Pet owners split their buying in two. Routine refills drift toward whichever store is easiest, while anything that needs judgement, such as a harness that will not rub, a food for a sensitive stomach or a chew that survives a strong jaw, sends them looking for someone who knows the products. That second group is where an independent shop earns loyal customers, and they nearly always start by searching.
Those searches are specific and often anxious. An owner whose puppy keeps slipping out of its harness, or whose older dog has stopped finishing dinner, types the problem rather than a product name. A store whose site answers the problem plainly, and then shows the two or three products that solve it, becomes the place they trust for the next question too.
Local convenience still decides a lot. Owners want to know whether the shop delivers to their neighborhood, whether they can reserve something for pickup after work and whether the self-serve wash is open on Saturday. When those details are buried, the owner defaults to the big online retailer even if they would rather shop local.
Repeat buying is the real business. A family that switches its dog to a food the shop recommends will buy that bag every month for years. The website has to make reordering effortless and keep the advice that started the relationship easy to find, so the second and third purchases happen with the shop rather than somewhere cheaper.