Requirements checklist
What to ask for when choosing software for pet stores.
A checklist built from how pet stores work, to print or save as a PDF and bring to any supplier meeting.
What the software should cover
Tick each one that matters to your business.
- Pet and owner records
- Food batch and expiry tracking
- Loose weight and pack-size sales
- Counter billing and online orders
- Repeat orders and refill reminders
- Brand distributors and reordering
- Grooming and boarding bookings
Roles that need their own access
Who logs in, and what each person may see or change.
- For owners
- For sales associates
- For stock keepers
- For groomers and boarding staff
- For delivery staff
Reports to ask for
Ask to see each one with your own sample data.
- Batches and best-before dates due in the next weeks
- Loose sack usage against sack purchases
- Sales by brand, species and pack size
- Owners overdue for a refill and those who have lapsed
- Distributor orders raised, received and returned
- Grooming bookings by groomer and breed
- Boarding stays and vaccination papers outstanding
Systems it may need to connect to
Note which ones you already run.
- Weighing scale
- Barcode scanner
- Card payment terminal
- SMS
- WhatsApp or other messaging
- Accounting export
Questions for any vendor
Put these to every supplier you are comparing.
- Can it sell kibble by the kilo from an open sack?
- How does the shop know a bag is close to expiry?
- Will an associate see what a pet eats?
- How are refill reminders worked out?
- Can we suggest the right flea treatment for a pet’s weight?
- Does it manage grooming and boarding as well as the shop?
- Can distributors’ minimum orders be respected?
- Can it run home delivery for repeat owners?
- What happens to our current owner list?
- What does support cover once we are live?
Where the work usually breaks today
Circle the ones you recognise. They set the order of the project.
- Food expiry is checked by walking the shelf
- Loose food is sold from an open sack
- Regular buyers are not reminded
- Pets and their needs live in a notebook
- Distributor orders follow gut feeling
Prefer to talk it through? See the pet stores page.