Pet brand owners have a good reason to be optimistic. In late March, the American Pet Products Association (APPA) announced the industry had reached a historic milestone. In its 2021 State of the Industry Report, the APPA confirmed that pet industry sales set a record of $103.6 billion in 2020, a 6.7% increase from the previous year.

In 2001, Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos scribbled a diagram onto the back of a napkin that would ultimately define the company’s business model. He called it the “virtuous cycle” – a core approach to building Amazon by starting with the customer and working backwards, rather than focusing on a product or service. “Our mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company,” Bezos told PBS anchor Charlie Rose in 2010. He went on to explain that what distinguishes Amazon from other successful retailers – such as Walmart – is the company’s strict and long-term focus on the customer. “We see our customers as invited guests to a party, and we are the hosts,” said Bezos. “It’s our job every day to make every important aspect of the customer experience a little bit better.”