Gingr vs Pet Manager: Which Platform is Right for Your Australian Doggy Daycare?

G’day, fellow dog lovers and daycare dreamers! Running a doggy daycare in Australia is a unique blend of passion and chaos. One minute you’re getting puppy cuddles, the next you’re navigating GST, public holiday surcharges, and the eternal quest for a client’s up-to-date vaccination records. Choosing the right software is crucial, and two of the biggest names in the game are Gingr and Pet Manager.

While Gingr is a global giant with a strong presence, Pet Manager is an Australian-born-and-bred powerhouse designed with the specific needs of local businesses in mind. So, which one is the top dog for your Aussie daycare? Let’s sniff out the details.

The Global Giant Meets the Local Champion

Gingr is a feature-rich platform used by thousands of facilities worldwide. It offers comprehensive tools for managing reservations, client communication, and staff, making it a go-to for many large-scale operations. It’s a robust, well-established system that can handle high volumes of bookings.

Pet Manager, on the other hand, was developed in Australia, for Australia (and is now taking on the world!). This “home-ground advantage” means it has been meticulously designed to handle the nuances of running a pet business down under. From calculating penalty rates to integrating with local systems, it’s built with an innate understanding of the local market.

Key Battlegrounds for an Aussie Daycare

Let’s break down the features that matter most to a doggy daycare owner in Australia.

1. Pricing, Packages, and Public Holidays:

This is arguably the most significant differentiator. Australian daycare pricing isn’t always straightforward. You have weekend rates, public holiday surcharges, and the ever-popular multi-day passes or packages.

• Gingr: Offers tools to create packages and manage pricing for different services. You can set your rates and apply them to bookings.
• Pet Manager: This is where Pet Manager truly excels for local businesses. Its pricing calculator is a thing of beauty for any Aussie operator. You can create sophisticated rules that automatically account for:
  • Public Holiday Surcharges: Set up rules for national and state-specific public holidays once, and the system will apply them automatically.
  • Daycare Packages: Sell pre-paid packages (e.g., a 10-day pass for the price of 9) that issue “tokens.” The system tracks token usage seamlessly, and you can even prevent tokens from being used until the package is fully paid for.
  • Session Times: Easily manage different session types like Full Day, Half Day AM, and Half Day PM, each with its own pricing structure.

2. Payments & Accounting: The Aussie Advantage

Getting paid should be the easy part!

• Gingr: Integrates with global payment gateways like Stripe, allowing you to take online payments effectively.
• Pet Manager: Also integrates beautifully with Stripe, but it adds two massive local advantages. Firstly, the direct integration with Tyro EFTPOS terminals. This means when a customer pays in person, the amount is sent directly to the terminal, and the payment is automatically recorded in Pet Manager. No manual entry, no “fat finger” errors. Secondly, the deep, two-way sync with Xero. With a huge number of Australian small businesses running on Xero, this integration is a lifesaver for bookkeeping and GST reporting.

3. The Great Aussie Pet Name Challenge

Have you ever had to yell “Bluey! No, the other Bluey! Your mum’s here!” across a yard full of happy dogs? Australian pet names are a universe unto themselves. We’ve got the Kelpies, the Red Dog namesakes, and more dogs named “Buddy” than you can shake a stick at.

This is where a robust CRM shines. Both platforms handle multiple pets with the same name, but having a clean, easy-to-read interface with pet photos front-and-centre on the check-in screen, like in Pet Manager, makes all the difference. It even wishes your furry clients a happy birthday!

4. Communication and Client Experience:

Keeping pet parents in the loop is key.

• Gingr: Provides “report cards” and communication tools to send updates to owners.
• Pet Manager: Offers this too, but with a uniquely charming twist called “Pet Postcards”. You can quickly send an email update with a great photo of a dog having the time of its life. It’s a small feature that creates huge customer loyalty. Furthermore, the ability to fully customise the wording in the customer portal means you can make it sound like your brand, using Aussie slang and all, if you wish!.

The Verdict for Your Daycare

While Gingr is undeniably a powerful, feature-packed solution, Pet Manager offers compelling, tangible advantages for an Australian doggy daycare. The built-in understanding of local pricing complexities, the seamless integration with Australian payment (Tyro) and accounting (Xero) systems, and the user-friendly design make it an incredibly strong contender.

Why spend your time manually calculating public holiday rates or reconciling payments when a system can do it all for you? It’s time to work smarter, not harder.

Ready to see how a platform built for Aussies can revolutionise your daycare? Give Pet Manager a burl with our no-strings-attached, 30-day free trial. Sign up today and see the difference!