Case Studies

MyPetHealth.com

When Jay Helmer launched MyPetHealth.com, he was faced with competition from several well-funded, well-staffed start-ups in the online pet retailer space. The business plan that he created was a direct counterpoint to "traditional" online retailing models and clearly differentiated MyPetHealth.com from transaction-driven, product-centric competitors. In essence, MyPetHealth.com’s membership plan was designed by its customers.

The beauty of MyPetHealth.com’s subscription-based membership plan was that it provided high margins and clear profit — as long as acquisition costs were carefully managed and customer defections kept to an absolute minimum. Helmer achieved this difficult balance by offering lifestage-driven services derived from detailed information willingly provided by the members about their pets. The information enabled Helmer to treat different customers differently — a critical requirement for any successful "one-to-one" business strategy. Each member had unique and special needs. For example, the owner of a kitten has very different needs than the owner of an older dog with a chronic hip ailment. By providing a customized combination of resources — pet insurance; timely, reliable health information; and access to professional discounts — MyPetHealth.com was able to lock in customer loyalty and focus its marketing resources on maximizing the Lifetime Value of each customer.