HOUSTON — April Lampert, Hot Octopuss' global head of sales, delivered a rousing presentation today to a room full of Adam & Eve franchise store owners and operators.
Lampert, who won the inaugural WIA Woman of the Year award at the XBIZ Exec Awards in 2016, began her career in the pleasure products industry by working at a sex-positive boutique in Santa Cruz, Calif.
“I was the store manager and while I didn’t even own a vibrator, I loved talking about sex,” she said.
Lampert then began working on the business-to-business side as the sales director for Fun Factory where during her six-and-a-half years with the company, she quadrupled the company’s sales.
“That experience took me to stores all over the world — Brazil, Chile, Germany, Canada — you name it,” she said. “I’ve seen a lot of things and have heard a lot of success stories. I’ve seen what works in stores and what’s been a failure.”
Lampert joined Hot Octopuss last January as the global head of sales, where she’s currently involved in all facets of the company, including product development. She’s also the co-host of the “Shameless Sex” podcast, which currently has more than 200,000 subscribers in 75 countries.
“[Shameless Sex] is a tool to help people unmask their shame, better their relationships and just overall their lives,” she said.
At the top of Lampert’s list of suggestions for retailers is to offer quality. While there will always be “those $20 shoppers,” customers are willing to invest in quality products.
“People are also looking for versatility,” Lampert said. “They’re looking for products that have multiple functions.”
Discreet, elegant products have become all the rage these days, with customers looking for giftable intimate products. As shoppers become more comfortable with pleasure products, the packaging that they are seeking should be classy enough to be able to gift to one’s mother, Lampert says.
Current consumer trends and statistics point to a growing “she-conomy,” where women are making the majority of buying decisions.
“Eighty-five percent of the buying decisions are made by women,” Lampert said.
Baby boomers also is a growing demographic that has spending power. Noting that almost half of the U.S. population is made up of baby boomers, Lampert attributed more than 70 percent of the nation’s disposable income to them.
“And what are they spending on? Lifestyle and recreational pursuits. That sounds like sex and more sex to me,” she said.
Lampert’s recipe for success for retailers is for them to look to vendors as extended members of their team.
“Talk to your vendors and ask what they have to offer you,” she said. “They have marketing teams, they have people that can help you with your marketing. Strategize with them.”
Once retailers execute their plans, Lampert says it’s important to analyze the results. She also suggests retailers should analyze their customer demographic to find out how to best target them.
“Offer a gift with purchase for filling out a survey, have your staff take their own secret poll of your customers’ gender and age,” she said. “Do this for a month and find out who is shopping at your store. This contributes to customer satisfaction. If customers come in and like what they see, they’ll come back and buy more.”
Lampert also stressed the importance of having testers for customers to check out product details that may be significant to them. Retail store staff also is essential to the success of the company. Lampert says they must be well educated on products and sex. To incentivize staff, Lampert suggests giving them free products to try, or even making them work for them by rewarding them with products based on sales made.
While several manufacturers offer product training, Lampert also suggested other alternatives for keeping costs down by conducting product trainings via Skype or recording them to share with staff.
In addition to knowledgeable staff, retail stores can increase their sales by offering free goods with purchase. Lampert also suggested running promos on a monthly basis. Using the examples of Anal August or Masturbation May, Lampert says there are creative ways to influence customers’ shopping.
By offering such promos and with the support of educated retail staff, Lampert says she’s witnessed sales increase by 119 percent. Another tip that Lampert shared was to take advantage of customers’ thirst for knowledge by hosting workshops, ladies nights and other special events that offer education.
“People might not buy then but they will come back and buy later,” she said, encouraging retailers to think outside of the box to come up with events that would appeal to potential customers.
Lampert asked retailers to ponder on which stores appeal to them and why. Factors such as how a store smells or is laid out can contribute to offering a shopping experience that will keep shoppers coming back.
The Adam & Eve Stores franchise meeting continues through Friday, with an awards show set for tomorrow night.
