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How to Start an Internet Service to Sell Cat Supplies

by Patricia Williams

Overview

Pet owners, specifically cat lovers, are known to scope out the Internet for good deals on cat supplies. With more than 37 million cat owners, there's definitely a market for an Internet service to sell cat supplies! Finding a reliable service that sells cat supplies at a reasonable price is what you want to offer to these eager shoppers who want to provide the best for their cats. Here's what you need to do to start a successful Internet service to sell cat supplies and gain a high-ranking placement on search engines.

Step 1

Determine your inventory. One of your initial steps is to determine what cat owners want. If you're a cat owner yourself, you probably have an idea of some supplies you could use. Create an inventory of items that would be available on your site. In helping you determine this inventory, visit pet stores and spend time in the cat aisles. Surf the Internet and visit other pet sites that sell cat supplies. Get ideas from these and then organize your inventory list into categories: cat toys, cat beds, cat food, cat collars, cat carriers etc.
Step 2

Decide between drop shipping items to customers and actually carrying inventory in your home and shipping it yourself. The advantage of drop shipping cat supplies is that all you have to do is provide the merchandise list and images on your shopping cart and let the manufacturer or supplier do the mailing and shipping for you. This can be especially useful for large items like cat furniture, cat scratching posts, litter, litter boxes, carries, crates and other bulky items. This frees up your time and efforts, and lets you concentrate on being creative with the look of your site and the selections you offer. If you decide you want to do some of the shipping yourself, consider carrying and shipping smaller items like catnip, dental and ear care products, flea collars and supplies, hairball remedies, small toys and treats.
Step 3

Determine your cat service name and create a website shopping cart. Your next step is to create a name for your business, get a domain name registered, and determine where you want your website hosted. Some people start shopping carts using an already successful online presence like Amazon or eBay. Study their programs and what they offer to determine if you want your shopping cart hosted through them or want your own independent site. The advantage of starting a business with the "big guys" is that their websites rank high on search engines, giving you a head start in being found on the Internet. The disadvantages are that you will have to work within the confines of their rules, regulations and templates.
Step 4

Once your Internet site is created, now you want to promote it to cat owners, vets, cat stores and other cat enthusiasts. Join cat forums online, create a blog to help promote your site online. Register your domain for free with search engines and write content regularly on your site using high-ranking keywords to help optimize your site.
Step 5

Send out press releases to the media and post on sites that run your press releases for free. If you want to get more aggressive, purchase a target list of cat owners and those interested in cat supplies, and send out an email with a link to your new site. Be creative and design an email newsletter highlighting specific cat supplies, with links to how to purchase them. Offer coupons and discounts to merchandise for first time buyers and any other incentives that will bring in sales (referral bonuses and discounts, cost breaks for people who buy more than five products, etc.)