opinion

How COVID Restrictions Are Unleashing New Retail Opportunities

How COVID Restrictions Are Unleashing New Retail Opportunities

One thing about COVID is that we have all gone through each phase of it together, whether we wanted to or not. Watching retail stores combat their way through existence during these tough times has been an eye-opening and awe-inspiring experience. Oh, the things I have learned …

We are much more agile than we think or claim to be. So many rules existed before COVID that just do not apply anymore. It feels different for all of us, but some of these are arbitrary rules that we put into place that in hindsight may have affected us more negatively than positively.

Think about some of the rules or policies you have in your store that may not serve your culture or mission anymore.

We always initially set rules with good intentions, to protect our business and our customers, but also ourselves. It has felt like the absence of these everyday little rules we have in place, the arbitrary boundaries, has freed us to grow and develop where we would have otherwise not explored. Watching businesses experience booming online growth while they remain closed is amazing. Employees are shifting into new or temporary roles to be fluid with business needs as we cope and strategize to get through COVID-impacted retail life. Think about some of the rules or policies you have in your store that may not serve your culture or mission anymore. Giving up rules does not mean losing structure — look at it from a perspective that enables you to reallocate those resources.

Policing policies and enforcing rules takes time and energy and can often result in making people feel devalued. If you have a loss and prevention team leader, enable another employee to lead a team morale program. Try to balance things that feel restrictive with empowering, leadership-creating opportunities in your store or industry place of work. Think about if you were training for the first day as a new employee. If your day were spent learning what “not to do,” it would leave you in a much different mindset than a day spent talking about employee development and growth to achieve business goals. Both scenarios are technically seeking the same result — a better bottom line. How these different approaches improve that bottom line is up to the employees in either scenario. Be the positive change you can be while COVID allows us to spend the time and resources thinking outside the box!

It is a lot of work to convey to people that you are smiling under that mask. I visited a small store this past weekend that reminded me that it is the people and their energy that make the store. This store was clearly low on inventory and did not have any other customers. But the energy made me feel like I was hanging with friends. The music was up, they were so kind about mentioning the rules, and then they just swept you away into their world of good energy and the flow of some normal conversation.

Was it earth-shattering? Honestly a little bit, yes. It was the most familial, VIP-feeling shopping experience that I have experienced in eight months. I did not feel like we could not express our personalities or were restricted by hospital-grade rules. This store had managed to humanize what would have otherwise been an incredibly quiet, awkward shopping experience. I spent a lot of money in a store that did not have a lot of inventory because of the people, not the stuff. It is exhausting to be in sales right now, but just remember that you create your environment. Does it feel like a clinic in your store, or does it feel like a clean, re-organized version of your old favorite? Mandatory signage does not have to take away from store appeal, make it fun and think of it as additional branding opportunities. Try to think from the perspective of a first-time customer and let that guide you and your energy on the sales floor.

In the adult industry, we have so much potential to help people love themselves and their bodies. COVID has made self-love a front-and-center health topic. Our industry and its brick-and-mortar or online sites are better equipped than anyone to be the liaison between people and the tools they need to be the best version of themselves. We have the products and knowledge to create personal confidence, teach much-needed sex education and tips to spice up people's lives, and finally the sales ability to gain a customer’s trust when it comes to vulnerable or sensitive topics. These are a trifecta of attributes for a super-sale and bringing a long-term customer to your store’s VIP list.

Essentially, I am suggesting a focus on creating a retail environment during COVID that reflects positive energy and brings some humanity to an otherwise sterile situation. Sound tough? Nothing is tough if you have the right people around you. That is the most important thing that I have learned during COVID — the right people mean everything. My customers, coworkers, colleagues, “my industry people” mean so much to me. Take some extra time to keep connected with your people; it’s worth the investment.

And finally in a COVID world where you can be anyone behind that mask, be kind.

Danielle Seerley, aka “America’s Sex Toy Sweetheart,” is the senior sales executive for Shibari Wands and Voodoo Toys.

Related:  

Copyright © 2025 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

profile

Zhe Founder Karyn Elizabeth Creates Gender-Affirming Lingerie Fashion

For years, the mainstream lingerie market has been shaped by narrow beauty standards and cisnormativity, with little room for gender diversity. Most lingerie is designed to fit cisgender female bodies, while trans people are often forced to go DIY with uncomfortable solutions like pantyhose, duct tape and ill-fitting shapewear.

Naima Karp ·
profile

Neon Coyotes Sets the Tone for Trendiness With Bespoke Leather Kink Wear

If your kink wear can’t readily make the leap from a dark BDSM dungeon to a sunny, mimosa-fueled brunch, you haven’t yet been initiated into the cult of the Neon Coyotes — fresh, leather kink wear brand transforming restraints into runway-ready art.

Colleen Godin ·
opinion

Why It's Time for Adult Retail to Embrace AI

In the late 1980s, I was working in the rental car business. My first company didn’t have a single computer. Everything — contracts, inventory, employee records — was done by hand. If you wanted a report, you dug through paper files and crunched numbers on a calculator. It was tedious, but it was all we knew.

Zondre Watson ·
opinion

What Retailers Gain by Partnering With Family-Run Brands

In an age increasingly dominated by corporate consolidation and faceless supply chains, choosing to work with a family-owned and operated business can offer retailers a depth of value that goes far beyond pricing and product margins.

Briana Watkins ·
opinion

How the 'Back Massager' Vibrator Became the World's Most Versatile Sex Toy

Wand vibrators are once again having a pop culture moment. Recently, Harry Styles expanded his lifestyle brand, Pleasing, by introducing a “Pleasing Yourself” double-sided wand vibrator developed in collaboration with sex educator Zoë Ligon.

Naima Karp ·
opinion

Strategic Retail Buying in a Shifting Pleasure Economy

Retail buying has never been a static job, but recent volatility in pricing, caused by shifting tariffs, global import costs and freight variations, has demanded a new level of agility for adult industry buyers and managers. As business expenses rise, so does the pressure to optimize the return on every product.

Rin Musick ·
profile

WIA Profile: Cynthia Wielgosz Elliott

The past year has been a challenging one for the team at premier lubricant manufacturer Sliquid. Late in 2024, company co-founder Dean Elliott passed away after battling cancer, though he managed to flash his wide, signature grin until the very end.

Women in Adult ·
opinion

Michigan's Intimate Ideas Offers Playful Retail Setting for Wide Range of Shoppers

Jerry Manis, the regional manager of Intimate Ideas’ Michigan stores, never planned on working in adult retail — but he says it’s turned out to be a surprisingly rewarding gig.

Quinton Bellamie ·
opinion

Kraig McGee Blends Family Values, Creative Background at TAF Distributing

Walk into any Adam & Eve store in the Mountain West region of the U.S. and you’ve likely stumbled into a TAF Distributing outfit. Owned by industry veteran Kraig McGee Jr. and staffed by his closest family members, McGee’s 35 TAF-operated stores span 13 states, from woodsy Idaho to scenic Utah and well beyond.

Colleen Godwin ·
opinion

How Pleasure Brands Can Ethically Market to LGBTQ+ Communities

Every June, the rainbow floodgates open. Suddenly, pleasure products are “Pride-themed,” companies change their logos and brands rush to show just how inclusive they are — at least for 30 days. But as a queer, nonbinary marketing strategist who works with adult brands year-round, I’m here to say: Rainbow dildos alone are not progress. They’re often just noise.

Hail Groo ·
Show More