The sexual wellness industry (adult products industry) is a multi-billion dollar industry globally, and is expected to grow at a healthy rate, with several new product categories getting introduced. Products like condoms, lubricants, gels, erotic lingerie, massagers to adult toys, role play costumes, board games, bondage, etc. are part of the industry.
So where does the sexual wellness industry fit in India?
While the world is coming up with newer products (its possible to have sex with a Robot now), but is India also a part of this sexual revolution?
Despite the challenges (and the fact that sex is still a taboo in certain sections of the society), the good news is that we’re slowly getting there.
Indian Society is Opening Up
The country that gave ‘Kama Sutra’ to the world and preached the importance of sex for a healthy and holistic life centuries back, is gradually changing (after tuning ‘coy’ itself). While India may not come up in the Google searches for sex toys, we are becoming aware of the industry and are using some of these products that can spice up our relationships (and make it more pleasurable).
Did you know that there are online stores in India that sell adult products? You can checkout adult toy sites like AdultProductsIndia.com, 24funtoys, Thatspersonal.com, IMBesharam, it’spleaZure etc. And these sites are doing quite well in terms of sales growth, indicating the increase in demand and awareness among users.
India.s online sex toys industry has been growing at a good pace in the past few years, and is expected to show a robust growth in the coming years, according to a report by the Economic Times.
Reasons for Growth of Sexual Wellness Industry in India
Here are the reasons for growth of the sexual wellness industry in India:
- There’s a change in our attitude towards sex
- There’s active participation of women in conversations regarding sexual wellness
- Acceptance of the fact that sex is necessary for good health and for relationships
- Slow realisation that sexual pleasure is different from porn
- Convenience and privacy offered by online stores, availability of international brands (more trusted) has also helped the industry in India (what Indians see abroad in sex stores can now be bought within India)
Some credit for the popularity of adult toys in India can also be attributed to former global adult star Sunny Leone, who got associated with imbesharam.com, an adult lifestyle web-store. Sunny Leone is now here to stay in Bollywood with several films to her credit, has bagged several endorsements, and is a part of the Indian glamour circuit.
Industry Poised for Growth in India
These indicators augurs well for the industry (emergence of new players, availability of international brands, and a more mature consumer market). Until now, you could buy such products only from the underground markets (Palika Bazar in Delhi; VT, Colaba, Bandra Market in Mumbai) and shady alleys.
Erotic lingerie, condoms, lubricants sell the most in India, and will see a healthy demand in the coming years in India.
Few Challenges Remain
While a lot of people are openly talking about sex in India, they’re still fewer (percentage-wise). And one of the reasons that the sexual wellness industry has done in India is because these products can be ordered online (offers privacy).
Having said that certain legal restrictions on distribution, marketing, and sales of these products still remain and will hinder the growth, especially to reach offline consumers – thus restricting the market growth.
Foreign sexual wellness brand to launch ‘Adult Furniture’ in India
Atlanta-based sexual wellness brand Liberator will soon be launching adult furniture in India, through an exclusive partnership with Pune-based brand Bliss Basket.
Worldwide, Liberator is known for their bedroom adventure gear that includes products like sex furniture, positioning systems, pleasure objects, and sensual and intimate accessories.
Liberator products have also featured in movies like Meet the Fockers and Burn after Reading, and television shows like The Real Housewives of Atlanta and Dr Oz.
For the India market, Liberator adult furniture will mainly include positioning pillows, wedge and ramp combos, large couch and lounger sets.
“Not to be confused with sex toys, Liberator gear fuses functional design with the highest quality materials, and in turn, can transform an ordinary bedroom into a sensual and erotic environment. The products employ angles, elevations, curves, textures and motion to help people, including those with back injuries and other medical conditions, find comfortable ways to connect,” Louis Friedman, CEO at Liberator.
Sexual wellness is a growing segment with more and more people believing that sexual health and sensual pleasure are essential to a well-lived life. Consumer demand for sexual health and wellness products is growing rapidly in India too. Liberator plans to create a positive impact on the Indian market too.
Bliss Basket has been witnessing impressive growth year-on-year, with the highest demand coming from cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Kolkata.
Animated documentary teaches everything about the Clitoris in 3 minutes
Clitoris is the only organ in women that exists solely for pleasure. Learn more about the purpose of the clitoris through this cute animated documentary made by Canadian filmmaker Lori Malepart-Traversy.
“The clitoris being a character makes it easier to watch. It’s almost like a story, to follow the clitoris character going through all these adventures,” Lori.
This video depicts the various understandings of the clitoris throughout history, and how it became slandered.
Masturbation scenes in Movies boost sale of sex toys for women
One of the talking points in the movies Veere Di Wedding and Lust Stories was the masturbation scenes of their female characters, essayed by Swara Bhasker and Kiara Advani respectively.
In Veere Di Wedding, Swara Bhasker uses a sex toy to pleasure herself in the absence of her husband, Karan Johar’s short film in Lust Stories had two similar scenes – one where Neha Dhupia using a vibrator in school library, the other was of Kiara Advani.
It seems these two movies have inspired a certain section of women in India to experiment with sex toys. A report on International Business Times India suggests that the sale of sex toys for Indian women increased by about 44% in the month of June for an online store called IMBesharam.com (both Veere Di Wedding and Lust Stories released in that very month).
The report states, “According to the data, although the female traffic on the website increased by just 1 percent, their spending rose by 44 percent. Interestingly, highest sales for this month from female traffic on the website happened from June 15, right after the release of Lust Stories.”
The portal further adds that Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai, Pune and New Delhi are the top five cities in India that recorded the highest sales in sex toys for women in June on the said website.
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