Feature Articles

opinion

How Adult Retailers Can Enhance Sales With Supplements

The supplement industry is big business. In 2024, Future Market Insights estimated it to be valued at $74.3 billion, and other market research firms anticipate that number will grow to upwards of $170 billion in just 10 years.

Rick Magana ·
opinion

Why It's Time the Pleasure Industry Got Serious About IPX Waterproof Ratings

As someone who regularly communicates with manufacturers, retailers and consumers, I’ve seen how this ambiguity can do a disservice to both the customers who use these products and the businesses that sell them.

Alicia Sinclair Rosen ·
opinion

Tips for Sexual Wellness Brands to Win Over Gen Z This Summer

As summer rolls around, the excitement in the air is palpable, especially for one particular demographic: Gen Z. College and university classes are over, vacations are booked and it’s time to let loose.

Naima Karp ·
opinion

Celebrating the LGBTQ+ Community With Inclusive Packaging Design

Pride Month is a time of visibility, joy and self-expression. In the pleasure industry, projecting that energy can start with something as simple as a box. Market research shows that 72% of U.S. consumers say product packaging influences their purchasing decisions.

Matthew Spindler ·
profile

WIA Profile: Pettus Ashley

Pettus Ashley brings her A game to the world of authentic adult branding, flitting between airports as the American face of U.K. brand Bathmate. As a company brand ambassador, Ashley personifies Bathmate’s dedication to the retail world, showering staff with equal amounts of appreciation and sales education.

Women In Adult ·
profile

Good Relations Fosters Sex Wellness, Positivity for 40+ Years

Melinda Myers, the founder and owner of Good Relations in Eureka, California, was still in college when she got invited to attend her first pleasure products home party.

Quinton Bellamie ·
opinion

Why It's Time for Pleasure Brands to Stop Ignoring B2C Marketing

For many B2B adult brands, marketing to consumers feels like a waste of time. I’ve heard it so many times: “We sell to retailers, not consumers. Why should we invest in B2C marketing?”

Hail Groo ·
opinion

The Midlife Movement Is Exploding; Is the Pleasure Industry Ready?

In marketing, there tends to be an emphasis on the younger generation — the trendsetters. The assumption is that appealing to the younger market has a halo effect on older consumers, who look to younger folks for what is on trend.

Sarah Tomchesson ·
opinion

Gender Play Gets Creative With Fantasy Toys

Sex toy manufacturers are increasingly recognizing the value of fantasy products, expanding their lines to include ever more diverse designs. What was once considered a niche market has proven to have broad appeal, demonstrating that people are eager to explore desires that extend beyond conventional human experiences.

Rin Musick ·
opinion

How Sex Toy Retailers Can Better Support Marginalized Communities

As someone who has been in the industry since 2003, I’ve seen countless trends, products and marketing strategies come and go. Yet one thing has remained consistent: a significant gap in how sex toy retailers serve marginalized communities.

Kimberly Scott Faubel ·
opinion

Tips for Boosting Ecommerce Success During Masturbation May

Masturbation May is not just a month for self-exploration. It’s also a prime opportunity for ecommerce brands in the adult retail space to tap into a highly engaged audience actively searching for resources and products to celebrate their sexual wellness.

Matthew Spindler ·
trends

Adult Retailers Share Theft Prevention Strategies

Shoplifting has always posed a persistent challenge for retailers, and its effects reach far beyond simple loss of inventory. Theft can disrupt operations and saddle retailers with the cost of increased insurance premiums and heightened security measures. Robust security protocols can also negatively impact customers’ shopping experience.

Ariana Rodriguez ·
profile

WIA Profile: Stefanie Neumann

It takes an ever-smiling face and a constantly creative mind to keep a retail outfit up and running. Luckily for TAF Distribution, regional manager Stefanie Neumann has endless good vibes and smart decisions to boost business and staff relations at the company’s retail chain.

Women In Adult ·
profile

Dr. Tush's Brings Anal Care to the Forefront

Few personal health products have inspired descriptions quite so bold as “If Neosporin and Aquaphor had a baby, and that baby became a crime-fighting superhero for your skin.” Then again, even fewer can live up to their own hype.

Colleen Godin ·
opinion

Tips for Promoting Inclusivity, Accessibility in Adult Retail

Walking into an adult store or browsing a retail website should feel like an invitation — an open, shame-free space to explore pleasure and identity. But for many of us, that’s not the reality. As a queer, nonbinary and physically disabled person, I’ve spent years navigating physical and digital spaces that weren’t built with people like me in mind.

Hail Groo ·
opinion

Tips for Reinvigorating Marketing Strategy by Tapping Into Online Feedback

For the past 50 years or so, the pleasure industry has worked tirelessly to increase public acceptance of sex toys. We’ve done an incredible job, and that progress has only accelerated since I first started out working the sales floor at Babeland nearly 20 years ago.

Sarah Tomchesson ·
opinion

The 'Wall of Shame' in Adult Retail: Deterrent or Dilemma?

Retail theft affects all kinds of businesses, but adult retailers face unique challenges when it comes to loss prevention. One of the more controversial strategies some retailers have adopted is the “wall of shame,” a public display of shoplifters caught in the act.

Rin Musick ·
opinion

Mitigating Retail Shrink Through Intelligent Video Solutions

Retail shrink isn’t just a cost of doing business — it’s an existential threat. Theft, fraud, operational inefficiencies and employee mismanagement chip away at profits in ways that many business owners don’t even realize.

Sean Quinn ·
opinion

The Power of Authenticity in Selling Pleasure Products

I’ve been working in the pleasure industry for more than two decades. For a significant chunk of that time, I thought that to be successful in sales, I had to fit a mold. I assumed that selling meant following a formula: say the right things, use the right voice and present myself in a way that was guaranteed to convert.

Kimberly Scott Faubel ·
profile

Dennis DeSantis on Building a Blockbuster Career in Adult Retail

The adult industry and the mainstream Hollywood scene often intersect, and few executives are more familiar with that crossover than Dennis DeSantis.

Ariana Rodriguez ·
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