The process of globalization, as well as the new economic environment, have significantly affected almost every sphere of private business, and Island Pet Shop, in which I worked, is not an exception from this rule. The effects are both positive and negative. First of all, I would like to speak about the rapid growth of online commerce. Nowadays, it is quite possible to purchase almost any kind of animal via the internet at a reasonable price. Traditional brick-and-mortar stores cannot compete with Web-based companies mostly because they do not have such a variety of choices.
Although such a form of animal trade is considered to be illegal in many cases, this does not stop people from buying exotic species. But at the same time, Island Pet Shop has benefited from the development of online technologies because they enable us to procure different animals from all over the world so that we can better suit the demands of our clients. It should be borne in mind that globalization is also associated with the spread of many contagious diseases; this is why the management of Island Pet Shop has to incur heavy expenses on screening of the animals as they must ensure that the clients are safeguarded against all possible risks.
It has to be admitted that on-going economic recession has also produced detrimental impacts on the store and sales rates are lower nowadays, especially in comparison with the previous years. Nonetheless, the business is gradually recovering from this crisis because the purchasing power of consumers has increased. On the whole, at this stage, the situation has stabilized, and the management expects to raise the profitability of the shop in the near future.