LAS VEGAS - Tuesday's "Toy Box Secrets: Selling
and Marketing Adult Toys and Novelties" seminar allowed AEE Expo-goers a chance
to listen to a panel of industry experts discuss the current novelty market;
from displaying and selling products to predicting the future of the business.
Moderated by AVN Novelty Business Publisher Tony Lovett, the panel was notably
diverse: Mark Franks of retail giant Castle Megastores, Kris Butt of
distributor/retailer/manufacturer Peekay, Inc., Jonathan Plotzker of
retail/wholesale trendsetter Good Vibrations/GVA-TWN, Brian Robinson of retail
legend The Pleasure Chest, Joel Tucker of online fetish maverick and
manufacturer The Stockroom, and Leslie Schwartzer of Holiday Products, a leader
in distribution.
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Lovett opened the talk with a discussion about the novelty industry's
relationship with the mainstream. "In the last year how do you feel the model
to market novelties has changed, and what kind of changes to you see as we go
into 2008?" he asked.
"One of the biggest changes to me is that we as adult markets have had to deal
with the big chains," said Schwartzer. "I mean, Wal-Mart is selling lubricants.
You can go to Target or Rite Aid and get massagers. So this is ultimately going
to change the quality of novelties. We used to be able to just to throw
something together and throw it on the shelves."
"I've always said that I never wanted to compete with Wal-Mart," added Tucker,
"but these big corporations are slowly starting to edge into this business. But
that's when the manufacturers have to step it up, because I don't think these
companies can do exactly what we do, the way we do it...and they definitely don't
have the kind of customer service that we and other boutiques provide."
"On the other hand, you might think of a company like Victoria's Secret as a
competitor, but they have brought a lot of mainstream companies to be more
interested in their garments and in their foundations, and so we've actually
seen an increase in interest," said Butt, "and I think that some of that is
because they've educated the marketplace."
"It's a double-edged sword when the industry starts to go more mainstream,"
said Franks. "It starts to bring a customer base in that previously never
considered buying."
"Packaging has also been a big part of the change," said Tucker. "And there's a
lot more people in the [fetish market] now, and so it makes it a lot more
competitive, but there's also a lot more innovation...cool new products coming out,
and there are an infinite number of avenues to go into now. Fetish is going
more mainstream and that's a great thing for us. But we're having to get into
the patent game because we've done some products and seen people copy them.
It's an annoying process, but it's what you have to do."
Educating novelty shop employees in an attempt to build a novelty community was
also another point of discussion.
"Everybody who works in our stores is considered a sex expert," said Plotzker.
"Which makes them both better salespeople of the products, but they can also
actually think of the products and about the industry, in an attempt to
understand why a customer might want one product over another."
"Our employees have to go through a thirty-day test, a sixty-day test and then
a ninety-day test and then they're certified and they can sell in the toy
department," added Butt.
"I always tell the story of looking through your old high school year books,
and everyone says what they want to do when they grow up, and you never see
anyone that has said ‘I'd like to work as a clerk in a pornography shop,"
Franks laughed. "So you have to find people that really like being in the that
environment."
The panel also discussed what they thought were some of the industry trends.
"I find it interesting how displays are really changing," explained Robinson.
"For so long everything was just kept under glass, and customers had to rely on
the clerk to explain everything. There was a real separation there."
"And there are customers out there, that no matter how much you to talk to them
and educate them, they'd rather discover stuff on their own," said Plotzker.
"And these kinds of intuitive displays really work well for them."
"We're always going to have people come in and ask for products like a pocket
rocket and a rabbit pearl," said Schwartzer. "But I think things are starting
to move towards higher quality; products which the clerks will be able to
discuss with the customers and educate them about."
"New materials are definitely interesting," added Plotzker. "I'm very intrigued
with wooden toys and ceramic toys."
"What interests me is that some toys are starting to become less lustful and
more sensual," said Robinson. "They're almost like works of art that we're able
to put in our display window, and that's something we've never been able to do
before."
Pictured: Joel Tucker, Brian Robinson,
Leslie Schwartzer, Jonathan Plotzker, Kris Butt and Mark Franks.
Pleasure
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