UNITED KINGDOM—Pleasure industry veteran Dale Bradford’s new book, From Sex Shops To Supermarkets: How Adult Toys Became A Multi-Billion-Pound Industry, chronicles the significant growth of the adult toy sector and how mainstream television, cinema, and celebrities have embraced it.
Almost every major U.K. supermarket is now devoting shelf space to adult toys. The book features many of the industry’s milestone moments, including the consumer electronics companies that launched their own sex toys, the private prosecution that could have threatened the Ann Summers business model, and the great jiggle ball shortage of 2012.
The book also explains how Lovehoney used clever P.R. to build its business and reveals the strategies behind some of its most successful campaigns. The book concludes with venture capitalists investing in leading players and merging them into "supergroups."
Written by a journalist who has covered the industry for the last two decades, From Sex Shops To Supermarkets: How Adult Toys Became A Multi-Billion-Pound Industry is packed with exclusive interviews and unique insights.
At the beginning of the 21st century, Ann Summers dominated the sex toy sector in the U.K. Its high street shops and party planners ensured that anyone planning to buy a vibrator would most likely become an Ann Summers customer. However, things changed when rival Lovehoney traded over the internet rather than from bricks and mortar stores. The book charts the story of how Lovehoney turned into a billion-dollar business.
The book explains how sex shops have evolved over the last two decades and reports on the mainstream retailers who have tried to muscle in on the market. It also spotlights the celebrities who have contributed to the gentrification of sex toys, looks back at the Fifty Shades phenomenon, and highlights some of the industry’s most innovative products.
From Sex Shops To Supermarkets: How Adult Toys Became A Multi-Billion-Pound Industry is available now in paperback (£9.99) and ebook (£4.99) formats from Amazon platforms worldwide.
Bradford has been editing B2B magazines since 1995. From 2003 to 2022, he was editor of Erotic Trade Only (ETO), the only U.K.-based trade publication aimed at retailers of adult toys and pleasure products, giving him “behind the scenes” access to the sector, and the people within.
Email Bradford at [email protected] for further information, press review copies, or to arrange an interview.
