Bay Area pet lovers and marketing whizzes Susan Brautovich and Virginia Lukkes knew a warm and fuzzy niche when they saw one. Putting their know-how together, they recently launched a coupon deals site with a bark all its own. PetsLoveDeals.com lets customers shop local and at the same time give back to non-profit animal rescue and shelter organizations. Typical deals include discounts not just on merchandise, but on services such as pet boarding, grooming, training, day care, dog walking, veterinary care and even dollars off at pet-friendly hotels and restaurants.
“We knew that the large deal sites like Groupon and Living Social occasionally run a pet deal and that there were a few national sites for mostly low-end pet stuff,’” said Brautovich, “but none were focused on San Francisco or the Bay Area, and none offered a means of supporting local animal non-profits.”
For each pet deal purchased, PetsLoveDeals will donate up to 10 percent of profits to the nine local non-profits (including DogTrekker favorites Muttville Senior Dog Rescue, Marin Humane Society and Golden State Greyhound Adoption) partnering with the site. Purchasers can select the organization of their choice at check-out. Deals are promoted on the website, through email subscriptions and on social-media sites. PetsLoveDeals in turn promotes merchants on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other outlets.
DogTrekker says "welcome aboard" to this latest purveyor of deals for dog-lovers in Northern California.