Dogspot – a Delight for Dog Lovers

Dogspot is a portal where you can buy the widest variety of dog products in India. Also they have a community where you can discuss anything related to dogs. I have been tracking this website for a while and have seen it grow from stage to stage.

They started out as a community for very long and then got into ecommerce a few years back. Initially they were selling products of various brands. With the big horizontal ecommerce players entering this space, they are moving towards creating a private label.

WHAT I LIKE

Speciality Store – They are sticking to a niche and have emerged the leaders in that space.

Strong Community – It is the biggest and strongest community for dog lovers. It serves as a great tool for engaging users.

Very Targeted Market – Dog Lovers & Owners. They are building tools for them and hence the engagement is higher.

Private Label  - Dogpsot has a big user base and is now pushing it’s own private label. The good thing here is that the margins are higher and a private label is sustainable in the longer term. They are also selling their products on other websites like Amazon.

CONCERNS

Small Market – The market size is quite small for dog products in India.

My Suggestions

Demerging – They are currently running 2 businesses, a community and an ecommerce store. They should demerge both of them as both have different growth potentials and challenges associated with them. This will help them unlock value in the future.

I feel that Dogspot has created a strong place for itself in this niche and is currently in the process of pivoting it’s business model into one which looks more at profitability and sustainability.