RANGE REVIEW: PEST CONTROL


PEST PROBLEMS SOLVING THE LATEST


Edwin Allingham from STV International discusses the growth in pest problems experienced during lockdown, the latest developments in pest control, highlights the legislation surrounding them that retailers need to be aware of and suggests which core pest control products to stock?


T


he winter months drive rodents indoors


and our


centrally heated homes are the perfect environment for a


range of troublesome insect pests too. One of the most notable trends we’ve observed in buying habits is the move towards poison-free solutions for pest control. We’ve been working hard in recent years to respond to this shift in consumer behaviour and 86% of our products are now entirely poison-free. It’s


consumers are seeking completely non-lethal ways of


also notable that more ridding their


homes of pests. There were more than 10 million uses of pest control products last year and 67% of those were non-lethal methods. We expect this trend to continue and our new product innovation


pipeline is


dedicated to finding more non-lethal and poison free product solutions.


Increasing pest problems The lockdowns of 2020 and 2021 saw a marked increase in demand for rat control products and more than a 70% increase in sightings. Because we all spent more time at home during the day, there was more opportunity to observe rats going about their daily business. Pubs and restaurants were closed, so there was less rubbish and litter – and the rats seem to have moved in to people’s homes and gardens in search of alternative sources of food. We’ve also noticed an increase in consumers seeking ways to control larger animals and birds in their gardens. Again, this is possibly driven partly by families spending more time outside at home whilst they have been unable to go to work or school, or travel away on holiday so easily. We have built our new vertebrate control range of products to respond to this emerging trend, making it easy to


find welfare-


friendly ways of eliminating unwelcome birds and mammals – including pigeons, cats, dogs, foxes and rabbits - from the garden. Much of the recent increase in


20 DIY WEEK JANUARY 2022


consumer activity took place online, and a large proportion of the sales growth we experienced came from our web customers. We now know that over half of all DIY pest control sales begin with an online search. This is a trend we are determined to exploit on behalf of all our customers – not just those with sophisticated e-commerce


solutions. Our new


TBCandme.com presents a huge opportunity for our retail partners to benefit from a dedicated e-commerce solution with local exclusivity – driving footfall and providing exemplary customer service through additional home delivery or click & collect options.


Which core pest control products should you stock?


At STV we have many years of experience


of the pest control


category, and we recognise that our retail partners don’t always have the time or opportunity to review market information in detail or keep up with the latest consumer demands. So, we provide our ‘Top 100’ which clearly defines the top selling


lines in order to ensure


our retail partners always have the optimum range listing to meet consumer needs. We’ve recently gone one step further with the Top 100 and can now supply a fully interactive merchandising solution too. Not only does the merchandising clearly segment the products


to


make selection simpler, it also has an interactive NFC code built in to the POS. This means consumers can quickly and easily access our new TBCandme.com online


product


selector – no more than three clicks direct the customer to their ideal product solution. We’re confident that this major new investment – more than £0.5million in 2021/22 - will not only help consumers overcome their lack of confidence in choosing the right product, but it will also support our retail partners


maximise the sales potential from this rapidly growing category.


Pest control product legislation Many pest control


products are


subject to the Biocidal Products Regulations (BPR) which means they have been assessed and approved for DIY use through a strict process regulated by the Health & Safety Executive. The process evaluates both the safety of the product to users and non-target species, as well as the efficacy of the product in controlling the target organism. It is illegal to sell or use any product that has not been approved. All STV control products that fall under the BPR have been approved for DIY use. The British Pest Control Association (BPCA) operate a Code of Best Practice which regulates the efficacy and method of use for rat and mouse traps. It sets out to ensure the appropriate and humane deployment of traps where required. All STV rat and mousetraps comply with the standards of the BPCA. The introduction of the Animal


to


Welfare (Sentience) Bill is part of the UK Government’s Action Plan for Animal Welfare that was published in May 2021. It sets out to protect animal health and ensure humane treatment in all situations, including domestic pest control. This legislation is very new, and we expect it to have an impact on the types of products


we develop for DIY pest control in the future. We are always very happy to hear from customers and will, of course, respond to all requests for product information and support. Our whole team can be contacted direct – all their contact details are on our website at stvuk.com/our- team. We also recognise that our retail partners are busy and can’t always dedicate as much time as they might wish to answering consumer queries. We’ve identified a need for better information that is easy to access and understand. That’s one of the main drivers for our series of informative and engaging video ‘shorts’ featuring a wide range of our Top100 lines. Each video features a user explaining their experience of the product and how they achieved the best results. They’re all accessible on TBCandme.com and they can also be reached directly from the product packaging at the point of sale. All the featured products have a unique QR code on the pack which links to the relevant video and then onto the website.


Product developments With the continuing trend towards non-lethal and poison-free solutions, we are focussing on technologies that don’t rely on conventional pesticides


and poisons. We are


developing products which will discretely and unobtrusively help to exclude pests from our homes and gardens, rather than destroy them. There are developments underway in electronic and digital technologies as well as products based on entirely natural materials. We are also working on product solutions that encourage careful monitoring of pest incidence before deploying control products, thereby reducing any unnecessary use of preventative treatments in the first place.


Other considerations The market for DIY Pest Control is


growing and the majority of consumers go first to their laptop, phone or tablet for advice. It’s also true that the sales of DIY pest control through online retailers have been growing much more strongly than traditional bricks and mortar retailers. Our strategy at STV is to make sure traditional retailers can also benefit from the strong category growth in DIY Pest Control. That’s why we’ve developed TBCandme.com and invested heavily in digital content to capture consumers at the start of their purchase journey. We need traditional retail partners to join us to ensure that consumers


can easily access


the product they identify online – and keep them shopping with their trusted, local retailer.


www.diyweek.net


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