"How are you feeling today, Pickles?"... That's the vet talking to your dachshund over Zoom. Pet supplies deliverer Chewy has been thriving on the pandemic puppy-palooza. Now it's launching a telehealth service to connect pet owners with licensed vets.
- It's free for customers who use Chewy's "Autoship Program" — sounds like a FedEx internship, actually a way to set up routine deliveries.
- Consistent sales (aka: recurring revenue) from subscriptions like Autoship are growth engines, and this new perk could boost sign ups.
- But it's pretty basic (for now). Vets help with issues like "my dog ate a sock" and can't prescribe meds.
Chewy's chewing on two major trends... First, the pet-palooza: adoptions have jumped on the "everything-from-home" life. One shelter received 1,000 requests for the same (painfully cute) bulldog puppy. Chewy has been profiting off high demand for furry friends. The second trend:
- Virtual healthcare: Telehealth interactions could hit 1B by the end of the year.
- Telemedicine bigshot Teladoc just saw visits triple to 2.8M last quarter, and sales more than 2X’d. Teladoc stock is up 162% this year.
Chewy is guarding its turf... and marking its territory in the pet industry. By bundling pet-related services, Chewy is trying to build loyalty and steal Milk-Bones orders from Amazon (it's all about Amazon again). Chewy should add pet insurance to its "Barking Bundle," just like Lemonade recently wrapped it into its insurance package (@Chewy: feel free to accept our bundle name suggestion).