A phone held up at the till
A regular puts a large bag of dog food on the counter and holds up his phone: the same bag is cheaper on a big online site, with free delivery over a certain amount. Your staff member does not know whether that is true, whether it is the same size, or whether it is a short term offer. She calls the owner, who says to match it this once.
That evening, the owner spends an hour checking prices for twenty top selling foods across three websites, writing them into a spreadsheet. Some are subscription prices, some are multi-buy prices, one is a different bag size. By next week, half the prices have changed again, and the spreadsheet is out of date.
Why you never quite know where you stand
Pet food prices online move often, vary by bag size and are presented in different ways: subscription discounts, first order discounts, multi-buys and delivery thresholds. Comparing like for like takes care, and doing it by hand for more than a handful of lines is not realistic for a small shop.
- Checks are done by hand, occasionally, for a few lines.
- Online prices include subscription and first order discounts that are not like for like.
- Bag sizes differ, so price per kilo is the only fair comparison.
- Prices change often, so a check goes stale quickly.
- Staff at the till have no reference when a customer quotes a price.
What not knowing costs you
Without a clear view, you either match prices case by case at the till, which is inconsistent and erodes margin, or you hold firm and lose customers who might have stayed if you had been closer on the lines they care about. Either way, the decision is made in the moment rather than planned.
There is a quieter cost too. Most of your range may be well priced, but you cannot prove it to customers or yourself, and you may be underpricing some lines where you did not need to.
Price monitoring for the lines that matter
- We work with you to choose the lines to watch: your best sellers, the foods regulars depend on and lines customers often mention.
- For each line, we identify the matching products on the online sellers you choose, by brand, recipe and bag size.
- Public prices are collected on a regular schedule and converted to a price per kilo, with subscription and multi-buy prices recorded separately.
- Your till price and cost are shown alongside, so you see price gap and margin together.
- Alerts flag lines where the gap has widened beyond a threshold you set, or where an online seller has dropped a price sharply.
- A simple lookup lets till staff search a product and see the current comparison when a customer asks.
| Line | What the view shows | Decision it supports |
|---|---|---|
| Top selling dry dog food | Your price per kilo against online | Match, hold or explain |
| Specialist cat food | Gap and your margin | Whether to adjust |
| Litter | Online multi-buy prices | Whether to offer a multi-buy |
| Treats | Wide gaps flagged | Where to look first |
We only use prices shown publicly on sellers' websites, collected in line with each site's terms, and we tell you where a site cannot be monitored that way. Pricing decisions stay with you.
Pricing with the facts in hand
Once a week, the owner opens a short report of lines where the gap has changed. Some need a small adjustment; some are fine because customers value your advice and local delivery. The decisions are made calmly, on a Monday, not at the till with a queue.
When a customer holds up a phone, staff can check the comparison in seconds and see whether it is a like for like price or a first order discount. Often the honest answer, per kilo, is closer than the customer thought.
Are you pricing blind against online sellers?
- Customers regularly quote online prices at the till.
- Price checks are done by hand, occasionally.
- Staff do not know whether to match.
- Comparisons ignore bag sizes and subscription discounts.
- You are not sure whether some lines are priced too low.