“Prior to making the switch, our website offered DVDs in 37 categories, one of which happened to be gay,” XRentDVD General Manager Vincent Sorvino told XBIZ. “Customers had to find what they wanted among 2,600-plus titles. Now that there are two entry points — two faces to the site, really — gay customers can find what they want more easily.”
While XRentDVD had offered gay videos in the past, Sorvino said gay customers, who account for 10-15 percent of the site’s sales, had to surf through the site’s straight DVDs to get to them, and even then, there was no way to find a particular type of content.
By creating a separate portal for gay product, the company hopes to take advantage of adult entertainment’s most important sales technique: niche marketing.
XRentDVD’s gay section is segmented into 31 categories. Some, such as amateur, match those found in the site’s straight section, but Sorvino said fans also now will find categories unique to the gay market, including Bareback, Bears, Collegiate, Cruising, Daddies, Hung, Jocks, Leather, Pre-Condom, Prison, Str8 Guys, Twinks, Uncut and Uniforms.
The site has boosted its gay offerings to 2,500 titles, added a Top 100 gay list and will discount new gay releases 15 percent. Traffic coming from gay-oriented sites also will be automatically directed to the gay portal. The next step, Sorvino said, will be improving its affiliate program with a focus on bringing in more affiliates from the gay side of the adult Internet.
Since gay features tend to carry a higher price tag than their straight counterparts, XRentDVD also launched a new subscription plan called XRentDVD Premium Preferred.
“We have a rental plan called XRentDVD Preferred that works like Netflix, where there are no late fees or due date, and a flat monthly fee,” Sorvino said. “Since gay DVDs have a higher price point, we launched the Premium plan specifically for gay customers so they also could take advantage of a flat fee.”
XRentDVD is promoting the new portal with an advertising campaign on JRLChartsOnline, a gay adult industry news and resource site. The company also is advertising with the 1-800 Gay Live in the Flesh tour, which is co-sponsored by Chi Chi LaRue’s Channel 1 releasing, with LaRue and Rascal Video exclusives hosting parties in 17 cities during May and June.