AUCKLAND, New Zealand — New Zealand’s largest pleasure products retailer, AdultToyMegastore.co.nz (ATMS), has reported that sales of its products tripled around the time Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern decreed a lockdown of the island nation country, according to The Guardian.
Charlotte Graham-McLay for the Guardian explained that New Zealanders are permitted to leave their homes only to access essential services or take walks during the national shutdown "which began a fortnight ago and will remain in place for at least a further two weeks.”
According to the company, the mandatory self-confinement prompted a tripling of sex toy sales in the 48 hours before the lockdown was imposed on March 25.
"The prospect of a boring month indoors seemed to have prompted New Zealanders to stash adult products that they might not have tried before," the Guardian added.
ATMS spokesperson Emily Writes observed that all of their beginner ranges are popular. "It definitely looks like people are saying: 'I've got time, I might try something new,'" she said.
“Looking at what people were buying... it was all sex toys,” Writes continued. “It was like they were thinking, ‘We can’t go to bars, we can’t pick up, we can’t go on dates.’”
Other sales spikes included those of condoms, lubricants, menstrual cups, adult board games and sex toy cleaner.
ATMS also reported significant sales boosts in recent weeks, coinciding with major news announcements about the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand, Australia, and Britain.
According to The Guardian, ATMS was deemed an essential service by New Zealand’s government and permitted to continue operating during the shutdown because it also sells condoms and medical items.
Click here for the Daily Mail article.
