Pets at Home is entering what Sean Dorgan calls “the next phase” of its transformation programme, as the retailer pushes deeper into dropship fulfilment, AI-led discovery and faster online expansion.

The retailer recently partnered with commerce platform Rithum to launch a new dropship model designed to expand product ranges without taking on the same inventory risk as traditional retail buying.

And, for Dorgan, director of multi-channel at Pets at Home, the move is less about chasing retail trends and more about building a supply chain capable of reacting faster to customer demand.

“The new development is a new functionality that we don’t currently have,” he says. “What we’ve been focusing on over the last few years is replatforming and putting in the infrastructure to unlock new capabilities like dropship.”

The timing is also notable. Retailers across Britain continue to face fragile consumer confidence, volatile freight markets and renewed disruption linked to instability in the Middle East. Shipping groups including Maersk have warned that conflict in the region is increasing fuel and freight costs while forcing vessels away from traditional Red Sea routes.

And, for companies handling larger products, the pressure is even more acute. Pets at Home’s supply chain includes bulky and difficult-to-ship items such as hutches, fish tanks and pet furniture, categories where warehousing and transport costs can quickly erode margins.

At the same time, Pets at Home is attempting to rebuild momentum in retail. In its latest pre-close statement, the group said its turnaround plan across Product, Price, Execution and Cost remained “on track”, with retail returning to positive like-for-like sales growth in the second half. Group underlying pre-tax profit for FY26 is expected to reach around £92m.

Faster launches, lower risk

Dorgan says the dropship model would allow Pets at Home to react to changing customer demand far more quickly than before.

“It will enable us to expand our range, onboard new suppliers more efficiently and bring products to market much faster,” he says.

“We are expecting to launch within this year. Once we’ve got agreements in place with vendors, the speed side is really quick.”

He added: “We will be shaving months off the traditional buying process.”

The retailer believes the model can help address three specific customer demands.

The first is personalisation. “Every single pet is completely unique and has specific needs,” Dorgan says. “This enables us, as the leading petcare specialist, to meet those specific needs.”

The second is logistics. Dorgan says bulky products have traditionally created friction in both storage and fulfilment.

“Things like fish tanks and hutches are more logistically difficult to ship and store,” he says. “It’s much easier for us to have a range where the product is delivered directly from a supplier.”

The third is speed and innovation. “Our customers love newness and innovation,” Dorgan says. “Every time we land a new range, in store or online, we see a really positive reaction from customers.”

The wider strategy reflects a broader shift taking place across UK retail, where dropship models are increasingly being used to extend online assortment while limiting stock exposure.

Managing challenges

Yet dropship, critics warn, also creates operational risk. Retailers can lose visibility over delivery standards, returns handling and customer experience once fulfilment moves outside their own network. Dorgan acknowledged the concern directly. “Yes, it is absolutely top of mind,” he explains.

“At the forefront of this is that we must maintain our quality standards, our pet welfare standards and the standards our customers expect.”

Rather than opening the floodgates to endless third-party sellers, Pets at Home plans to tightly curate suppliers.

“The way we’ll manage this is really about curating a range with trusted partners so that we can maintain those standards for customers and for the pets they love.”

The emphasis on control comes as the retailer continues investing heavily in digital infrastructure. Over the past two years, Pets at Home has simplified fulfilment operations, strengthened data capabilities and expanded its omnichannel ecosystem.

Online remains its fastest-growing channel. In its third-quarter update earlier this year, the retailer said online sales grew by “low teens” during the quarter, while subscription services rose to 15 per cent of consumer revenue.

The company also reported that 5 per cent of Pets Club members now use Easy Repeat subscriptions, while more than half of vet clients are signed up to care plans.

Dorgan believes the new dropship programme strengthens that broader omnichannel proposition.

“We’re seeing digital adoption really accelerate within the business,” he says. “This is additive to an expanding omnichannel proposition.”

AI and the future of product discovery

Alongside supply chain changes, Pets at Home is also preparing for a retail environment increasingly shaped by AI.

“The landscape of how people are finding products is dramatically changing,” Dorgan says.

“With the move towards AI, it’s more important than ever that search engines can discover products and that customers can really understand what they’re buying.”

The retailer is currently building out a wider AI roadmap, including an AI chatbot developed with Salesforce.

“We have been very active in terms of building out our AI roadmap,” Dorgan says. “Within the multi-channel space, we will be launching this year an AI chatbot.”

Looking ahead, he also pointed to the rise of AI shopping agents as an area Pets at Home is closely monitoring.

“What’s interesting for us is we’ve got so much expertise as a specialist,” he says. “How we can surface that to customers and really aid the customer experience is super exciting.”

For now, however, the retailer’s focus remains firmly operational: faster onboarding, broader assortment and more agile category testing.

Asked what success would look like in 12 months’ time, Dorgan returned to the basics. “A broader and more relevant range to customers,” he says.

“We’d expect to see us bringing new suppliers and products on much more quickly and being able to test and develop new categories at pace.”

Then came the caveat that sits underneath the entire programme; “we will always put pet welfare at the heart of everything we do.”

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