Edition 2.1 Veterinary Brief

Walmart: Data shows veterinarians underestimate the threat.

As unsettling as it may be, Walmart is going to be a strong competitor in the veterinary market. Our new survey revealed that an astounding 3 in 4 pet owners will consider Walmart for veterinary service. And it’s not all about price. Find out which services pet owners are seeking, what level of service they expect and what steps your practice can take to position yourself for a more crowded marketplace.
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Brief Topics:

  • Assessing the Threat
  • There’s a Walmart in Your Neighborhood
  • The Risk is Real
  • Not Just the Lowest Price, Always
  • Price and Quality Go Hand in Hand. Or Do They?
  • Exploring the Holdouts
  • The Continuum of Acceptance
  • The Defectors May Not Leave You Altogether
  • Quantifying the Risk: 1 in 4 Clients
  • Finding the Early Adopters—And Responding
  • Build Your Loyalty Plan Today

Brief Format

All briefs are available in both an online and printable PDF format.

Veterinary Action Plans

Diggo briefs go beyond data. This brief offers exclusive veterinary action plans that you can begin implementing immediately to build loyalty and keep pet owners from jumping ship.

Objective

The primary objective of this research is to help practicing veterinarians understand the implications of mass merchants increasingly entering the veterinary services market.

Specific deep dive topics include:

  1. Pet owners’ current use of Walmart, including pet product purchases and use of other Walmart-based services.
  2. What makes pet owners who are likely to use Walmart-based veterinary services different from other pet owners? How can you identify the at-risk clients in your practice?
  3. What traditional veterinary practices can do to mitigate the risk while keeping and attracting more clients.

Methodology & Analysis

Much of the data in this brief came from an online survey with a large sample size of 1,518 pet owners balanced across US geography. This sample size allows for 95% confidence with a margin of error of +/- 2.53. Attitudinal questions were asked using a 6-point Likert rating scale. 73% are dog owners and 61% are cat owners.