Lina Geoushy
900071827
MGMT480-01
Dr. Iman Seoudi

PETS.COM

Describe the situation faced by Wainwright when she joined Pets.com as CEO?
The market for pet products was extremely fragmented. Sales went through multiple stores like mass merchants, independent pet stores, and supermarkets
The Pet industry was attractive and it was appealing to a large number of competitors
Analysts were optimistic because the internet had already proven to be a successful distribution channel for software, music, and books
Pets.com had three main competitors: Petopia.com, Petsmart.com, and Petstore.com
Wainright had been hired to lead the company and to establish it as a market leader of the online pet supplies category.
Wainright feared and was
Alternatives
Wainwright could have created an average campaign with a more convincing message that adds value to the customer.
Instead of relying on aggressive pricing to benchmark with their competitors, they could have enhanced their shipping and made it fast (with increasing the price slightly) to differentiate themselves and expand to international markets.
They shouldn’t have spent that much on marketing given the fact that they over estimated the number of internet browsers

Do you think the creation of a brand icon such as sock puppet was an effective strategy for drawing customers to the Pets.com website?
The sock puppet caught the public’s attention, however this didn’t translate into sales. By the beginning of 2000, Pets.com was attracting less than a million visitors a month to its website.

Overall, what do you think are the main reasons for Pets.com failure in the market?How would you have done things differently?
The underfunded land grab strategy (discussed above)
Poor positioning (discussed above)
Unsustainable business model: many Internet ventures seem to think they can sell merchandise at unbeatable prices because of their low overhead and superior efficiency. Profits will come from incidentals, such as inflated shipping charges, renting out their