The pandemic and Brexit may have wreaked havoc on Europe’s pleasure products industry over the past year and a half, but with quick adaptability, European retailers and manufacturers are bouncing back. With industry leaders sharing a positive outlook for the future, Europe is a region booming with business, ripe with adult retail store chains and bustling boutiques, as well as brands that proudly tout their elevated manufacturing standards.
As in many other parts in the world, the European marketplace saw an increase in sales of pleasure products, specifically online. Businesses that weren’t already involved in ecommerce quickly adapted, and as restrictions have lessened, conventional retail is picking up the pace, says WOW Tech Group director of public relations Johanna Rief.
“The sexual wellness industry has seen an immense growth this year due to COVID and COVID restrictions,” she said. “As in many other industries, it has served as an accelerator for online business. While shops had to close, we saw a huge growth across Europe for our online business. However, this was also a challenge for our trusted partners and us to quickly shift to online business, [especially] for those that had focused on brick-and-mortar stores beforehand. To help these partners, we provided consulting, training and the possibility to use an individually branded website.”
According to Rief, a lot of the new customers that invested in pleasure products during the pandemic were first-timers. She attributes the increase of consumers exploring pleasure products to having limited options for excitement during lockdown.
“We do know from our customers’ feedback, as well as different surveys we conducted among our sex toy tester panel, that time is an essential factor when it comes to sexuality and self-pleasure,” Rief said. “With the prospect of long periods at home either alone or with your partner, people were and are exploring new ways to make the best of the time available.”
Hot Octopuss Global Head of Sales April Lampert says that the European market has been positively transformed since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Although lockdowns varied from country to country, there was change in consumer behavior during this period which significantly increased the demand for sex toys, and the overall business was unscathed and showed continued growth over the last year,” she said.
Fun Factory’s Jordis Meise said that the company saw an increase in online sales of almost 40 percent throughout the past year and some months saw sales growth of over 110 percent through the manufacturer’s online EU shop. Still, it came at a cost, as brick-and-mortar suffered. Meise said that the company stepped up marketing to consumers to encourage them to shop local.
“B2C-wise, we were able to gain higher visibility in the local and national media and on platforms such as Instagram and Facebook through our ‘Buy Local’ and ‘Spread Love Not Viruses’ campaigns,” Meise said. “These saw us inviting customers to stay home and have ‘Fun’ with our toys and also offering them advice on experiencing better sex.”
Adult retailers that exclusively operated as physical stores were negatively impacted as most of them were forced to close for nine months, while still incurring expenses.
“A lot of these shops never opened again, and just disappeared,” said Michael Sonner, general sales manager for Hot Productions & Vertriebs. “And there also will not be new stores in their place because [it will be difficult for new shops to get licenses] in most places again. So, the pandemic was the end for a lot of nice and well-managed shops. That’s very sad.”
Calling it a “nightmare for brick-and-mortar stores that were forced to act fast and adapt their business model to a digital one,” Gisele International co-founder Lisa Sananes also believes that the pandemic benefited the industry by increasing the demand for sexual wellness products.
Because Gisele International handles the communication between pleasure product brands and their distribution network, Sananes said, the company had to adapt its strategy to best support retailers.
“‘Focus’ and ‘out-of-the-box thinking’ were definitely our mantras during this period,” she said. “Where usually we would have concentrated our efforts on store visits, training and SPIFFs, we now talk about Zoom training, social media raffles, IG Live [streams], digital workshop sponsorships, email blasts, affiliates and YouTube videos. Our job is to ensure that our brands are seen and understood by the retailer and its audience, and while the communication between those two evolves, so must we.”
As the demand for pleasure products grew, COVID restrictions also made it difficult for EU manufacturers to meet those needs.
“For my company, the biggest challenge was SARS CoV-2 and its prevention because national rules resulted in severe limitations of our local production,” Organotoy’s Oliver Ring said. “Switching to shifts and a hydrogen peroxide disinfection system made it manageable.”
On top of suffering brick-and-mortar sales, companies also had to adapt to conducting business virtually — which can be difficult when dealing with tangible products.
“We had to adapt quickly and find alternatives for ‘face-to-face’ meetings with our valuable customers,” Evolved Novelties’ Raymond Houtenbos said. “We were able to show new products via Zoom and did our best to make those meetings engaging. And shipping samples became even more important because there was no way to leave product behind with them!”
Inge Arissen, who handles marketing for Shots, also said that being unable to visit stores was difficult for the company’s sales team, which is used to traveling.
“We believe that personal contact is key, but it was a challenge because of the lockdown,” Arissen said. “We couldn’t travel or receive visitors here. So, we came up with online alternatives that turned out really well. Both in Europe and America, we had some very successful Zoom shows, as well as online trainings and meetings.” BREXIT WOES
By the end of 2020, Brexit — which had been voted into effect in 2016 — ended its transition period, leaving many questions surrounding how the U.K.’s withdrawal from the EU would affect international business.
“We did all of the pre-Brexit research that we could but literally no one knew what was happening with respect to duties and tax implications, so it was always going to be a suck-it-and-see kind of scenario,” said Claire Blakeborough, marketing and communications director for e-stim toy manufacturer ElectraStim.
“However, we’re very lucky that most of our wholesale partners in Europe have been able to give us a lot of advice and guidance for what new paperwork and customs requirements they’ve been hit with, which is not the same for all countries. It’s been a very steep learning curve trying to maintain the same level of efficiency that we’re proud of while complying with lots of new rules that aren’t always very clear.”
Blakeborough also offered an example of Brexit’s impact from the company’s perspective as a U.K.-based online retailer with EU-based customers.
“We were initially able to operate uninterrupted after Brexit and send orders out with all their taxes and duties paid,” she said. “However, since the new tax rules coming into effect from July 1 for orders originating in the U.K., we had to rethink this as the process was becoming insurmountably complicated for a relatively small number of orders. All of our European B2C customers are now warned that they are likely to receive a customs/tax charge upon receipt, so we fully expect a decrease in consumer direct sales — but our reseller network will pick these up across the EU. At the end of the day, we need our bra
nd awareness to continue to thrive across Europe so Brexit will create more opportunities for store owners and distributors alike.”
Trying to circumvent the shipping challenges is putting a strain on business between the U.K. and EU.
“Due to the uncertainty that accompanied the negotiations from 2016, many of our European customers have stopped taking new releases from our catalogues,” Net 1 on 1 Wholesale Managing Director Tony Gonzalez said. “It was very hard to prepare and fail-proof our business as concrete information on what U.K.-.U trade relations will look like post-Brexit were scarce at best. Nevertheless, it was clear from the start that extra customs charges and longer delivery times will be a common part of distributing life once the transition period ends. So, we decided to create a company in the Netherlands and found a Dutch warehousing partner. This allows us to ship faster and cheaper to our continental customers directly from Holland.”
Will Ranscombe from Love Not War shares similar frustrations as Brexit has made it impossible to provide the same service to customers as before.
“We found it really tough that some of our shipments to customers that pre-Brexit would have taken a few days to reach Europe were now taking much longer,” he said. “An example: one shipment to Ireland took three weeks to clear customs. We had to really be on top of our customer communication, so they understood why there was a delay, and what Love Not War was doing to resolve it. And then taking the time to proactively reach out to customers and make sure that their re-ordering timescales need to be adjusted.”
Ranscombe said that the company plans to open an EU distribution center.
“As a start-up, the challenges of managing stock in multiple locations can be tricky — along with the administrative process and costs of opening and operating corporate entities in multiple territories,” he said. “For now, we want to focus on getting the basics right and continuing to develop well-designed, well-crafted quality products that don’t cost the Earth.” Hot Octopuss’ April Lampert said Brexit has impacted business more negatively than COVID-19 by “adding logistical complications, importing costs, customs challenges and delays to shipments to Europe.”
“Hot Octopuss is a London-based company with a U.K. warehouse so we had to learn to adapt to Brexit quickly,” she said. “Expanding our European distribution channels, creating customs simplification processes, and upping our compliance game have all been important pieces of our adaptation to the challenges Brexit imposes.”
Aside from initial logistical challenges in early 2021, WOW Tech’s Johanna Rief said that Brexit didn’t have much impact on business.
“However, we quickly adapted our processes to the new reality and set up a new warehouse in the U.K. to overcome the issue,” she said.
Manufacturers and resellers are acclimating to Brexit’s changes so far, and bracing themselves for even more.
“I’m not sure that we’ve seen the full impact of the political changes in the U.K., because the pandemic threw such a big twist into the global economy,” said Raymond Houtenbos, Evolved Novelties’ VP of sales for Europe. “As we get back to normal protocols for sales and distribution, I suspect we’ll find out what Brexit means for Europe and the rest of the market.”
EMBRACING INCLUSIVITY
The last year has been a learning experience for everyone in general on many fronts. In addition to the pandemic, a global racial equality movement was sparked by George Floyd’s death at the hands of police in Minneapolis, bringing attention to the many ways in which BIPOC and other minorities experience discrimination and suppression.
“If 2020 has taught us anything, it is that the voices and needs of marginalized people and groups have been neglected for far too long and that we all, including we at WOW Tech, need to listen and reflect on our privilege,” WOW Tech Group’s Johanna Rief said. “Looking at these issues is therefore a mandatory perspective that needs to be considered for current and future products, campaigns and launches, or else.”
The growing awareness of global social issues paired with the changing perceptions about sex toys among all consumer demographics has presented significant challenges and opportunities for most manufacturers, Hot Octopuss’ Lampert pointed out.
“Many brands, including Hot Octopuss, were forced to take a hard look at the way they advertised their products because overall inclusivity was not only expected but it became a defining piece of a brand’s image,” she said. “Hot Octopuss has always strived to be as inclusive as possible, yet there is always room for improvement. Like other leading brands in the marketplace, we are making every effort to have folks of all different demographics represented not only on packaging and in advertising, but also within the structure of our core team.”
Organotoy’s Oliver Ring said that as an activist for LGBTQI+ rights for nearly two decades, fighting for inclusivity and against xeno, trans and homophobia is a key part of Organotoy’s brand.
“We didn’t change anything, but got more positive reception for our work,” he noted.
While Evolved Novelties doesn’t advertise to consumers directly, Raymond Houtenbos said that the company supports movements of equality and justice whether it’s for the LGBTQ community, #MeToo or Black Lives Matter.
“We’ve always paid attention to skin tone variety in our brands in order to be actively inclusive, but of course there’s room for improvement,” he said. “BLM caused us to evaluate whether we’re doing all that we can and that has resulted in even more diversity which is something we want to weave into the fabric of our brand identity — not just one-off toys here and there.
“We’re committed to inclusivity at the company’s core,” he added, “In our view, social justice and healthy sexuality are all part of the same goal: a world where everyone gets to express themselves and enjoy pleasure exactly how they want. That’s also our motivation in creating an entirely new toy category — gender neutral.”
According to Love Not War’s Will Ranscombe, being inclusive starts with the words that are used to describe how pleasure products are used and what they are intended for.
“The language we use and what we advertise the products being able to do is less about penetrative toys, highlighting that our customers should use the toys for pleasure and self-love, not just to recreate heteronormative ideas of sex,” he said. “It has meant that when advertising, we use our brand’s colors of orange and grey over ‘skin’ tones, promoting inclusivity. The product has taken the focus, allowing us to advertise the range and the strengths of the product without relying on influencers.”
Multi-use toys, like rabbits that can be used internal and externally as well as wands and clit-sucking toys, are taking the lead, according to Ranscombe.
“With regards to shapes, softer and more flexible shapes that move away from realism are in,” said Ranscombe. “People want toys that focus less on being realistic and more on [being able to] to pinpoint pleasure across all erogenous zones. Creating a trend of sex equals exploration and understanding your own bodies needs and wants.”
Tony Gonzalez says that in the past 10 years of developing Loving Joy, Net 1 on 1 Wholesale’s in-house brand, the process has been rewarding in that it has allowed the company to evolve along with consumer trends, which have moved towards inclusivity. “We have been trying to source more inclusive products for years, with a specific focus on pushing away from realistic toys towards more non-anatomical, non-representative toys,” he said. “Most notably, we recently launched a see-through range of masturbators that feature a doughnut entry — a great pleasure product regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity. We also have been paying a lot more attention to our packaging copy, so the language that we use is as gender-neutral as possible.
“Potential customers should be able to browse sex toys confidently without feeling excluded and without the fear of dysphoria. It’s in everyone’s interest,” he added. “We are excited to continue this journey of learning and can’t wait to expand our range of non-realistic toys including dildos, vibrators and other penis toys.”
As awareness surrounding gender identity grows and evolves, pleasure products manufacturers are expanding their definition of product categories.
“I am not sure if this counts as a trend or if it is rather a shift in the buyer’s behavior, but gender-neutral toys are definitely becoming more wanted,” Gisele International’s Lisa Sananes said. “Gender neutrality removes the focus on the gender attributions and expectations and puts it back on the actual product’s features. Being more neutral means less intrusion and more inclusivity. It also empowers the consumer to be the owner of their buying act and of the whole experience.”
TRENDING TOYS
Driven by consumer demand, manufacturers are consistently churning out pleasure products that are becoming more sophisticated in tech and design.
Across Europe, consumers are looking for items with more functions, more color options and eco-friendly manufacturing.
“Looking at product features, customization becomes more and more important,” WOW Tech’s Johanna Rief said. “Toys that can be adapted to everybody and offer options for different tastes are very popular right now. No body is the same, so it is impossible to offer a ‘one size fits all’ product. We-Vibe Nova 2 is a perfect example, where the hinges ensure that you never lose contact with the clitoris while stimulating the G-Spot. But also, the extra Womanizer heads in three different sizes, S, M and now also the L, in all possible colors are a good example of customization.”
Consumer trends among European customers may be as diverse as they are all over the world, but ElectraStim’s Claire Blakesborough said that European customers appear to be the most interested in the latest tech.
The one place where we’ve seen a lot of difference is the number of people in Europe who download our update software for AXIS and Flux,” she said. “It’s easily 10 times that of customers in the U.K./rest of the world or the U.S. It’s nice to know that so many people are engaging with the full features of the stimulators — the update app was no small undertaking development-wise!”
Another trending topic in all aspects of consumers’ lives is being more environmentally conscious. The pleasure products industry has recently started to embrace this trend, which has taken hold of European consumers.
“This year on April 22, World Earth Day, we launched the very first eco-friendly Pleasure Air sex toy, the Womanizer Premium eco,” Johanna Rief said. “It is made out of a new, naturally sourced biodegradable material, Biolene, made of plant material. And we extend this further in the FSC packaging, accessories such as the vegan eco cotton pouch, and even the in-store assets and product displays.
“We see that consumers and our partners are shopping more consciously and that it is getting more important that products leave a smaller footprint in addition to being body-safe,” she added. “At WOW Tech, we are committed to setting an example in the industry.”
Love Not War’s Will Ranscombe also notes that there is a growing trend in eco-friendly and sustainable toys that are rechargeable.
“Love Not War has taken this trend into account when making our range of toys, made of only the best FDA-grade silicone. Each of the heads is interchangeable, meaning you need only buy one rechargeable electronic body across the range,” he said. “So, you can get off and make a positive impact on the environment.”
Michael Sonner from Hot Productions & Vertriebs GmbH also believes that eco-friendly products and packaging are increasingly becoming more appealing to shoppers with elevated tastes.
“Cheap prices and cheap quality is no longer the sales driver,” he said.
One of the attributes of sex toys that determine their quality is the material that they are made of. Citing a survey conducted by Fun Factory among 1,4000 people in Germany, company exec Jordis Meise said that 50.9 percent of consumers believe that the quality of the materials used is one of the most important components.
“A similar amount of people (51.8 percent) wants to be sure that the products are safe to use and also that the products have a long life span,” she said.
Silicone has risen as a preferred material for sex toys for its safety and hygiene benefits. Love Not War’s Ranscombe says that the material is still gaining new aficionados. “Silicone-based products are becoming more popular due to their comfort level and easy ability to mold to the body without causing discomfort,” he said, noting that the material also “comes in a range of ‘pretty’ and ‘fun’ colors like pinks, purples and blues.”
Colors play an important role for shoppers. Today’s manufacturers are giving consumers more options to find a toy that matches their aesthetic.
“This year we’re offering some new vibrant hues that you won’t see anywhere else, including a ‘neon’ line that reflects the recent fascination with 1980s style and shape-wise, we’re constantly innovating,” Evolved Novelties’ Houtenbos said. “Just like in the fashion industry, trends come and go, so the key is to keep one eye on what’s trending.”
Net 1 on 1 Wholesale introduced a line of mint/ pistachio-colored vibrators called MINA last year.
“They’ve been extremely well received, especially with more specialist, boutique-types of stores,” Net 1 on 1 Wholesale’s Tony Gonzalez said.
While retailers look to distributors for their expertise and suggestions on products to stock, they also rely on brand recognition to make buying decisions, says Björn Radcke, the head of sales and marketing for Orion Wholesale. His overview of the year’s most popular items so far includes items across many categories.
“Pleasure product sets in different variations are very popular,” he said. “Likewise for colorful, fancy toys that are high quality. One of our top sellers is the Vibepad, a remote-controlled love cushion that perfectly adapts to the female anatomy.”
Pleasure products that can be used by a couple together also are popular in today’s European marketplace.
“No longer are vibrators just ‘for women’ and masturbators just ‘for men’ but couples are experimenting and using toys that were once used in solo play for couple play,” Fun Factory’s Jordis Meise said. Hot Octopuss’ April Lampert also saw an increase in demand for couples’ toys in the last year. “I believe the rising awareness of the health benefits of sex toys is the major trend steering the market,” she said. “Innovative sextech, body-safe materials, increased functionality, along with ergonomically designed products are all in high demand. In addition, discreet packaging is also helping the market to prosper, especially in developing economies in Europe.” Reflecting on consumer trends from the past few years, Shots’ Inge Arissen said that there’s been a growing interest in anal products, as well as urethal sounding products.
“An overall trend we see is that people are more aware of quality and material and are willing to pay for it,” Arissen said. “So, silicone is a popular material. In line with this, one of our bestselling brands is Vive; a luxurious toy brand made of high quality materials. We also have a biodegradable line: Natural Pleasures, which sells well because it’s so on top of today’s values and beliefs. When it comes to color, it all depends. Anal and BDSM toys still sell best in black. Pink and purple are safe choices for vibrators, but we also see a shift towards soft pastels.”
Pushing Pleasure
With Europe’s famous red-light districts, brothels and sex shops, it’s often assumed that Europeans are more progressive in their acceptance of sex. Nevertheless, as with anywhere else in the world, people’s attitudes towards sex vary and are ever-changing.
“The education gap is everywhere but of course it depends on the generation, on the country we are looking at, on cultural beliefs, on society acceptance of sex and on more socio-demographic criteria,” Gisele International’s Lisa Sananes said. “We always say that the U.K., Germany, the Netherlands and the Nordic countries are usually much more open-minded than other European countries. It’s mainly because there is much less of a contradiction between what people say and do. It’s OK to talk about sex; it’s OK to own a sex toy. Adult stores can be found everywhere — at airports, in malls, in city centers — it’s visible so it’s accepted. In other European countries, sex remains directly linked to shame in most minds and while people’s attitude towards our industry is evolving positively, the society is not necessarily backing this up.”
Although the idea of Europeans being more open about sex is a generalization, ElectraStim’s Claire Blakeborough says that the company’s experience backs up that theory.
“European customers tend to be more open about sex and pleasure products than customers in the U.S., or even here in the U.K.,” she said. “There are well-established fetish communities in Germany and the Netherlands that we’ve been a part of for the last 20 years, so our viewpoint is a little skewed by interacting with a very knowledgeable and open audience in Europe. Just anecdotally, though, it does seem as though customers in Europe are way more chilled about sex and sex toys. In comparison to the U.K., where we can still be quite stuffy and culturally embarrassed to talk about sex, something about Europe makes people a touch more open. Surely the nicer weather has something to do with it!”
WOW Tech’s Johanna Rief said that there has been progress made when it comes to normalizing discussion of pleasure and sexuality in recent years as the topics have received more mainstream media attention.
“In addition, with conventional retailers like drugstores, perfumeries and supermarkets opening up and listing pleasure products, they become more visible on the everyday shopping path,” she said. “European consumers nowadays have many more touch points with sexual healthcare topics than a few years ago — either in the media or directly in the stores.” Rief points out that Europe is a diverse continent with different countries and cultures, and therefore, sexual wellness topics and products are perceived and accepted differently in each country.
“Whereas in Italy and Spain, society is still a bit more conservative regarding this, France or Scandinavia are much more open-minded,” she said. Hot Octopuss’ Lampert credits the approach of teachers in numerous European cities, who discuss sex with less of an emphasis on the dangers of sex.
“Instead, they gear the curriculum to teach sex as a normal, healthy, positive act,” she said. “Take the Netherlands, for instance, where sex education can start as early as the age of four, and Denmark, where students learn about pornography in their sex education curriculum. Other factors such as the increased exposure to sex toys, rising awareness of the health benefits of sex toys, and the rebranding and repositioning of the sex toy industry are driving the growth of the sex toy market and normalizing the conversations around sexual pleasure.”
Net 1 on 1’s Gonzalez also says that people’s attitudes towards sex are shifting because of the growing spotlight from the media.
“Discussions around pleasure and sex toys have slowly been becoming more commonplace,” he said. “The sex toy boom that came with the pandemic was widely reported across the country on mainstream media channels and this resulted in people finally opening up and discussing, even comparing, sex toys.”
Generationally speaking, today’s millennials and Gen Z are credited with embracing their sexuality more proudly than ever before. Their nonstop engagement with social media and other online resources also has led to more educated and sex-positive consumers.
“This ‘pleasure revolution’ is paving the way for people to feel comfortable asking for what they want, understanding their body and exploring pleasure,” Love Not War’s Ranscombe said. “But it is slow, and highlights that without good sex education at a younger age, European consumers still have a long way to go before it is 100-percent acceptable to talk about sex or pleasure products.”
Pleasure products purveyors also have taken it upon themselves to promote sex positivity to consumers of today and the future.
“By creating sex toys that don’t focus on just internal pleasure and come in a range of shapes, all with the intention of creating pleasure no matter what you enjoy, Love Not War is trying to change this knowledge gap and encourage pleasure as the sole purpose for using our toys,” Ranscombe said. “We aim to teach our customers that to love yourself is to know yourself, physically, mentally, emotionally and sexually.”
In addition to unique sex toy shapes and tech innovation that are inviting to shoppers, adult retailers also help to promote the destigmatization of adult products. “I think pleasure products that perform well and look beautiful make it easier for these conversations to take place,” Evolved Novelties’ Houtenbos said. “Retail shops on and offline make it fun to look for toys without any stigma whatsoever.”
Education has become a top priority for B2C retailers selling sexual wellness products in Europe, Sananes said, noting the range of self-produced content.
“We’ve noticed a big increase in the number of educational blogs, podcasts, YouTube channels, IG events, etc., that are generated by the retailers and brands,” she said.
As long as mainstream media continues to play a vital role in the acceptance of sexual wellness products, its sellers will continue to keep the conversation in the spotlight.
“We are so proud to have contributed to the industry’s move towards the mainstream,” Net 1 on 1 Wholesale’s Gonzalez said. “In the last five years we had the privilege to work with big magazines on various features and we even started supplying retail chains and websites that wouldn’t have been associated with sex toys before, but now see pleasure as part of one’s health and well-being.”
As the host of a TV show in Italy, Welcomax’s Massimo Bonera says that he regularly discusses eroticism and sexuality with the help of guests that include porn stars, sexologists and other professionals in the sector.
“This is to ensure that we provide correct information about pleasure to the consumer,” he said.
WOW Tech’s Rief said that the company also will continue along its mission to promote sexual wellness and masturbation.
“It is proven that sexual pleasure has a lot of benefits for our physical and mental health and we want to show this — that it is something completely normal and nothing to be ashamed of,” she said. “We do this by creating an open, shame-free dialogue about these topics and we invite everyone who wants to join in.”
With increasing attention from mainstream media, the pleasure products industry is seeing more entrepreneurs venturing into the space.
“The market value is also growing and it is becoming increasingly interesting for investors,” Fun Factory’s Jordis Meise said. “Yet, the topic is still far from being considered ‘mainstream.’ We can see this especially through media censorship, which is a daily reminder of the lack of sex-positivity, and the education that still needs to happen.”
The European market for pleasure products shares a lot in common with its counterparts in other large markets. The past year and a half leveled the playing field even more as pleasure products brands and retailers across the globe shared in their struggle to overcome the challenges of the pandemic. Luckily, they also overcame them together by quickly adapting the way they do business. The European market may continue to experience the effects of Brexit and the pandemic. However, as part of the global industry, the community is sure to continue to build it up.
