As lockdowns dragged on during the novel coronavirus pandemic, global sex toy sales have hovered at an all-time high. As far back as early March, sex toy retailers began noting that they were seeing an uptick in sales when their customers realized they’d be spending a whole lot more time at home. The Daily Mail and Rolling Stone both reported that the trend continued through March. Then, in late April, The Guardian and Forbes both noted that sex toy sales in New Zealand had tripled, and that sales figures remained high elsewhere in the world, as well.
Now, as May draws to a close and many Americans have been quarantined for nearly three months, Florida-based “sex toys superstore” Jack and Jill Adult has announced, “Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the US, in February 2020, the company’s online sales have increased by 300 percent.” The company has five stories in Florida, but sells nationwide via their website.
“The fact that many people sit at home and rarely go outside, while many entertainment facilities are closed, is a major reason for this phenomenon,” explained Jack and Jill Adult’s chief information officer, Brian Sanderson. “The seclusion at homes following stay-at-home orders causes many couples to seek new ways to improve their sex lives.”
“On the other hand, due to the fear of getting infected with coronavirus, many singles avoid physical contact and dating, and as a result do not have sex with partners,” Sanderson continued. “This leads to more self-pleasure, and in this situation sex toys play an important role.”
But it’s not just the pleasure products themselves that people are interested in. Sanderson also says that people are looking for tips on how to use them. “We also see much more traffic on our blog, which includes many articles with tips for better sex life,” Sanderson revealed. “Many people seem to spend a lot of time trying to improve their sex life when their lives are completely changed.”
With so many people taking an interest in maximizing their pleasure, Sanderson believes that sex toys may be entering a renaissance, even after the pandemic subsides. “I believe that even when the pandemic goes away, we will see more use of sex toys,” he said, “because this period is largely breaking the taboo of using sex toys among people who are more conservative by nature. I think that using sex toys will become more mainstream.”
We certainly hope so! It would be a damn shame if, once the world recovers from Covid-19, all those sex toys were tossed out—along with the profits the adult toy industry is currently enjoying!
