LONDON – Buying intimate products should be as normal as buying food or clothes. Unfortunately, taboos remain around sex, and awkwardly shopping for sex products is far too common.
Enter Zaboo, an innovative adult product discovery and shopping experience. Its developers call it “the world’s first ‘aphrodisiapp.’” The London-based startup recently raised two seed rounds of funding to start building its brand and increase inventory of curated content and products.
Zaboo inspires people to embrace sexual discovery, enabling an intimate smartphone shopping experience. Users discover items based on how they are feeling — kinky, playful, sensual, etc. The feature can help shoppers find products tailored just for them and unleash desires, just like an aphrodisiac.
“We’re excited by the early engagement and feedback we’ve had testing Zaboo,” Chief Executive Officer Ben Lambert said. “Customers love how easy, quick and fun it is to explore new things based on how they are feeling and buy products straight from their phone.”
Though officially released on Oct. 4, feedback during beta-testing was overwhelmingly positive, according to Lambert. Millennials and Gen-Xers want to shop on mobile devices, he said, citing a report from online fashion destination ASOS saying 70 percent of its sales are made on mobile platforms.
Similar figures for the adult products marketplace could be astronomical. The global sex toy market currently is valued around U.S. $25 billion, but Forbes predicts the figure will increase to $50 billion by 2020.
Zaboo features:
- A curated selection of sex toys.
- Swipable product screens: Swipe right to add to basket or left to ignore.
- Simple, quick checkout on PayPal with discreet delivery.
- Info about each product presented on a “swivel card.”
“It’s 2017. Walking into a back-alley adult shop or hiding your screen as you browse online isn’t the future,” said Hermione Way, Zaboo’s head of marketing and communications. “With our app, the most desirable products on the market and the best information are available whenever you feel in the mood.
“User testing has been incredibly fun and exciting,” she added. “It’s an eye opener and a great conversation starter when with friends. There’s no need for users to sign up, so personal information is kept private while you browse and discover.”
Lambert added, “With the likes of Tinder and Happn making casual hookups more mainstream, it was only a matter of time before an app came along to help you create your own Fifty Shades of Grey shopping experience.”
Zaboo is available free for iOS. Download it from ZabooApp.com.
