Online Pet Supplies Business Celebrates 21 Years

The year was 1999. The world was worried about Y2K, eBay had just launched in Australia and brothers Mark and Steven Perissinotto were preparing to launch Australia’s first online pet supplies business.

Now twenty-one years and over 2.6 million orders later, VetShop Australia will celebrate almost 150 dog years of business on the 17th of November 2020.

Like many great businesses, Steven says it all started over the table at a big family gathering.

“We came up with the idea over lunch and were able to launch VetShop Australia three months later,” Mr.Perissinotto said.

The brothers saw the huge opportunity the internet provided, and started the business part-time out of the back of veterinarian Mark’s Nambour clinic.

“We were working fifty hours a week at our original jobs and then putting in another twenty hours with the new business to be receiving ten orders per day,” Mark Perissinotto said.

“Success certainly didn’t come to us overnight and as I’m fond of saying, running your own business is ninety percent perspiration, ten percent inspiration” said Steven.

The breakthrough came in 2001 when, recognising high levels of interest from US buyers, the international website changed its currency to US dollars and sales instantly grew around 10-12% month-on-month between 2001-2006.

This success enabled Mark to leave his veterinary practice in 2005, and saw Steven leave law in 2007, allowing them to concentrate on the business full time.

In 2009, the business moved from Image Flat to a larger site at Forest Glen where it remains today, shipping orders to over 1.1 million customers in over 70 countries.

2020 saw the successful launch of the #MoreThanPets campaign, showcasing the incredible bond between owners and pets, and the release of the results from the Ultimate State of Pet Care survey where over 50% of respondents said their pet was their best friend.

VetShop Australia is also the major sponsor of the Surfing Dog Championships, held as part of the Noosa Festival of Surfing, which in 2021 will celebrate its tenth anniversary.