Why a pet profile belongs in the account
A standard Shopify account shows orders, addresses and contact details. For a pet brand that leaves out the most useful facts: who the products are for. A pet profile turns the account from a receipts page into a place customers want to return to.
- Customers see the store as personal, not generic.
- Reordering and product choice get easier because the store knows the pet.
- The brand learns what to recommend, and when.
What the account area includes
Rather than a single form, we built a small member area inside the customer account with a few connected pages.
- Member hub: a landing page that welcomes the customer and links to everything else, with a hero image, four feature cards and a shop button that the store team can change without a developer.
- My Pets: where customers add and manage their pets.
- My Products: a list of the products they have bought before, with a button to view each one and a one-click way to reorder.
- My Preferences: a simple page to choose whether to receive marketing emails.
- Banner and text blocks: editable messages that can appear on the profile and order pages for offers or announcements.
Setting up a pet profile
Adding a pet takes a minute. The customer opens My Pets, chooses Add Pet and fills in a short form.
- Name and breed.
- Date of birth and gender.
- Weight.
- A photo, uploaded straight from their phone or computer.
Each pet appears as a card with its photo and details. Customers can edit the details at any time, or remove a pet with a confirmation step so nothing is deleted by accident. The account supports up to five pets, and each profile shows a completion bar that nudges customers to fill in the missing details.
The small touches that make it feel personal
- A birthday banner appears automatically when it is a pet's birthday, which gives the brand a natural reason to say something kind.
- Profile completion progress encourages customers to finish the profile, which gives the store better information.
- Pet photos make the page feel like the customer's own space.
- Changes on the profile can trigger follow-up automations, such as an email on a pet's birthday.
Connecting pet profiles to Klaviyo for email and campaigns
The profile becomes much more valuable when it feeds your email marketing. Each pet is sent to Klaviyo as a custom object linked to the customer's profile, so your email platform knows not just who the customer is but who they are shopping for. Pets added, updated or removed on the account can be passed across as they happen.
That data can then be used in the same places you already use customer data:
- Segments: build audiences by breed, size, age, gender or number of pets, for example puppy owners, senior-dog owners or multi-dog households.
- Flows: trigger automations from the pet record, such as a welcome flow when the first pet is added or a birthday email on the pet's date of birth.
- Campaigns: send breed- or life-stage-specific campaigns and product launches to the people they suit, instead of the whole list.
- Personalisation: use the pet's name and details inside emails, so a message reads as written for that dog.
- Reorder and replenishment: pair the profile with purchase history to time reminders around when food or supplies run out.
More relevant emails tend to earn more clicks and more repeat orders, which is where the revenue comes from. We cannot promise a specific figure, since results depend on your list, products and offers, so measure revenue per recipient by segment and compare with your general sends. Our Klaviyo segmentation and email marketing work covers the setup, and our guides to post-purchase flows and win-back flows show what to build on top.
Only email customers who have opted in, and let them change their preferences from the account, as the preferences page here does.
What other pet websites commonly add
The same idea appears across pet retail. Depending on the product range, stores often extend the profile with details like these:
- Species, size or life stage (puppy, adult, senior) to steer food and product choices.
- Neutered or spayed status, and activity level.
- Allergies, sensitivities and dietary needs.
- Feeding routine, or a favourite flavour or treat.
- Vet details and vaccination reminders, for stores with health products or services.
- Microchip or ID information for pet-care and travel services.
Other features that go with profiles include:
- Personalised product recommendations based on breed, size or age.
- Replenishment reminders so customers reorder food or medication before it runs out.
- Birthday or "gotcha day" offers.
- Loyalty points and tiers tied to the customer rather than to a single order.
- Reviews and photos from customers featuring their own pets.
- Multi-pet households, with shopping tailored to each animal.
Collect only what you will use. Every extra field is one more thing for a customer to fill in, and one more piece of data to protect.
Why it helps the store
- Better email segmentation through Klaviyo custom objects: send puppy content to puppy owners and senior-dog content to senior-dog owners.
- Easier reordering, which supports repeat purchase. Our post-purchase flow guide shows how to follow it up.
- Stronger customer relationships, because the store remembers something that matters to the customer.
- First-party data that the customer chose to share, instead of guesses.
What to check when building a profile feature
- Add, edit and delete a pet, and confirm the changes stay after logging out and in again.
- Upload photos from a phone and from a computer, and try large and wrong-format files.
- Reach the limit on the number of pets and check the message is clear.
- Test on small screens, where most customers will use it.
- Confirm the marketing preference page saves correctly, and that nothing subscribes a customer without consent.
- Check what happens with empty fields, unusual names and dates.
- Make sure an order placed after adding a pet still behaves normally.
Handle the data with care
A pet profile is stored against a customer's account, so treat it as personal data. Explain what you collect and why, ask for consent before using it for marketing, and let customers edit or remove it themselves.
If you are thinking about a member area like this for your store, see our customer account extensions and custom app development work.
Frequently asked questions
- What is a pet profile in a Shopify customer account?
- It is a section inside the customer's account where they save details about their pets, such as name, breed, age, weight and a photo, so the store can personalise what it shows and sends.
- What information should a pet store collect in a pet profile?
- Start with name, breed, date of birth, gender, weight and a photo. Add details such as allergies, life stage or vet information only if you will actually use them.
- Can customers add more than one pet?
- Yes. Multi-pet households are common, so the profile should support several pets. In this build customers can add up to five.
- How does a pet profile connect to Klaviyo?
- Each pet can be stored in Klaviyo as a custom object linked to the customer's profile. You can then segment by breed, age or size, trigger flows such as birthday emails, and personalise campaigns with the pet's details.
- Does a pet profile need a custom app?
- A basic version is possible with standard customer fields, but a full experience with photos, editing, reminders and a member hub usually needs a custom customer account extension.