Business Description:

As an online retail company zooplus sells pet supplies directly to private customers via the internet, and considers itself to be the clear European online market leader in terms of revenues and active customer base within its segment.

In total, zooplus sells around 7,000 food and accessories products for dogs, cats, small animals, birds, reptiles, fish and horses. This includes everyday staples such as brand name foods generally available with high street specialty retailers, zooplus AG ‘s own private labels, as well as specialty articles such as toys, care and hygiene products and other accessories. In addition, zooplus offers its customers a wide range of free content and information accessible through its websites, such as veterinary and other animal-related advice, on top of interactive features such as discussion forums and blogs.

Since August 2010 zooplus has a pan-European presence across 18 countries which together represent a total annual pet supplies market volume of around EUR 18 billion. The company operates a range of country-specific and international online shops.

As of the third quarter of 2010, zooplus operates a total of twelve country-specific web shops: In addition to the six high-volume markets detailed above, it also operates local webshops in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, Ireland, Poland and Slovakia. It also serves Denmark, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Sweden through a multinational English language offering via zooplus.com.  Austrian customers are served through the central German website.

zooplus generates the majority of its revenues by selling its own stocked goods from its central warehouses located in Staufenberg / Germany and Tilburg / The Netherlands. In addition, zooplus generates a small part of its sales through its so-called "direct line business", in which zooplus sells products directly from select suppliers with the products then being shipped directly from supplier to customer. Shipments and final mile deliveries are made via parcel couriers.

The management aims to maintain and expand its existing market leadership within the European online pet supplies space and, at the same time, increase the company‘s medium and longterm earnings potential (defined as pre-tax income).

• Europe’s leading and largest online pet supplies retailer
• Business model has been successfully introduced into 18 European countries
• Particular focus on the larger European markets: Germany, UK, France, Benelux and Austria
• Average growth in excess of 50 % p.a. (2007 - 2009)
• Clear first mover advantage built up and preserved since 1999
• Pet supplies category ideally suited to online retailing: standardized, homogenous products, regular demand patterns plus the structural advantages of home delivery over traditional retail channels
• Strong new customer growth in combination with high customer loyalty and repeat purchasing frequency
• Large product assortment with over 7000 products on stock
• Hightech pan-European logistics center with further capacity for growth and European roll-out 

Corporate Strategy

• Continuous organic growth in our German core markets
• Build-up and further penetration of our major international markets through both an enlarged product and service offering as well as new local web sites
• Entry into new geographic markets such as Spain, Scandinavia and Eastern Europe
• Continuously increasing customer loyalty and shopping frequency through active and targeted direct marketing activities
• Build-up and enlargement of existing and new product and supplier lines with a particular emphasis on private label goods

A zooplus_factsheet.pdf is available for download.