Thursday is Thanksgiving, which means the shopping season officially opens the following day, the retail industry's "Black Friday." With adult-novelty products filtering into the mainstream more and more, it's no surprise that manufacturers are taking advantage of the holiday season by releasing gift products that are sure to keep giving.
Doc Johnson released its annual "Top 10 Sexy Stocking Stuffers" guide detailing the novelties every retailer should have, including its Silent Vibrations, which will keep couples from waking the kids on a "Silent Night." A full list of Doc's 2007 Stocking Stuffer offerings can be viewed in the novelty press release section at AVN.com.
European online-retail mecca Love Honey has released its "Christmas Gift Guide," which gives gift ideas for virtually any relationship and budget. Love Honey's list includes the eco-friendly and rechargeable Delight from Fun Factory, The Screaming O's O-Boy Quickie Vibrating Cock Ring, and the Sex Casino board game from Lover's Choice, among others. Love Honey's complete Christmas guide is available here.
In the United States, adult-novelty distributor Nalpac has released its "12 Pages of Christmas" mini-catalog to help retailers choose the right Christmas merchandise for their stores. Director of Sales and Marketing Kenny Sahn recommends stocking up on Nalpac's Pornaments.
"The Nalpac Christmas flier has everything from gift bags and cards to chocolates and stockings," he says. "[Pornaments] aren't your typical tree ornaments and will be hilarious on any tree, as long as they're hung too high for the kids to see."
Al Bloom, director of marketing for California Exotic Novelties, told ANB he recommends board games such as Hook Up and Sealed With a Kiss as stocking stuffers. Cal Exotic's complete list of stocking-stuffer suggestions is available here.
"Any of our new games make great stocking stuffers," Bloom says. "I would also suggest any of our new lingerie items, and as far as vibrating products, our new Shane's World Tickle Pleasers are really cute."
Known for creating some of the funniest and most affordable novelty products in the industry, Pipedream Products showcases its Christmas offerings in the form of a holiday e-flier, which is available online at Pipedream's website. Among the holiday products offered are some point-of-purchase displays, which are perfect to stock by the register to encourage those last-minute impulse buys.
HOTT Products Vice President Chris Post tells ANB his company's Jingle Balls are killer stocking stuffers.
"Customers all over are ordering them in large quantities, including some mainstream stores," he says. "Aside from Christmas-specific merchandise, plenty of our products make great stocking stuffers, like the Humm Dinger vibrating tongue ring and the Frisky Finger. And it just wouldn't be Christmas without our Dick and Tit Tarts!"
When it comes to edibles, Chocoholics Divine Desserts offers Christmas-specific stocking stuffers, as well as less holiday-oriented items such as body-frosting gift sets and sensual products.
Sales and Marketing Coordinator Shannon Peach tells ANB that Chocoholics' body frosting comes packaged in a tube of five mini-jars topped with a candy cane or Christmas tree for the holiday.
"These include the Original Sin, Wild Cherry, Midnight Mocha, Espresso Dream and Red Raspberry flavors, along with a brush and ‘quickie recipe' tag," she says. "We have a couple of other products that aren't specifically packaged for the holidays but would make excellent stocking stuffers, as well."
For the BDSM market, RUFF-Doggie Styles offers a small selection of holiday-specific merchandise, including the S&M Snowman series of crops and spankers.
Marketing Manager Heather Hilton says that no adult store should be without Strip Tease-HERS and Sweet Throat oral-sex strips and the S&M Snowman keychain.
We can't forget about the gay-male market: Masculine bedding and apparel manufacturer MindFetish.com is running a holiday blowout sale on some of its best-selling merchandise, including its leather pillowcases, shams and bed kilts.
As long as we're on the harsher side of gift-giving, attitude-based apparel manufacturer Sik World recently released its holiday collection of men's and women's apparel to help "spread fake Christmas cheer," according to President Jaysun Chall.
"In an effort to get a little piece of the billions of dollars thrown away on a holiday fabricated by Coca-Cola and Hallmark, we've created a few items that people can waste their money on, as well," he quips. "If Christmas was really about love and togetherness, there would be less emphasis on the merchandise aspect. This year, I think people should give their time and affection to the people they care about, but since most people don't have a fucking clue, we'll help spread the fake holiday cheer and hope everyone has a merry fucking Christmas."
Finally, for shoppers who come into your store ready to pull their hair out, Topco Sales offers its NovelTease CyberSkin Stress Balls, along with sister product the Tension Titty. Both products are sure to be good for a laugh, but actually work like any hand-squeezable stress reliever any doctor would recommend.
While this hardly scratches the surface of all the stocking stuffers available on the market, we hope this overview will help you choose merchandise that will increase your bottom line this holiday season.
Happy Holidays from everyone at AVN Novelty Business magazine!
