With over 820 stores, the Germany-based pet food retailer Fressnapf occupies the sector's no. 1 position in Europe. The GfK Purchasing Power dataset has been a pivotal part of the company's sensationally fast rise to market dominance. We spoke with Andreas Propach from the company's planning division to learn more details.

Mr. Propach, your company's motto seems to be "benchbreaking" instead of "benchmarking"! What are your targets for the coming year?

Well, our sights are set on further expansion. Having opened 60 new stores last year in Germany alone - as well as our first store in Ireland, we are currently looking for suitable sites in other locations, such as Spain. But even within Germany, we hope to further expand our store network. The original locations where Fressnapf's success first began 16 years ago are now too small for our product range and store concept. In the future we want to focus more on XXL-sized stores, where customers can have an unhampered buying experience for everything pet-related. This means that in addition to new store openings, we'll be carrying out some relocations and expansions.

How do you find suitable locations for your franchise partners?

Like all retail companies, we must identify areas of untapped market potential. We have been using GfK Purchasing Power for many years for precisely this purpose. Even though these purchasing power figures reveal the total consumer potential and not just what consumers spend on pet products, they have nonetheless served as excellent predictors of our success. The dataset also contains information on the number of households and inhabitants for regions in which we are interested, giving us additional planning tips. Then our own market data comes into play -- such as customer surveys carried out at our existing store locations. Using these various sources, we calculate our regional market potential and identify promising sites for new branch locations.
 

What is the next step after you identify a potential location?

Although our franchise partners have good instincts when it comes to scoping out good locations, we rely on market data to provide an objective basis for any location-related decisions. We use the GfK Purchasing Power dataset to calculate catchment areas for our stores as well as the total potential for a given location. In addition, we also take stock of competitors' stores in the surrounding area. Our franchise partners are eager to listen to our advice, which is always backed up with hard data. Our mutual success has delighted us both!

Beginning last year, Fressnapf has also been using the GfK Purchasing Power Europe dataset. Has this already paid off?

Definitely! The controlling division uses this purchasing power data to evaluate sales and they can personally attest to the value of the Europe-wide dataset. In short, we are very satisfied! When you enter a completely new market - as was the case when Fressnapf established a location in Ireland last year, you often have very few benchmarks when it comes to determining good locations. It's very valuable to know as precisely as possible where people are able to spend their money. In other European countries, the market for pet-related products often differs significantly from our home market in Germany. Since we've hitherto had little Europe-wide market data, the GfK Purchasing Power Europe dataset has served as an indispensible benchmark for overall buying potential in European markets outside of Germany.

Where do you see especially strong potential and do you consider the use of market data to be a key factor in Fressnapf's success?

The number of pets is higher in many of Germany's neighboring countries, and the market in these areas is far from exploited. Consequently, data on market potential is a vital component of any successful expansion into these areas.

Thank you for the interview and we wish you continued success!

www.fressnapf.de