Developing new technology, evolving existing technology, and keeping your sex toys intriguing and exciting are all vital in this industry. Pumping out the same toys every few months is the opposite of what keeps industry-leading brands on top. There’s no point in creating new toys with all the bells, whistles and thrusting functions if your customer base is looking for something completely different. Understanding the wants and needs of your target market (and appealing to those demands) is key to a business becoming more profitable.
In order to achieve this, you need to ask yourself these questions: Who exactly is buying your products? Why are they buying them? What specifically do they want your products to do? And what in their sex lives can your products help to change or improve? Once you begin to answer these questions, you’ll find how you can suit the demands of your customers with new technology.
Brands’ responses to the COVID outbreak is a perfect example of how you can use your consumers’ needs to your advantage to improve upon your existing product line or create new technology outright, ensuring more sales even when the world is at a standstill. With everyone in lockdown, unable to leave their houses or see their loved ones, a large proportion of people turned to sex toys as a means to satisfy their sexual desires without a partner present. Any couple that didn’t live together automatically became long-distance, meaning they had to find creative solutions from their separate bedrooms. This is when the Bluetooth breakthrough began. Companies developed toys that could be controlled through apps or via Bluetooth, giving couples more control over their sex lives. Brands noticed the needs of their consumers and found new and innovative ways to appeal to (and profit from) the unprecedented boom in demand for sex toys.
But what now? Is there a way to apply the techniques learned during COVID-19 in a post-COVID world? How have these needs changed (if at all)? What’s the main societal factor that affects a large majority of consumers when making a purchase?
Whether you’re looking through a customer or business lens, the major issue currently affecting every purchasing decision is simple: rising costs. Since COVID-19, the price of nearly everything has inflated massively, and this has affected everyone: from the consumer, to the small business owner, to large corporations. With the cost of groceries, rent and gas constantly on the rise, dropping hundreds of dollars on luxury sex toys seems unrealistic, borderline insane…or does it? Customers don’t necessarily want to spend less, but they’re certainly looking for the most value for their money.
But what does value look like in today’s sex toy industry? Of course, a high-quality toy with a long life span immediately comes to mind, but it might come as a surprise to learn it’s more complicated than that. Present-day consumers are inclined to spend more money on one toy with multiple uses, rather than one toy that serves a singular purpose, ultimately getting more variety for less. Previously, multi-functional toys used to look like dual vibes or even a bullet that can be used both vaginally and anally. However, customers are now looking for more diversity and variation in their toys.
Couples’ toys are on the rise as people are looking to please themselves as well as their partner while not spending a fortune on a collection that only serves one purpose, either during sex or just during foreplay. If one product can cover more bases, why wouldn’t you choose that one over buying two separate products? Even toys meant for one person can be multi-functional; and it’s these toys that are experiencing the highest levels of popularity.
Similarly, toys with interchangeable parts are a great way to make sure your toys, whether as a manufacturer or as a retailer, add more bang to the customer’s buck. Here at Nobü, the Nöla bullet with different switchable sleeves – one rabbit and one slender g-spot probe – is the perfect example of a toy that offers customers a variety of sensations in one small package. Even the Rëno, with its various clitoral stimulating heads, gives the customer that extra value. Men’s toys are also following this trend as well: many masturbators now include suction, vibration and even make use of AI and audio-syncing technology.
Want to try this but you’re not quite sure where to start? Kits are a fantastic way to give customers the variety that they’re looking for while not breaking the bank. Whether a simple beginner’s BDSM kit with cuffs, blindfold and tickler or a couples’ toy kit with a toy for him, and one for her, customers perceive these kits to be better value. Our 12-piece Luxury Surprise Box has received overwhelmingly positive feedback from stores and customers alike as they include a myriad of various rechargeable silicone toys as well as high-quality BDSM accessories for a fraction of the price of buying them all individually. Consumers only need to be interested in half of those toys to make it worth their hard-earned cash. When done properly, kits are the perfect way to persuade customers that your toys offer value for money.
Overall, developing new and evolved technology for your sex toys is only effective if this new technology appeals to your customer base. Therefore, understanding the needs of your consumers is the most vital aspect of creating new toys. Currently, the continually rising cost of living has made people more careful when it comes to spending money. If you can prove to them that your products are of good value for their price, customers are far more than willing to spend more upfront, especially if they’re multifunctional or bundled as a package.
Emma Wilson is a newcomer to the adult toys industry, writing fun product descriptions and articles for Nobü Toys.
