01 / 08
PetJoy
50
stores. 6 months.
Here is what I found.
The field research nobody else is doing →
02 / 08
PetJoy
01
Insight #1
The toy aisle is an afterthought
In 38 of 50 stores, toys were crammed into a back corner. Poor lighting. No merchandising. No signage. Yet toys carry the highest margins in the store. The opportunity is hiding in plain sight.
03 / 08
PetJoy
02
Insight #2
Owners do not know their toy margins
I asked every owner: "What is your average margin on toys?" Only 7 out of 50 could answer. The rest said "I would have to check." If you do not measure it, you cannot improve it.
04 / 08
PetJoy
03
Insight #3
The best stores treat toys like fashion
The top 5 performing stores rotated toys monthly, used eye-level displays, and created "staff pick" sections. They treated toys as curated collections, not commodity inventory.
05 / 08
PetJoy
04
Insight #4
Dead inventory is universal
Every single store had toys collecting dust. On average, 35% of toy SKUs had not sold a unit in 90+ days. That is thousands of dollars sitting on shelves doing nothing.
06 / 08
PetJoy
05
Insight #5
Customers want curation, not selection
Pet owners are overwhelmed by choice. The stores with fewer, better options outsold the stores with walls of product. Less inventory, higher revenue. Counterintuitive but consistent.
07 / 08
PetJoy
The stores winning with toys
all share 3 traits:
1. They curate, not accumulate
2. They rotate monthly
3. They track margins religiously
That is the entire playbook.
08 / 08
PetJoy
I do the research.
You get the results.
Monthly curation based on real store visits, real data, real results.
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