Pet Friends, a leading pet platform in Korea, announced on June 1st that its community service, "Butler Life," has seen a 29-fold surge in accumulated experienced customers in just 1 year and 3 months since its launch.
Launched in September 2023, "Butler Life" is a dedicated space within the Pet Friends app where the platform's 1.6 million customers can freely share information and communicate with each other regarding pet care. By the end of last year, the accumulated content views on "Butler Life" reached an impressive 2.08 million.
The community has proven to have a direct impact on the sales increase of popular products mentioned within it. For instance, the cat product "Petrium Mallang Cushion" saw a staggering 979.9% jump in sales compared to the previous week (based on the 4th week of August) after being featured in popular community content. The product continues to be a top seller in Pet Friends' pet supplies category.
Similarly, "The Real Uni Jjajangmyeon" for dogs experienced a 450% surge in sales compared to the previous week (based on the 1st week of July) after positive reviews about its palatability and reasonable price were shared in the community.
According to Pet Friends, 21 products featured in the community saw a sales increase of over 300% in the two months following their appearance. This translates to more than 10 products being discovered by consumers each month and experiencing a threefold increase in sales.
Pet Friends attributes this success to the high engagement of pet owners, particularly the 2030 MZ generation (Millennials + Generation Z), who make up 77% of "Butler Life" users. These tech-savvy individuals are passionate about their pets and are willing to invest in their well-being.
"The content created by these highly engaged MZ generation pet owners is invaluable to other consumers," said a representative from Pet Friends. "Their reviews, which include detailed usage experiences, real-life photos, and objective price evaluations, provide practical and useful information."
"Butler Life" also plays a crucial role in providing health information for pets. Its veterinarian consultation service, a unique feature not found in other communities, is particularly noteworthy.
While pet care information and veterinarian consultations make up a 9:1 ratio of content in the "Butler Life" community, the average number of views per veterinarian consultation content is 2.5 times higher than that of pet care information content, indicating a strong demand for this service.
Pet Friends also found that customers who use the "Butler Life" community visit the platform 1.6 times more often than those who don't. This increased engagement naturally leads to greater exposure to product content, resulting in a higher average purchase conversion rate for community users.
Pet Friends anticipates that this virtuous cycle, where consumers actively share their positive experiences with products through the community, which in turn drives more purchases and content creation, will further accelerate the platform's growth.
"We will continue to strengthen our user-centric services and develop a platform where customers, vendors, and Pet Friends can grow together," said Hyun-shin Yoon, CEO of Pet Friends.
Meanwhile, Pet Friends achieved a monthly break-even point (BEP) in May of last year and successfully turned a profit. It is the only pet-specific e-commerce platform in Korea to have achieved operating profit surplus, surpassing 100 billion won in gross merchandise volume (GMV).
[Copyright (c) Global Economic Times. All Rights Reserved.]
