The Indian pet care market is one of the fastest-growing markets in the world. Market Decipher's latest report predicts that the pet care market in India is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 19.2 per cent, reaching Rs 210,000 crore by 2032 from Rs 74,000 crore in 2022. Several brands and startups are trying to overcome the market. One of such is Zigly.
Zigly is a pet care brand owned by Cosmo First founded by Pankaj Poddar. In a conversation with BW Businessworld, he shared his industry outlook, his demands from the government and future growth plans.
Poddar talked about the understanding of pet parenting among Indians. He believes that Indians have grown as pet parents and they treat them like their kids. He added, “I would not at all call them pet owners. People are crazy about their pets. It is evolving every day.”
Stray Dogs Need Humanise Touch
Talking about stray dogs and increased incidents of dogs attacking humans, Poddar thinks that the streeties need more of our attention. He said that streeties have not been taken care of, in India. He claimed that Zigly Foundation is very closely working with it and has engaged already more than 100 Zigglers, who are just running on every street trying to make sure about the vaccination status of these streeties.
He further highlighted the problem saying, that people are not giving them food and water and therefore these dogs feel irritated and when they feel irritated they bite it. He emphasised that if stray dogs had lived in a peaceful environment then you would not have find these bitings.
Zigly Is Not A Store But An Experience Center
The market is now flooded with many of pet care brands and products , which makes the competition tougher to sustain. But, Zigly’s CEO differentiated his brand from other competitors in the market saying it is an ecosystem. He said, “Somebody is a shop, and somebody is just providing a service but we are the ones who are a complete ecosystem both online and offline.”
Terming his stores as an experience center, he voiced that Zigley has pet care services, grooming and a very big range of products. “We are selling medicines and at the same time we are also giving training and a lot of other knowledge bases to the customers”, added Poddar.
Apart from it, he also appealed to educate people to be pet-sensitive and for government to be more industry-friendly to know the potential of the pet care economy. He said that the government must be supporting this industry at large. “Taxation, if it is tax-friendly, always really helps because if you try and put up a luxury tax then obviously you are restricting it” he stated.
Emphasising the growth of the pet care industry, Poddar believes the government will realise sooner than later that this industry will continue to have phenomenal growth where more and more people will adopt pets.
Zigly Is Planning For Long Run
Further adding about the company’s performance and exposure in tier II cities where Zigly is now operating, he stated about similar experiences, as in metro cities. “You might have heard of the term ‘double income no kids’. Even for those pet parents, they are looking to adopt pets and therefore this phenomena is getting engaging in different cities and different places all over the world” he stated.
Poddar also talked about the potential of the pet care industry and where he seeing his company in the coming years. He claimed Zigly’s store sales growth as well as online growth, are growing month over month. He believes that his company is gaining a name in the pet care industry that will help in log run.
