Vet Hub - June 2026

Recommendations for
a successful scale up

Some early thinking on what a global rollout strategy could look like, how the US market might be approached, and where there's an opportunity to rethink the nutrition prescription service. Underpinning all of it is the UK research - findings that aren't market-specific and could form the basis of discovery in every new market, reducing the scope of what needs to be re-researched each time.

00 The Story So Far 01 Market Roll Out Strategy 02 US Approach 03 New Service Design
00

The Story So Far

This is our view of where things stand - but we know you'll have context, insights and priorities that we don't yet. Before design and build begins, we completed a round of UX research on the prototype with six UK vets. Those findings give us a useful starting point, and we'd love to hear how they sit alongside what you're already seeing on your side.

UK Research - Key Findings
01
Product pages are the anchor
Rich clinical information outperforms data-sheet-only sources. It's the primary reason vets will return.
02
Habits are hard to change
Vets default to Google and NOAH. Portal adoption needs rep-led onboarding - a good product alone won't shift behaviour.
03
Gating must earn its place
Sign-up is welcome when the benefit is explicit. Gating basic content before value is demonstrated causes churn.
04
Two account types, not one
Personal accounts for CPD and saved content. Practice-linked accounts for ordering and team access. Conflating these creates friction.
05
Farm vets need offline formats
Field work happens without connectivity. Downloadable, printable and shareable materials are non-negotiable for farm and mixed practices.

6 UK veterinary professionals  ·  May 2026  ·  Graphite Digital

Parameters determining market requirements

Rather than treating each of the 20 markets as a separate research exercise, we looked for natural groupings - markets where the context is similar enough that a single discovery sprint could generate insights that apply across the group. We used four identifiers to assess how closely markets align:

Species mix
The balance of companion animal versus farm animal business shapes almost everything - what content vets need, how they access information, and what the portal needs to do.
Important because:
  • -Companion animal is Virbac's growth engine, up +9.9% in Q1 2026
  • -US: near-exclusively companion with strong corporate clinic influence
  • -Farm-dominant markets need different IA, content types and offline formats
  • -AU/NZ sit in the middle - dual-audience design is essential
Regulatory context
Product approval routes, prescribing rules and data-sheet requirements vary significantly. Markets sharing a regulatory framework (EMA, FDA, APVMA) can share a compliance approach.
Important because:
  • -Germany: strict data access rules mean significant clinical content must sit behind verified vet login
  • -US: FDA, DEA scheduling and state-by-state licensing make this the most complex regulatory environment in the rollout
  • -EMA markets share a framework but national variations in approval and labelling still require attention
  • -Complexity determines gating - what's public vs what needs professional verification
Digital maturity
How digitally engaged vets are - whether they use professional portals routinely, how they prefer to access information, and whether mobile or desktop is the primary context.
Important because:
  • -US: high adopters of digital tools with high quality expectations - a portal that doesn't fit existing workflows risks being ignored
  • -Japan and South Korea demand exceptional UX quality and localisation
  • -India, South Africa and Turkey are mobile-first - desktop assumptions won't transfer
  • -China requires a different approach entirely - WeChat and local platforms may matter more than a web portal
Market scale
The size of the local team, the commercial model (direct or distributor-led), and the relative revenue contribution - which together shape how much localisation is practical and worthwhile.
Important because:
  • -US: ~18-20% of global revenue - the single largest market and the strongest commercial case for getting the build right
  • -Mid-sized markets (Italy, Spain, Poland) have 1-3 digital staff - shared templates and governance are essential
  • -Distributor-led markets have limited local Virbac presence - the portal needs to do the work a rep would do in a direct market
  • -Larger markets can absorb bespoke elements; smaller ones must rely on shared components
Scale up strategy: Market archetypes

Efficient discovery through archetyping

5 sprints
20 markets
~90% revenue covered

By grouping markets with similar profiles, one discovery sprint per archetype could validate the assumptions for the whole group - leaner research, faster builds, and a framework that can flex as more markets come into scope.

Western Europe UK researched
France Germany Spain Italy Poland
North America 1 sprint
United States Canada
Anglo-Pacific 1 sprint
Australia New Zealand
Asia 1 sprint
Japan South Korea China
Emerging & Farm-led 1 sprint
Brazil Mexico Colombia Argentina India South Africa Turkey
01

Market Roll Out Strategy

With the UK MVP underway, it's worth thinking now about how a wider rollout could work - without fragmenting the experience or overwhelming lean local teams. Our suggestion would be that Graphite acts as strategic partner for the global scale-up, leading on research, UX strategy and design direction, while Kaliop continues as the implementation partner handling design and build. Here's how we'd think about it.

Principle 01
Build on what we know
The UK user research is a reusable asset. Vet behaviours, content needs and navigation principles should transfer broadly across markets - the aim would be to validate and adapt, rather than start from scratch each time.
Principle 02
Co-creation at every level
The best outcomes will come from working closely with Virbac's global team, local market teams and the build partner throughout - not handing over briefs and stepping back. Local teams bring market knowledge we can't get any other way, and involving them early makes adoption far more likely.
Principle 03
Scalability first
The UK prototype was built for a UK context. Before scaling to new markets, it would be worth reviewing where the architecture, IA or content model might need to flex. A relatively light review could protect the investment and avoid costly rework later.
Market Sequence
01
United States
Largest market, highest strategic priority. Launching the North America archetype sprint here also establishes the research foundation for Canada - two markets from one piece of work.
Start now
North America archetype
02
Italy
Sits within the Western Europe archetype alongside the UK, where research is already underway. The sprint for Italy would validate assumptions across France, Germany, Spain and Poland at the same time.
Q3 2026
Western Europe archetype
03
Brazil
Anchor market for the Emerging & Farm-led archetype. A single sprint here could generate insights that apply across Mexico, Colombia, Argentina, India, South Africa and Turkey - seven markets in one go.
Q4 2026
Emerging & Farm-led archetype
04
Poland
Also in the Western Europe archetype - meaning the Italy sprint effectively covers Poland too. Experience with both Loginut and Vet Dashboard makes it a strong early candidate for the new nutrition service.
Q1 2027
Western Europe archetype
05
Asia
A potential next horizon. Japan, South Korea and China share high digital expectations and a companion animal focus - one sprint could cover all three, with China's local platform ecosystem shaping how findings are applied.
TBC
Asia archetype
A learning-led rollout

Each market makes the next one better.

The sequencing above isn't just about priority - it's about building a feedback loop. What we learn from the US rollout should directly inform how we approach Italy. What Italy reveals should shape Brazil. Rather than treating each market as a standalone build, we'd suggest building in structured learning moments between each phase - reviewing data, vet feedback and usage patterns before the next sprint begins.

Usage data
Which content vets actually engage with, where they drop off, and what drives them back - this data should feed directly into the design decisions for each subsequent market.
Vet feedback
Qualitative insight from reps, local teams and direct vet feedback surfaces things analytics can't. Building in regular feedback moments keeps the rollout grounded in real-world practice.
Continuous improvement
Each rollout is also an opportunity to improve the shared components - the design system, content templates and research frameworks - so that the platform gets stronger with every market added.
02

US Approach

Given the US is a priority, one option worth considering is starting discovery there now - running in parallel with the UK design and build, making the most of the available time before an early 2027 target.

What transfers from the UK
  • Core vet content taxonomy and structure
  • Navigation and information architecture principles
  • Educational content framework
  • Product information templates
  • Key vet behavioural insights (time-poor, practically motivated)
  • Design system and component library
What needs US-specific discovery
  • Corporate vet group landscape (VCA, Banfield, Thrive)
  • US prescribing culture and workflow patterns
  • FDA and state licensing regulatory context
  • Digital tool adoption and channel preferences
  • Virbac US team structure and onboarding needs
  • Distributor relationship and ordering model
Proposed US Discovery Sprint - 6–8 weeks
Vet interviews
8–10 US practitioners across companion animal and mixed practices. Independent and corporate clinic representation. Validate UK assumptions and surface US-specific needs.
US team onboarding
Structured alignment workshop with the Virbac US team. Covering what the hub is, their role in it, and what content and workflows they'll own. A standing start needs a clear foundation.
US adaptation brief
The primary output of the discovery sprint - a clear, research-validated brief covering what the US hub needs to do differently, what can be carried across from the UK, and what the specific content, regulatory and workflow requirements are for the US market.
03

New Service Design

Two existing tools support vet nutrition prescription - one declining, one functional but narrow. There could be an opportunity to replace both with something simpler that scales across markets. The right starting point, though, is understanding why vets aren't prescribing nutrition more in the first place.

Current Landscape
Loginut
Complex prescription form generating a vet recommendation
France Poland UK
Usage is declining significantly in France and has been phased out in the UK. The form is too long and complex - vets don't use it because the effort outweighs the benefit in a busy consultation.
Vet Dashboard
Client recommendation link and commission tracking for vets
Poland Italy High demand
More effective - vets can send clients a direct purchase link and track commissions. But it doesn't address the prescription barrier itself. High demand from other markets signals real appetite for something better.
Proposed Approach
Phase 01 Research 6 weeks
Qualitative research with vets across two markets - France (the primary Loginut market) and one other. The aim would be to map the full nutrition prescription journey: what actually happens in the consultation room, where the friction sits, and what the real barriers are - whether knowledge, confidence, time, tools, or owner dynamics.
Vet interviews (12–15) Journey mapping Barrier analysis Research report
Phase 02 Service design 8 weeks
With the barriers understood, the opportunity would be to design a single, simplified service - one that keeps what works in the Dashboard (the commission model, the client recommendation flow) and removes what doesn't (Loginut's complexity). The aim would be something configurable across markets, not a country-by-country rebuild.
Service concept UX design Multi-market config model Build brief for Kaliop
Phase 03 Connect to the hub Longer term
Longer term, the nutrition service needn't sit in isolation. There's a natural connection to the hub - where vets could move between product information, clinical education and nutrition prescription without switching tools. That's a bigger conversation, but worth keeping in view.
Hub integration Unified UX Cross-market rollout
View proposed nutrition service workflow