The online Amazon.com has helped businesses that sell pet costumes thrive. One person that has seen business expand selling pet costumes is Eugenia Chen. Chen who teaches mathematics courses at American InterContinental University in Illinois started selling pet costumes as a way of generative income. Amazon’s fast shipping made her business more sustainable. When she decided to get her pet Huxley a panda costume that resembles a panda she decided to post the costume on social media. After posting videos of her dog Huxley in a panda costume, the videos went viral, reaching over 160 million views. The videos led the viewers to become interested in the costumes for pets. With more people interested in her products, Chen decided to sell her merchandise in bulk to accommodate more customers.
With more customers flocking to her online business Pandaloon, Eugenia had to partner with more businesses to accommodate her customers. She hired a seamstress and a sewing company to design the costumes that were being sold on her website, Pandaloon. With extra income from costumes sold through amazon, she was able to finance production of more costumes. Amazon.com has helped her business expand significantly in the first year her website was launched. Her goal was to reach out to more customers who wanted to get her products in stores, but one of the problems was limited inventory. She come up with more ideas to create more costumes and turned to the reality show Shark Tank to get customers.
When she auditioned for the show with her dog Huxley with her to wear the costumes. Her appearance on the show led to a deal with the shark tank host Daymond John that included $60,000 for a 25% stake in the company. The deal helped with additional funding for costumes that resemble a lion, teddy bear, unicorn, and a rabbit. When the costumes were finished, they were added to amazon.com. Her appearance on the show led to the business Pandaloon seeing a 2300% increase in sales. Amazon’s fulfillment operations have helped Pandaloon thrive. Eugenia Chen continues to see sales grow every year for her business. Features on Amazon that include reviews have allowed the Pandaloon to build more trust with customers. The pet costumes have landed in boutiques and brick and mortar stores. According to Chen “Some people might think that creating pet costumes is a silly career choice, but to me, it’s all about helping my customers make meaningful memories with their pets.”
Her company continues to increase more features that include new sizes and costumes. Chen is excited about helping people cherish moments with their pets and is eager to see how Pandaloon will keep expanding on Amazon.com.
