower, with no original ideas, happy to step back and let your competitor lead the way? Because at Product of the Year, we’re here to reward the real innovators. Think you’ve got what it takes?
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