Market

Confinement makes consumers take courage and seek sex toys. From March to May, 1 million vibrators were sold in Brazil.

Erotic goods market on the rise: social isolation trapped singles at home alone, separated some couples in different homes and condemned others to 24-hour socializing (Ricardo Martins from Gent/Wikimedia Commons)

Contrary to what was imagined at the beginning of the pandemic, during the quarantine , the consumer was willing to spend on superfluous and invest in pleasure. As the economies of Brazil and the world shrank, some sectors saw businesses linked to pleasurable experiences expand. In Brazil, so many wines , so many Porsches and so many sex toys have never been bought . According to a survey carried out by the MercadoErotico.Org portal, from March to May 2020, the number of vibrators sold in the country would have grown by 50%. The demand was so great that some models are out of stock.

The market was already hot. In 2019, according to this same survey, the revenue of the erotic sector in Brazil was close to R$ 2 billion. This does not include the pornographic film business. “The erotic market and the porn market are two completely different things”, says publicist Paula Aguiar, a member of the MercadoErotico.Org portal. “In Brazil, especially, they don't talk. In sex shops, less than one percent is porn.” The erotic sector, for years, has been seeking, and achieved, respectability. It deals mainly with the female audience, many married women who buy for the couple. To give you an idea, a strong trend at the moment is erotic products for the evangelical public. “They are mainly cosmetics”, says Paula. “Gel and lubricant, with a more discreet packaging, less perfume. Intt's In Heaven line, for example,

Social isolation trapped singles at home alone, separated some couples into different homes and condemned others to 24-hour socializing. “In the beginning, for many couples working from home it seemed interesting to have more time to be together”, says Paula. “Then the routine hit. The two of them 24 hours together, and with children… Many couples had a crisis. So much so that the number of divorces has gone up. But many others decided to look for ways to spice up the relationship”.

The phenomenon of the growth of the erotic market is repeated all over the world and the search is not only for vibrators, it includes all kinds of erotic items such as accessories, cosmetics, lingerie and costumes. “Manufacturers are working 24 hours a day to meet growing demand,” Violet Du, sales manager for China-based Libo Technology, told the South China Morning Post. According to her, the company had to increase the production line staff by 25% since February to handle orders from markets such as the American, French and Italian. Manufacturers and traders around the world report that the growth in demand has accompanied the growth of covid-19 cases and the tightening of social isolation measures.

As privacy is the lifeblood of the sex industry, numbers are not so easy to come by. However, there are illustrative growth cases. For example, according to an article in the British newspaper The Guardian, sales of the Adult Toy Megastore in New Zealand tripled when Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern declared the lockdown, and in Australia, sales by the same group doubled after the bars closed.

“In Brazil, we also feel a growth among the young public”, says Paula Aguiar. “An audience that used to go to clubs, used the app to arrange meetings and, suddenly, was forced to stay at home”. Another point in common in the behavior of the sector in the various markets around the world was the conquest of new consumers. People who never dared to buy a vibrator, for example, are taking courage. According to a survey released by the sex toys company USA Tracy's Dog, made with 877 anonymous people divided between the USA (47%), Europe (32%), Asia (13%) and Australia (8%), 62% responded who already have sex toys. Among those who didn't, 57% planned to buy them during the quarantine.

In Brazil, more than 1 million vibrators and consoles were sold from March to May, according to MercadoErótico.Org. By the end of August, that number could double. Married women between 25 and 35 years old were the ones who most searched for the item. According to Paula, the best-selling model was the bullet, a small and cheap vibrator (starts at R$30), which serves to stimulate the woman's clitoris and also the man's perineum. “The model accounts for 60% of sales”, says Paula. “Other models that sold well were the clit suckers, the penis-imitating vibrators, the cock ring and the penis strap”.

Launched relatively recently, the suckers are the star of the moment. They promise to reproduce the sensation of oral sex in women. “In a single day, I sold 30 Satisfyers (the most famous brand)”, says Maisa Pacheco, owner of the Sex Shop that bears her name. “It arrived and ended on the same day. I already had a waiting list. And it costs R$ 585. Now it's in short supply on the market. Vendors are promising next week. But there is a queue again.”

Maisa also saw the straight men, who had disappeared from her store when the porn market migrated to the internet and completely separated from the erotic, return. Penile masturbators were also highly sought after after the start of the quarantine. Some couples have also purchased vibrators that can be remotely controlled by apps. According to the American magazine Rolling Stones, the pandemic caused the technological sex toys to finally take off.

Maisa's store, which has been in the same store for almost 21 years, on the corner of Rua da Consolação and Avenida Paulista, in São Paulo, is an example of how the market reacted to the pandemic. “On March 19, when we had to close the doors, there was that sadness”, says Maisa. “When the governor extended the closing of the business for another 15 days, I thought the deal was over. But then customers started looking for me by email, whatsapp, wanting to buy. Then I called the girls from the store, who were at home, and set up a home office sales scheme. It was just me going to the store.