T he term “enclosure” often has a negative connotation, associated with confinement and captivity. However, modern enclosure products like gates, crates and pens aren’t meant to repress pets—they’re meant to keep pets safe. 

“[Barriers and enclosures] enhance a dog’s life by providing a safe and secure environment while also giving them a home of their own,” says Victoria Bouldin, vice president of operations at Primetime Petz. “A crate is a haven for dogs; a nice cozy dwelling that makes dogs feel safe. Gates keep pets safe from escaping into an area where they could get into trouble or get hurt.”

While enclosure products may also be used to prevent pets from destructive behaviors, like chewing furniture, the primary driving force behind the category is owners’ concerns about pets’ well-being.  

“Modern pet parents are looking for ways to keep their pets safe and comfortable when contained,” says Mandie Sweetnam, senior category manager for travel and access at PetSafe. “It’s not just about preventing movement. It’s about making sure your pet is happy and loves where they are.”

While pet parents have long needed ways to keep pets out of harm’s way, the pet enclosure category has experienced big changes in recent years. The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, led many pet owners to spend more time at home with their pets.

“Post-pandemic, more people are working from home, encroaching on their pets’ spaces, working hard to keep their pets contained and away from their Zoom calls,” explains Milan Bhandari, partner at Pets Stop.

Another source of transformation within the category: modern home layouts.

“One of the factors driving customer interest in this category is the shift in recent years toward open concept floor plans in homes,” says Mel Abernathy, vice president of sales for Primetime Petz. “These layouts have extra wide openings throughout the home requiring gates capable of spanning wide openings or the ability to be used as a room divider.”

Both factors have driven the demand among consumers toward products that are highly adaptable and fit in with current home decor. 

“In the pet gate category, it’s all about gates designed to flex to the specific containment need,” explains Abernathy. “We’re seeing growing interest in free-standing, decor-friendly gates made with quality, furniture grade woods with the flexibility to span super-wide openings if needed.”

Finding the right pet pen, gate or crate is about more than customer satisfaction. An ill-fitting or ill-suited product can actually be dangerous. That’s why it’s crucial for retailers to go the extra mile to ensure customers are educated about what factors to consider when buying an enclosure product.

“Pet parents need to know proper measurements of the crate and their pet in order to purchase the right crate for their needs. You want to make sure your pet has the freedom to stand, turn around and lay down comfortably while they’re in their crate,” says Sweetnam. “Posting clear measurements with images is a really helpful way to guide the pet parent to the right fit. It also helps to suggest breeds since that resonates with pet parents more than weights and inches.”

The most important factor is size, adds David Fischer, director of direct to consumer for Jewett Cameron. 

“When a crate is too big, your dog may start to use part of it as a potty area, which will hinder housebreaking,” he says.

In addition to size, retailers should ask about pet temperament and personality as well as the customer’s lifestyle and home. 

“It’s a matter of knowing what questions to ask,” says Abernathy. “With gates for instance, size of dog, age, breed, how ‘spirited’ is the dog (jumping, leaning, etc.), span/width of space they are wanting to enclose, frequency of need to pass-through the gate and color scheme of home are all important. Well-trained and/or mellow dogs are easily contained by a simple barrier but pet parents of more spirited and/or younger dogs may benefit from a gate secured via a tension system or wall connection.”

Another crucial fact to emphasize to customers is the difference between gates for babies or for pets. While owners may think of their dog or cat as their child, their enclosure needs are very different.

“Our gates are easy to operate, so we stress they are not meant to be used interchangeably with baby gates,” explains Bhandari. “Although dogs are undoubtedly smarter than babies, that intelligence doesn’t typically extend to opening gates.”

Of course, education doesn’t stop at the product itself. To avoid customers returning pens, gates or crates—or worse, a pet getting hurt—retailers need to educate owners about the importance of training. 

“Education is critical,” Fischer says. “Just placing a dog in a pen or crate can create lot of anxiety for the dog. It takes time and patience to train a dog to properly use a pen or crate.” 

“Pet parents want to see their pets eager to go into their crate, not dreading it. It should be their very own happy place,” adds Sweetnam.

In addition to salespeople verbally teaching customers about gate, crate and pen training, retailers can also leverage signage to help set customers up for success.

Signage can also help with a common complaint surrounding enclosure products: the assembly. 

“Are the assembly instructions easy to follow, intuitive or will the experience be a bad mood in the making? If assembly is required, easy to follow instructions definitely matter,” says Abernathy, who suggests utilizing QR codes linking to assembly instructions and videos whenever possible. 

Which brands retailers choose to stock can make a significant difference since a strong manufacturing partner can help provide these kinds of training and educational materials. 

“The more information a supplier can provide in terms of packaging, videos, etc. will help retailers maximize sales. It is truly a partnership between the manufacturer and retailer to make an enclosure and barrier program successful,” explains Bouldin.

For in-store product displays, retailers shouldn’t be afraid to go big. While pictures and diagrams are nice, they don’t do pens, gates and crates full justice. 

“Take them out of the box and put them on display. If you are merchandising boxes, the customer can just order online. If they come into your store, they want to get hands on and see it in person,” says Fischer.

“If they are good enough to sell to your customer, they should be good enough to use yourself,” adds Bhandari. “Set them up in stores and show them off.”

It’s also important to keep trends in mind when deciding which enclosure products to sell and how to display them. That means staying on top of the latest home décor styles, as these will be mirrored in the pet enclosure category.

“The future of this category is tied to innovations and trends in home decor. For example, as home decor trends swing back and forth from natural wood tones to rich dark tones to earthy medium tones you will see barriers and enclosures follow those trends,” explains Bouldin. “Also, I think the future of enclosures and barriers might be modular designs in cool materials, as well as updated locking mechanisms.”  PB

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