by Nancy Hassel, American Pet Professionals

Hey Boo!  During October, aka spooky season we are used to seeing, attending, and organizing pet Halloween costume contests, pet parades, and Halloween-themed events.  But have you heard about ‘Boo Baskets’ that are trending on social media?

This fun trend is making the rounds on social right now could be a great trend to jump in on for your pet business.  ‘Boo Baskets’ are making baskets filled with seasonal and Halloween-themed products for your boo, your friend, and in our case our pets… i.e. your customer’s pets!

Are you doing anything to encourage your customers to make a Boo Basket in your store, on your e-commerce sites, or with your products? You can create an end cap filled with products to put into a Boo Basket for dogs, cats, birds, reptiles, etc.  Make pre-made Boo Baskets that your customers can purchase and place them right by your register or on your ecommerce store.

Perhaps you’re having a Boo Basket event aka ‘Make Your Pet a Boo Basket’ event at your location. A way to increase sales, get new customers into your store, and cater to pet parents who will help create FOMO when other customers see their social posts. Encourage them to tag your pet business in their posts, and share their social posts that you’re tagged in.

You could host a Boo Basket party where your customers purchase products to put into basket to bring to shelter pets.  Contact your local shelter to see what products they need and like and provide the baskets that your customers can fill with items purchased at your store. Then you have additional content of bringing the baskets to the shelter pets.

You may have heard that Halloween pet costume sales are expected to be $700 million this year.  But what about the pets that don’t like to wear costumes?  Boo Baskets can be a great way to increase your sales, cater to those pets who are costume-less but their pet parents still want to celebrate the season with their pets.

Often we see a trend that is happening on social, and it may not seem like a fit for your pet business, but it is all in the way you look at it and how you can adapt it for your business.

Here’s a video example of what I did for my Cody by purchasing products at two local pet stores, and having fun while doing so. Cody approved!

I think this is a fun trend and a great way to have an upsell within your store on your website. A way to showcase your product that is fun, creative, seasonal, and trending.

What do you think? If you’re inspired and decide to do an event or promote this another way, please tag us on social @AmericanPetPros on IG, and let us know!