2018 is widely recognized by industry insiders as the pivotal turning year for the online adult supplies market in China, and the most prominent change of the whole industry lies in the strategic layout acceleration of mainstream e-commerce giants and the explosive growth of female-oriented adult wellness product consumption. For a long time in the past, the public and even many industry practitioners stereotyped adult toys and intimate supplies as exclusive consumer goods for male groups, resulting in the long-term neglect of the female intimate self-care track by most brands and retailers, and the female adult products market remained in a dormant state for many years.
This market situation was completely broken in 2018. Leading Chinese Internet and e-commerce enterprises officially stepped into the segmented intimate wellness consumption track one after another. NetEase independently launched its self-developed original adult wellness brand named Chunfeng, focusing on young consumer groups aged 18-35, and launched multiple offline temporary pop-up stores in first-tier cities to popularize the concept of intimate self-pleasure. At the same time, Hema, the offline new retail brand under Alibaba Group, specially launched the exclusive “Hormone” commodity channel, which was the first independent classified channel focusing on adult intimate supplies in its product system, breaking the previous category restriction dominated by fresh daily necessities. In addition, Tmall, JD and other mainstream shopping platforms also optimized the classification of adult product sections, enriched the SKUs of female intimate care products, and adopted anonymous packaging and confidential logistics to eliminate users’ purchase concerns.
The positive layout of e-commerce platforms directly stimulated the blowout of market consumption. According to the official release of the 2018 Tmall Sexual Wellness Industry Report, the overall transaction volume of online adult supplies increased by 100% year-on-year, among which the sales of female-oriented adult toys, private care accessories, low-sensitivity lubricants and exclusive couple intimate goods for women soared by 400%. The surging consumption data fully reflects the positive change of contemporary female consumption concepts: modern female consumers have abandoned traditional conservative prejudices, and gradually regarded intimate self-care as an indispensable part of personal physical health and emotional adjustment. Industry forecasts indicate that the female adult wellness segment will continue to maintain double-digit growth in the next few years, and personalized, safe and minimalist female self-care intimate products will become the core development direction of the entire e-commerce adult supplies industry.
