Feature Articles
Multipurpose Products Take Center Stage as Pleasure Brands Face Headwinds in Europe
As 2025 unfolds, the European pleasure industry finds itself balancing between resilience and recalibration. After riding high on customer demand during the pandemic, the sector is now adjusting to more cautious customer behavior, global geopolitical tensions and shifting retail strategies.
WIA Profile: Sara Gaffoor
Though it may seem surprising to outsiders, industry veterans are well acquainted with the self-esteem, personal growth and rewarding career achievements that can come with a job in the sex toy space.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A Retailer's Road Map for First-Timers' Anal August
Anal August offers a prime opportunity for brands and stores to capture new customers and drive growth in a category that’s gaining mainstream momentum. As consumer interest in anal play continues to rise, now is the time to meet first-time buyers where they are, with approachable products, trusted education and a clear path to pleasure.
Optimizing Your Leadership Through Wellness Practices
For many of us, 2025 has proved intensely stressful — and we’re still only halfway through the year. In times like these, it may seem counterintuitive or even irresponsible to talk about seeking pleasure. Yet pleasure, presence, joy and connection can help you return to a mental and physical state that allows you to face and handle stressors.
Chastity Play Is Trending: Why It Should Be in Your Marketing Strategy
From chastity fetishes to power play, erotic control — once considered an esoteric niche within the world of BDSM — is now entering the mainstream. Google searches for “chastity cages,” “chastity fetish” and “orgasm denial” have exploded over the past year, with interest especially high for beginner-friendly models.
A Look at Adult Retail's Role in Community Care
In the adult retail industry, we focus on empowerment, exploration and connection. We connect people with products that can transform their relationships with their bodies, with their partners and with themselves.
A Deep Dive Into Key Trends Shaping Pleasure Products
In 2025, the pleasure industry is evolving in intentional ways. Rather than racing toward newness for novelty’s sake, brands are reassessing everything from shape and function to what price intended shoppers can afford.
WIA Profile: Jia Jeng
Modern branding is all about storytelling — and Jia Jeng certainly knows how to tell an authentic, perspective-shifting tale. As brand manager for ID Lubricants, Jeng applies her creative talent to shaping the long-established company’s public image in a way that aligns with her own vision for an ethical future.
Spicerack Market Offers Indie Brands a Launching Pad
Spicerack Market is an ecommerce platform with the heart of an artisan crafter and the soul of a kinkster. On the website, independent sex toy makers, lingerie seamstresses and kink gear craftspeople can set up a personalized shop to sell their handmade wares, unhindered by censorship or bans on adult products.
Strategies to Bring Pleasure Brands Into the Spotlight
Every brand dreams about landing a feature in The New York Times or Men’s Health — and pleasure brands are no exception. After all, mainstream media coverage isn’t just a vanity milestone. It builds trust, attracts new audiences and opens doors to connecting with retailers, partnerships, and investors.