Coast brothers turn vet clinic into online megastore

FAMILY business takes giant strides to 10,000 orders every month to all corners of the globe.

Brothers Steven and Mark Perissinotto sell vet products. Picture: John McCutcheon

BROTHERS Steven and Mark Perissinotto had an inkling the internet would be the way of the future.

It was 1999, and the pair where planning their career paths. Steven a marketing guru, Mark a veterinarian.

While they didn't know just how big the internet would boom, the intuition saw them combined forces to set up VetShopAustralia.

Mark operates his trade out of their Forest Glen store, while their online platform sees their pet supplies supply customers worldwide.

"We counted them once, 86 countries, we've gone to Sweden, Taiwan, Ecuador," Steven said rattling off the countries.

"The majority go to Canada, the US, England and around Australia.

"We would do 10,000 orders a month. We sell all animal health products at good prices.

"To think it started off as a side project, we are doing really well."

Brothers Steven and Mark Perissinotto sell vet products. Picture: John McCutcheon

The Perissinottos also offer entertaining educational videos to their customers look after their pets.

So inspiring is VetShopAustralia's work, they've been nominated as a Regional Online Heroes finalist, an annual competition run by Regional Australia Institute and Google Australia.

"We are pretty unique. we certainly are not your ordinary pet shop," he said.

"For me, this award recognises not just the fact that we deliver outstanding pet health products and services to so many Australians and their pets in regional and remote Australia, but also recognition that it is possible to build an amazing digital team outside of a capital city."

The Regional Online Heroes finalists

• Tamworth's Birth Beat
• Wagga Wagga's Erilan Mastectomy Collection
• Braidwood's Garlicious Grown
• Katherine South's Magpie Goose
• Healesville's One Hour Out
• The Rock's Pointer Remote Roles
• South Bruny's The Bruny Island Long Weekend
• Denmark's The Lake House Denmark
• Forest Glen's VetShopAustralia

Finalists will be flown to Google's Sydney HQ for an exclusive masterclass on December 1. One finalist will then be announced as the national winner at a cocktail reception on Sydney Harbour.

Originally published as Coast brothers turn vet clinic into online megastore