New Petco store offers personalized pet services

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Petco has opened a new sort of store offering a suite of personalized pet services and products.

PetCoach, opened in July in San Marcos, California, brings Petco's online platform to a retail setting. On-site services include grooming, training, veterinary care, nutrition consultations, day care, self-wash, and dog walking.

The PetCoach membership option includes veterinary visits as well as discounted products and services.

Unlike regular Petco stores, PetCoach has no registers or cashiers. Rather, roaming pet coaches assist customers by scheduling appointments or checking them out using iPad minis.

"With PetCoach, we're reinventing the idea of a traditional pet store by providing complete care experiences—from grooming, training, and day care to full-service veterinary care—that simply can't be delivered by mail or by a mass retailer," said Petco CEO Ron Coughlin in a statement.

Digitally, pet owners can create custom pet profiles, book in-store service appointments and get tailored reminders, access immediate professional pet health advice from licensed veterinarians, order from a veterinarian-vetted selection of pet food and supplies, and search a library of content relevant to their pet, including health and vaccination records and service history.

Related JAVMA content:

Petco incorporating full-service veterinary clinics (July 1, 2017)

AVMA persuades Petco to adjust ads' messaging (July 15, 2016)