In the basket of the best-selling products during the summer, the category of insect repellents appears at the top, confirming evidence that has already emerged in last years’ Summer Prime Days.
This is a general market trend that already since 2023, thanks to the contribution of the high temperatures and the duration of the summer, had shown a positive trend in value and in sales volumes for the pest control sector, with insecticides and insect repellents as protagonists (respectively +24.6% and +35.6% in value at the level of the total Italian market).
Pest control has grown exponentially in Italy since the year 2000, with new companies springing up all over the peninsula.
A boost was given by the demand due to globalization, the main cause of the spread of insects around the world (the tiger mosquito or other insects vectors of viral diseases or responsible for economic damage not only in agriculture, arrived from other ecosystems).
Increased sensitivity to food hygiene, which has matured in the post covid phase, has also contributed.
In the amazon environment, the search for INSECT CONTROLS returns more than 20,000 results divided between INSECT CONTROLS FOR ENVIRONMENTS and OUTDOORS, which in turn are divided on the different types of insects.
The search for INSECTOREPELLENTS, on the other hand, returns less than 1,000 products.
Also from the point of view of user searches, we observe how KW INSECTOREPELLENT is not practiced, while more commonly used terms such as “mosquito repellent”/“anti-mosquitoes” are, which generate on the first search-related products displayed in the platform a response in terms of clicks from 8% to 32%, with an average conversion rate into purchase of 12%
On the other hand, the scenario is different for the kword INSECTTICIDE, which proposes a much more extensive list of searches that generate on the first search-related products displayed in the platform a very high response in terms of average clicks equal to 30% and a very variable conversion rate into purchase (from 4% to over 50%), also accomplice to the difficulty on the part of the common user to grasp the difference between insecticide and insect repellent.
The purpose of the insecticide is the elimination of insects, solving the problem at its root. Its composition is designed to be toxic to the target, with molecules going to affect its nervous system.
A repellent is any chemical substance or mixture that can ward off certain categories of animals. Typically, it is based on the use of substances that animals are accustomed to avoid in their habitat (because, for example, they indicate the presence of danger, as in the case of predator urine in many prey), but some synthetic products may also employ irritants that annoy the animal. The end effect is that of products that hinder insects from reaching the skin but do not kill the affected person.
Products for the person are in fact repellents, while those for environmental use are insecticides (biocides or electrical devices) but we have seen how in the platform the user tends to search for them with the use of search keys predominantly related to the nuisance insect, entering the crowdedness of proposals on the platform.
Hence the importance for brands to take care of the indexing and recognizability of the product through careful creation of the product sheet, with an accurate description on the specificity of use and supporting images, which cannot disregard compliance with the laws in force in the countries where the product is distributed.
In Italy, disinfectant products and substances placed on the market as germicidal or bactericidal, insecticides for domestic and civil use, insect repellents, rodenticides and ratticides for domestic and civil use are regulated by Presidential Decree 392 of October 6, 1998, which identifies them as Presidi Medico Chirurgici (PMCs) and requires their authorization by the Ministry of Health.
A decisive strategic role for the visibility of brands and products within this market is represented by the adv activity on the platform, which contemplates the use of all the formulas of adv allowed by the platform, with an increasingly frequent use of video formats, to go along with the need to explain the functioning and effectiveness of the product/device and its correct use.