Sex is used to sell everything from yoghurt to erm… donuts. Yet sexual wellness brands can often find themselves at the mercy of shifting algorithms and blanket keyword bans. So how can sex toy retailers reach their customers? B&T Investigates
There’s no doubt the sexual wellness industry is thriving – the global market was valued at $81.2 billion USD (A$117.8 billion) in 2021 and is expected to grow to $116 Billion USD (A$168.3 billion) by 2030. With such high figures, are sex toys still taboo?
Rob Godwin, director of the sexual wellness company, Lovehoney said consumer attitudes to sex toys have changed a lot.
“Society is embracing sexual wellness, purchasing sex toys, lubricant, lingerie. The whole body positivity movement focuses on embracing your own sexuality, whatever that may be,” Godwin told B&T.
“Sexual wellness has been embraced fundamentally across consumers,” he adds, noting that Covid saw a huge spike in new customers that were single, female, and under 35.
Navigating Tech Censorship
Despite the destigmatizing of sex toys, tech censorship can be problematic for brands like Lovehoney.
“Last week, Google changed the algorithm so you couldn’t have ‘sheer lingerie’. What’s wrong with ‘sheer lingerie’? That literally happens overnight, and suddenly, your traffic might drop 80 per cent due to a change, which someone has decided with no rationale,” Godwin says.
Despite the challenges, when it comes to selling sex toys, Lovehoney is doing okay. The retailer achieved $600.0 million USD (A$870 million) in global sales year. It was also recently named a finalist for Online Store of the Year at the 2023 Retail Awards by Inside Retail Australia, alongside ‘mainstream’ brands like The Iconic, Appliances Online and Booktopia.
One of the ways to get around the tech challenges is to “work with people” Godwin says, as well as focusing on education and thought leadership. This can mean including illustrations and drawings of toys or using ambassadors (such as sexologist Chantelle Otton) to talk about the products.
And it’s not all bad. A benefit of being censored, Godwin says, is the minimal spending on paid social ads.
Lovehoney spends a “tiny” amount of its budget on promoted posts, he said.
Traditional above-the-line advertising with the biggest TV advertisers remains a staple for the retailer.
“Our recent Rose toy, which we launched with dedicated TV commercials has had huge success on Foxtel and free-to-air [TV], we also do Integrated radio, as well as some limited social media, influencer partners, and promotional deals”.
Moving From Sex Toys To Sexual Wellness
The censorship of sexual wellness brands is detrimental, Godwin says, given the extreme impact that sexual health can have on overall health.
Research conducted by UK-based market researcher Ragdoll and Lovehoney found that 75 per cent of your general health is tied to having positive sex life and 25 per cent having a good sex life helped to having a good mental life as well.
Its not just about toys, however – “putting on a beautiful piece of lingerie can make you feel just as confident as having a brilliant sex toy,” Godwin says.
It is this correlation that has led the sex toy retailer to branch out into sexual wellness products as well as just toys.
“If you have a sexual issue, lubricant is brilliant, we highly recommend it with every purchase. Our number one selling item itself is a lubricant,” Godwin says.
Lovehoney now has a wide health range targeted at different needs including pregnancy and the menopause.
Why Customer Service Is So Important When It Comes To Sex
When it comes to sex, customer service is more important than ever.
“You’re talking about one of the most sensitive issues to humans. Which is their sexuality, sexual empowerment, its being sexually confident – customer service is absolutely at the forefront and number one of how our whole company was built.”
The company has over 300,000 reviews, which Godwin says is more important than anything the company itself could say.
And for the sex-positive, there’s plenty of good news.
Showing that sexual stigma is well and truly on its way out, last year the oldest department store in the country – David Jones – launched a Lovehoney sexual wellness calendar within its stores. Godwin says it “sold out in two days”.
So with mainstream retailers now finally getting in on the fun, it looks like the days of having to look both ways before entering a dodgy side-street sex stores might finally be over. Phew.
