Now entering our 7th year in the business of selling sex products, Freddy and Eddy's been witness to an exciting evolution in the so-called "novelty" sector of our industry. With technology making its way into every facet of design, manufacturing and packaging, we've seen a quantum leap in quality and aesthetics unimaginable only five years ago. Easy access to sexual information - especially via the Internet - has educated consumers to expect more from their intimate expenditures than cheap clamshell packaging and low-grade throwaway junk that's been the mainstay of adult store shelves for decades. Companies like Fun Factory, Tantus Silicone, Lelo, Njoy and B-Swish have replaced cheap jelly materials with high-grade silicone, stainless steel and glass while encasing their products in lovely boxes that look like they'd be more at home in Tiffany than your local adult retailer. In my opinion, this sea change couldn't have come soon enough.
In fact, a reckoning of sorts is long overdue; stores which have prospered on high-profit, low-quality merchandise will now be competing with an ever-expanding array of specialty boutiques that carry less selection, yet offer higher-end products and accompanying education that bring higher margins through higher prices (indeed, most of our own customers have no problem plunking down $150 or more for a good quality vibrator). Coco de Mer, Kiki de Montparnasse, Babeland and Pleasure Chest are examples of stores that've either opened or transformed themselves to meet the demands of this new marketing phenomenon. Fluorescent lighting and blinding displays are being replaced by subtle, natural illumination and more seductive environments.
In my own opinion, as shoppers become ever more comfortable entering the adult environment, trust will become the number one guiding principle in purchasing items for sexual enjoyment. Let's face it; customers aren't looking for "novelties" or "toys" anymore, but carefully designed products that enhance their sexual health and do so in an aesthetically pleasing manner. It's up to us to point them in the right direction.
And what choices we have! On the upper end of the spectrum, the Fun Factory Delight ($165) is a marvel of engineering, visual beauty and sensible functionality that consumers are buying up as fast as the German manufacturer can ship them. Eroscillator's 2-plus and Top Deluxe clitoral stimulators ($127 and $182, respectively), once relegated to niche status now move briskly and enjoy healthy sales growth. Stainless steel wands, plugs and anal beads from Njoy Toys are almost impossible to keep in stock, despite their hefty price tags ranging from $75-125. And the list goes on. Even lower-priced products have improved markedly, with giants like Doc Johson, Topco and Cal Exotics releasing items that are not only repackaged to appeal to upscale shoppers, but are also phthalate-free and subjected to stricter quality control standards before leaving their Chinese factories.
Finally, the way we approach sexual products and our businesses in general has transformed from marginalization to mainstream acceptance. As our stores improve in the way we display and present our products, the quality of our wares advance and the knowledge we possess becomes more valuable to customers in greater numbers, we move from an industry fighting to simply exist (from where we locate to what we are allowed to sell) to instead fighting to gain in relevance alongside all other mature industries. Shouldn't an item placed in the most sensitive areas of the human body be treated with the same - if not more - respect than plasma televisions, cosmetics and home furnishings? Shouldn't fostering sexual health and "prescribing" a tool to assist in improving one's relationship be considered not only important, but absolutely vital?
The answers are obvious. As retailers, it's time we grow up and take responsibility for what we sell and put more effort into promoting value than stocking shelves based purely on profit. There are now literally thousands of products within easy reach that set new standards for workmanship, effectiveness and exquisiteness. Seek them out, educate your customers and enjoy the rewards - monetary and otherwise.
GayVN
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