A woman stands at your counter. She dabs a drop of something clear and nearly odorless on her wrist, brings it to her nose and something in her posture changes before she even leaves the store. A few feet away, a man turns a small bottle over in his hand, reading the label twice and wondering whether it might help him feel noticed again by a longtime partner.
\n \n \nIf you have been following this series, you know I have been climbing a ladder. First, I asked an AI model to do a task. Then I got tired of explaining the task every time, so I wrote a skill, a reusable set of instructions, and put it in a project folder with everything the task needed.
\n \n \nWhen sales slow, retailers understandably start looking for ways to tighten the budget. Every expense gets another look, and travel and trade show attendance can quickly end up on the list of things to cut.
\n \n \nFor too long, accessibility in adult retail has been treated as a side conversation. When it appears at all, it is often tucked away in a hard-to-find website category, framed as a special accommodation or treated as a medical add-on rather than a legitimate pleasure category. That approach misses the point.
\n \n \nWith rising manufacturing costs and living expenses, manufacturers’ suggested retail price (MSRP) no longer aligns with the actual costs of operating a business. This situation calls for a discussion about the current industry pricing landscape, potential adjustments, and how companies can make an impact.
\n \n \nThe most difficult part of managing social media for pleasure brands is my archnemesis: the algorithm. I am sure most people who work in sexual wellness would agree. We are constantly navigating reduced reach, content removal and, in some cases, account bans. That can make connecting with customers feel impossible, but it is not.
\n \n \nLatin America's Spanish-speaking markets represent an exciting growth opportunity for the pleasure products industry. Across the region, conversations about sexual wellness are becoming more open, specialty retailers are expanding their assortments and shoppers are seeking products that reflect their lifestyles and values.
\n \n \nAdult businesses have never had access to every marketing tool available to mainstream brands. Platform rules, advertising restrictions and content policies can limit the options for sex toy manufacturers and retailers. Add a difficult economy and more cautious consumers, and relying on tactics that worked a few years ago may no longer be enough.
\n \n \nSomewhere in one of our stores, someone scanned a barcode into a quantity field. The number entered was 8,388,607. At $19.99 per unit, that made a single line item worth roughly $167 million. The number was so large that the import failed immediately.
\n \n \nEvery customer who walks into an adult store brings a different body, comfort level and set of needs. Retail staff already know how to ask the basics: Do you prefer vibration or suction? Are you using water-based or silicone lubricant? Do you have a latex allergy? What size are you comfortable with?
\n \n \nOne of the biggest opportunities in adult retail isn’t chasing the next trend. It’s recognizing the customers who are already walking through your door and making sure they feel they belong there.
\n \n \nThis topic might make some people uncomfortable: the kink industry has a predator problem, and it is not the one most people assume. It is not creeping in the shadows of underground dungeons or sketchy playrooms, but instead is out in the open, on your timeline, in your inbox, and within platforms and brands that have figured out that the BDSM aesthetics and lifestyle sell really well. The issue is that there is no education that follows it.
\n \n \nA little while back, one of our stores needed to restock a bullet, a dependable counter seller. The manager ordered six. We received 12 fishbowls, not six bullets. Twelve fishbowls.
\n \n \nTen years ago, anal play was seen as a niche within the pleasure industry, often hidden away or regarded as a novelty rather than a recognized part of sexual wellness. While many people were interested in exploring it, stigma, misinformation, and a lack of innovation kept it in the shadows. Now, that gap is starting to close. Research shows that anal intercourse is more common than before, with one U.S. study indicating that 36% of women and 44% of men aged 25 to 44 have tried heterosexual anal sex at some point.
\n \n \nEvery day, store owners, managers and sales associates help customers navigate products, answer questions, solve problems and find solutions that support intimacy, pleasure, confidence and overall sexual wellness.
\n \n \nFor years, fetish and BDSM products have occupied a complicated space in adult retail. They are often highly recognizable, visually compelling and culturally fascinating, yet easy for retailers and brands to underestimate.
\n \n \nWalk into almost any adult store today, and you can feel the industry in the middle of an upgrade. On one side, you still see the familiar wall of vibrators, strokers, bondage gear and lingerie. On the other, quietly expanding, is a growing sexual wellness category.
\n \n \nWe manage payroll across more than a dozen entities that operate on different schedules. Every pay period, someone had to log in to one portal, download reports, rename files, upload them to another system, and make sure everything matched correctly in QuickBooks.
\n \n \nI enjoy watching someone leave a fitting room feeling confident and standing a little taller. Their shoulders are squared, there’s a spark in their eyes and they see themselves in a new light. That moment also presents one of the simplest sales opportunities on the sales floor.
\n \n \nI spend a lot of time on adult ecommerce websites. Not just looking at the front end, but digging into what’s actually driving traffic, conversions and long-term growth. Here’s the reality: most adult brands are leaving money on the table.
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