Lots of people today have begun ordering dog food online. There are some good reasons why a dog owner might prefer this method of purchasing dog food, but it may not suit every owner, or every situation.
Why Order Dog Food Online?
If you live in an area that does not carry many of the premium or “super premium” dog foods, then ordering dog food online is a great way to have access to some of the top dog food brands. PetFoodDirect.com, Amazon.com, Care-A-Lot.com, and many other online pet supply companies have made it easy and safe to order dog food from them and have it delivered directly to your door. You can often find nutritionally advanced foods from these sources which are hard to find at the local level, especially if you live in a smaller town or if you don’t have access to a holistic pet food store.
Purchasing dog food online can significantly widen your selection of foods for your dog. This can be very important, especially if your dog has allergies or other health issues and requires a special diet.
Even if your dog does not require a special diet, many people prefer to feed a higher quality food. Ordering online can often give them access to grain free foods, gluten free foods, foods with higher protein percentages, pre-packaged raw diets, holistic diets, and many other options which are often not available from local pet stores or other places where pet food is sold locally.
Is it Safe to Order
Yes, it is safe to order dog food online. It is as safe to order dog food online as it is to carry out any other online transactions. You should always look for secure connections when making a purchase. Look for stores that accept paypal, if possible. If you are uncomfortable giving out your credit card number online you can always phone and make a purchase over the telephone, though an online purchase over a secure connection should be safer than a telephone transaction.
Are There any Other Positive Features
Most pet supply companies have an auto re-order feature than you can activate, if you wish to use it, so that your dog food order is automatically refilled at certain intervals. This keeps you from running out of dog food. You do not have to go online to refill your order. The food automatically arrives at your house. Of course, your credit card will automatically be charged if you choose this option.
When you order online you can also order as much dog food as you want. It is not unusual to order several hundred pounds of food, especially if you have several dogs. Some pet supply web sites offer customer savings with bulk orders. If you have a good storage area, this can be a great idea.
What is the Cost of Shipping
This is one of the potential problems with ordering dog food online. You can often order dog food for less than you pay at your local pet store. However, the cost of shipping can be high, depending on your distance from the shipping address. Dog food is shipped FOB, or freight, and it can add considerable expense to your costs. You might save money on the dog food itself, but by the time you add shipping costs, the total cost will probably be as much or more than buying the food locally, assuming that the same product is sold locally. If the product is not sold locally, it does make it cost a little more to buy it when you order online. In that case, you can pay more to buy it online and have it shipped, or you can talk to a local store about stocking the product and finding out how much they would charge if they sold it. Sometimes high end products are simply more expensive and shipping is one part of their cost to the consumer.
Should I order dog food online?
If you are interested in buying a super premium food that is hard to find locally, then, yes, buying dog food online is a good idea. You can find the food you want. The price for the food will probably be fair, especially if you compare prices at different sites. You can also compare shipping policies and prices and look for any sales. If this is the first time you have purchased this food for your dog you should buy a small amount to start in order to see how your dog likes it. Do this before making a large purchase. You do have to pay shipping costs when you purchase dog food online, but those costs are unavoidable if you are buying a product that’s hard to find.
However, if you are feeding your dog a food that is typically available from local pet supply stores, it is probably not worth the shipping costs to save $1-2 on the food to purchase it online — not unless you are buying in large bulk amounts.
