Customer experience must be excellent

Kentucky Dogwear is the relatively young but fast-growing sister brand of Kentucky Horsewear. This year, it has seen sales triple. CEO Thomas Tuytens began developing and selling dog accessories two years ago, after setting up a successful horse accessory business, Kentucky Horsewear.

Thomas: “Since the beginning in 2011 we’ve only ever sold our horse accessories through retailers. That’s because expert advice on such products is a source of added value. But the dog market is so much bigger that we started selling online ourselves, alongside the offline sales through a select group of retailers. At Kentucky Dogwear we’re especially good at developing, selling and marketing products. E-commerce logistics demands a different approach and I prefer to rely on specialists for those things that are not part of our core business.”

An acquaintance recommended Thomas try Active Ants to store, pick, pack and ship the dog accessories sold in his online store: “For our brand the online experience has to be even better than the offline experience. I am quite demanding when I buy stuff online, so I have very high standards. It’s fantastic that you receive an email with a photo of the products you’ve purchased when your order is shipped. The products have to be top-notch, but a good customer experience undoubtedly carries just as much weight the next time you shop."

Active Ants promises that optimal customer experience and, at the same time, they make a huge amount of data available to Kentucky Dogwear. Kentucky Dogwear already offers an extensive range of products for sale. Collars, harnesses and dog coats are the biggest sellers. “With the real-time monitoring through the reporting system we can see what the stock levels are and what campaigns are successful at the click of a mouse,” Thomas explains. “Which means we can adjust our marketing and sales efforts at any time. We reinvest every euro in our continued growth and development. And partners like Active Ants help us focus exclusively on that. We know that our online order fulfilment is in good hands.”