opinion

4 Tips for Retailers to Heat Up Summer Sales

4 Tips for Retailers to Heat Up Summer Sales

Ah, summer. The weather starts to heat up and the kids are out of school and pleading to be entertained. This normally makes summer a relatively slow season for retailers. However, as temperatures rise, retailers can avoid the summertime blues with creativity, expertise and a summer-ready product selection. Here are four options that intimate product retailers can use to engage more customers during summer months.

1. Travel-Ready Products: Summer is traditionally when most people travel, and studies show that more than 50 percent of people admit they’re more likely to have sex while on vacation. Whether your customers are traveling to your store or using your store as a jumping off point, having a variety of intimate products that are compatible with travel is a sure bet.

Retailers displaying these toys accordingly can inspire shoppers with cool new ways to enhance pleasure during their summer months.

There are plenty of clever sexy items available to fulfill what summer shoppers are looking for. Some sex toys offer a travel-lock to avoid buzzing luggage incidents, while others are outright incognito and appear as makeup or everyday household items. There are even options that come with their own travel cases.

Most travelers agree that size matters when it comes to sex toys and traveling. Stocking smaller-sized products that are easily packable are key for consumers planning summer excursions.

2. Glass and Metal Toys: As days heat up consumers are looking for ways to cool down. Enter temperature-play toys.

While summer is a sexy time of year, many partners find the heat makes them avoid intimate body contact. Sex toys made with temperature-friendly materials offer a way to cool down and also heat things up. Glass and metal toys are perfect for frosty friskiness. Easily cooled, these temperature play toys can offer a chilling sensation of pleasure.

Many summer shoppers forget, or don’t know, about temperature-play options. Retailers displaying these toys accordingly can inspire shoppers with cool new ways to enhance pleasure during their summer months.

3. Whisper-Quiet and Waterproof Technology: Those summer months when the kids are at home can put a damper on noisy sex play. But, there are a lot of sex toy options that offer the quietest pleasure experiences. Orgasms are a great stress reliever, so shoppers should be able to enjoy them with a summer selection of silent sex toy choices.

Retailers can also capitalize on waterproof intimate products during summer. Not only perfect for sex play in the shower, summer warmth also exposes sex toys to all types of humid, moist environments and its best for shoppers to be offered products that are water-friendly.

4. Longer Days = Rechargeable Toys: We all enjoy those lengthy summer days where daylight seems to last forever. Sunlight increases vitamin D, serotonin and happy moods, and stimulates shoppers to extend pleasure time. According to Ashwini Nadkarni, M.D., psychiatrist at Harvard Medical School,  hot summer days spike our libidos. So, it seems natural that shoppers are looking for more adventure and sex toys that can keep up with longer sex play sessions more often.

Rechargeable sex toys are a perfect way to ensure the product lasts just as long as the action does. Shoppers can appreciate rechargeable items that can be ready when they are and can be recharged easily anywhere without having to locate fresh batteries.

Sunny Rodgers is the brand manager for Pipedream Products, Jimmyjane and Sir Richards.

Copyright © 2026 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBIZ is a trademark of Adnet Media.
Reproduction in whole or in part in any form or medium without express written permission is prohibited.

More Articles

opinion

5 Ways Pleasure Brands Can Maintain Social Media Visibility Beyond the Algorithm

The most difficult part of managing social media for pleasure brands is my archnemesis: the algorithm. I am sure most people who work in sexual wellness would agree. We are constantly navigating reduced reach, content removal and, in some cases, account bans. That can make connecting with customers feel impossible, but it is not.

Taylor Maness ·
profile

Verifymy's Emma Robert-Tissot on Putting People at the Heart of Online Safety

Warm, friendly and always happy to help, Emma Robert-Tissot has a gift for making even the most complex corners of online safety feel approachable.

Jackie Backman ·
profile

How Sexual Wellness Brands Can Use Emotional Marketing to Build Loyalty

Adult businesses have never had access to every marketing tool available to mainstream brands. Platform rules, advertising restrictions and content policies can limit the options for sex toy manufacturers and retailers. Add a difficult economy and more cautious consumers, and relying on tactics that worked a few years ago may no longer be enough.

Kate Kozlova ·
profile

WIA: Kristin Zuri-Godskind Draws on Deep Expertise to Elevate Sportsheets

After 18 years in the pleasure products industry, Kristin Zuri-Godskind has experienced the business from nearly every angle. Her career has taken her through retail, merchandising, management, distribution, sales, product education and manufacturing, giving her a perspective shaped as much by the sales floor as by the relationships she has built along the way.

Ariana Rodriguez ·
trends

Why Adult Retailers Need Better Training on Disability, Chronic Health

Every customer who walks into an adult store brings a different body, comfort level and set of needs. Retail staff already know how to ask the basics: Do you prefer vibration or suction? Are you using water-based or silicone lubricant? Do you have a latex allergy? What size are you comfortable with?

Mersy Love ·
profile

Anastasia's Bedroom Founder Chelsea Mani Bridges Ecommerce With Local Events

Chelsea Mani spends her weekends at local markets, where she displays an assortment of lingerie ranging from new lace bodysuits and silky robes to carefully sourced, cleaned and pressed vintage pieces. Passersby stop to examine the fabrics, ask questions and sometimes find themselves opening up unexpectedly.

Jackie Backman ·
profile

Staying Power: Justin Ross on Two Decades of Building Screaming O

Ironically, it was a single-use, disposable vibrating ring that became the foundation of The Screaming O, transforming a basic foil pouch into the launchpad for a pleasure-product brand that has endured for over two decades.

Ariana Rodriguez ·
profile

WIA: Nasstoys' Suzy Contreras Drives Sales With Personal Connection

Suzy Contreras' journey into the pleasure products industry has been steady and carefully cultivated. Across departments, accounts and nurtured relationships, Contreras has demonstrated commitment and passion at each step.

Ariana Rodriguez ·
profile

Hannah Tyer Reveals the Inspiration Behind 'Touch Therapy' Couples Card Game

Relationship therapist Hannah Tyer believes there's a better way to get to the heart and soul of your sexual differences, and she's crafted a deck of cards to show couples the way.

Colleen Godin ·
opinion

Retailer Strategies for Engaging Mature Shoppers

One of the biggest opportunities in adult retail isn’t chasing the next trend. It’s recognizing the customers who are already walking through your door and making sure they feel they belong there.

Rin Musick ·
Show More