Dorcel has been a pioneering brand in the adult industry for more than 40 years. Founded by Marc Dorcel in 1979, the company initially found success in adult film. In 2006, Dorcel added retail operations to its roster with the opening of its first Dorcel Store. Today, the brick-and-mortar chain includes 20 stores throughout France, and Dorcel sex toys and accessories are carried by retailers worldwide. Over the last 15 years, the company’s retail division has seen notable growth and now generates a significant percentage of overall sales.
Grégory Dorcel, the current CEO and son of the brand’s founder, recently discussed the company's retail success with XBIZ and provided a sneak peek of exciting new changes on the horizon.
Our philosophy is quite important, and it is to develop a high-end product that will be kinky and explicitly for sex, but always elegant.
“Fourteen years ago, we launched our retail division and we have seen growth mainly in the last six to seven years. At the end of this year, 50% of our turnover will be made with content, and the other half will be made with sexual product distribution.”
How did this European company with roots in adult film position itself to outpace its core revenue source with sex toys? Grégory Dorcel believes that Dorcel’s impressive retail accomplishments stem from his father’s initial vision.
According to Grégory, Marc Dorcel’s commitment to cultivating premium erotic experiences fueled the company’s longevity. From the very beginning, Marc Dorcel’s productions embraced an elegance rarely seen in X-rated media. These films became known for showcasing beautifully furnished sets and high-class visual aesthetics alongside hardcore action. This unique balance of sophistication and eroticism drew wide audiences eager for more. Grégory Dorcel joined the company in 1998 and took over the reins as CEO in 2003. He was at the helm of Dorcel's 2006 pivot into retail.
“We decided to enter this market with the same philosophy as we had with our content,” he said. “Our philosophy is quite important, and it is to develop a high-end product that will be kinky and explicitly for sex, but always elegant. We wanted to make it acceptable and accessible.”
Deliberate slow entry into brick-and-mortar allowed for fine-tuning and thorough assessments of unfulfilled consumer needs.
“Sex shops for large audiences did not exist in France. It was mainly low-quality sex shops at the time or boudoir shops made for women only. There was no place for everybody — for women, men, couples, etc. So we, as experts on these kinds of products, decided to develop a concept accessible to everybody. We developed this concept, launched the first shop and it was successful. The first five, six years of the network, we developed quite slowly because of tests, and in order to improve the concept and to better understand the public expectation.”
In 2010, the company applied the same strategy to the launch of Dorcel pleasure products, which are produced by Lovely Planet. Beginning with just a few core products, the catalog has grown to over 200 items, including toys, accessories, lubes, lingerie and more.
Dorcel’s retail division reaches well beyond its France-based stores.
Dorcel explains, “More than 70% of our B2B activity is from outside of France, and France is at least 30% or so. Sixty percent of our B2C activity is in France because we take care of distribution directly to the public. In the U.S., Canada, Germany, U.K. and so on, we are in partnership with retailers and distributors who are well established in the domestic market. The goal for us is to have our product distributed everywhere in the world. In some countries, like China and Belgium, we will focus also on developing our own distribution to the public, but in other countries, it will be made through domestic distributors and retailers.”
The company saw an uptick in ecommerce sales during the pandemic shutdown, plus a marked change in consumer habits. For Dorcel, this translated to a lasting surge in revenue.
“During the shutdown, we had an increase of a little bit more than 100% of sales. Of course, our shops were closed. But what was very surprising was that when we reopened the shops, during the first two to three months, we had a 70% increase of sales. Now, we are quite stable at a 40% increase.”
Dorcel explains, “So what's clear is that the user needs changed with COVID. People focused a little bit more on their well-being and sexual well-being is part of this. I think that it helped us, of course. Our job is to provide pleasure. And it's good for the public because they took care a little bit more of themselves.”
Grégory Dorcel is channeling that momentum into Dorcel’s next strategic move toward retail expansion. While offering quality-driven elegant products will always be the brand’s focus, Dorcel has recently announced a major change. To remain “in tune with the times and sexuality,” the company is rolling out updates to its brand identity and positioning for 2022.
According to the company, this reimaging is “a new brand that praises sexuality to be lived as a liberated, singular, happy but always conscious adventure. A new brand that will focus on content, pleasure accessories, lingerie and any other product that will delight your sexuality.”
The rebrand will accompany Dorcel’s expansion into the Chinese market in early 2022, which includes an ecommerce partnership with Alibaba. Additionally, the company will concentrate on continued growth in Europe, the U.S. and Canada.
Dorcel’s day-to-day operations are much different than what they were four decades ago at the company's inception. While still a purveyor of adult films and a pioneer in distribution methods, the company is also now a player in the pleasure products market. Grégory Dorcel believes Dorcel's repeated wins are a direct result of adhering to the mission his father set forth many years ago: “to bring fantasy and pleasure to a large audience without taboo in a high-end, premium fashion.”
