Sex sells…especially online and late at night.
While same-day delivery platforms like DoorDash and Gopuff have been a hit for a variety of categories like grocery and convenience items, the approach lends itself especially well to sexual wellness.
Indeed, given the growth of the category, sexual wellness brands Hello Cake and PlusOne and emergency contraception brand Cadence OTC are investing heavily in these channels. In terms of what consumers are shopping for, devices, lubricants, condoms and emergency contraception are among the most popular products.
The reason? This form of shopping addresses all of the barriers that come along with sexual wellness, including making the products more accessible, providing a more discreet way to purchase and offering fast delivery in the moment.
“Using on-demand delivery for sexual wellness has become an everyday part of people’s lives,” said DoorDash consumer communications manager and consumer trends expert Cristen Milliner. “We’re trying to make sexual wellness as easy to shop for as ordering an iced coffee, groceries for dinner or your local takeout.”
As they expand their sexual wellness assortment, these on-demand platforms are experiencing significant growth in the category.
“We’re seeing sexual wellness category growth outpacing total health growth and sexual wellness has grown double digits year-over-year,” said Gopuff vice president of merchandising Carly Bickerstaff.
Meanwhile, DoorDash has experienced 45 percent growth in the category. Similarly, sexual wellness brands, including PlusOne and Hello Cake, are reporting double-digit growth on these platforms.
Hello Cake Water Based Lube
Courtesy of Hello Cake
While major cities were early adopters of these platforms, experts say that the growth in sexual wellness is happening across the United States now.
“Earlier this year, we were looking into orders for condoms, lubes and vibrators, to see what states are ordering the most of that, and Utah was the top one,” said Milliner.
This sustained growth can be attributed to the accessibility and ease these platforms provide to consumers when shopping the category.
“We’re seeing that discreetness, so customers are able to get products delivered to their door without having to shop an aisle or ask somebody to unlock an item that’s either behind glass or behind spider wraps,” said Chloe Asperheim, director of retail sales for Hello Cake. “It unlocks that new type of customer that doesn’t want to actually stand in an aisle, but can have somebody else do the shopping for them.”
These platforms are also beneficial for brands to test out new products before launching in wider retail. It’s also proven successful; as per Bickerstaff, the bestselling items on Gopuff in the category were added within the last eight months.
Unlike traditional retailers who approach the category from a slightly more discreet angle, delivery platforms are investing heavily in sexual wellness.
“On these delivery platforms, we are not gated,” said Beacon Wellness Brands chief executive officer Maria Warrington, noting PlusOne’s products are normally featured on the first page of the personal care section. “You can type in the word vibrator and find vibrators.”
Furthermore, during high seasons, like Valentine’s Day, platforms are creating special bundles with products like vibrators and chocolates to highlight the offering. DoorDash also recently partnered with adult entertainment store Hustler Hollywood to expand its assortment.
Platforms and brands report additional high seasons, aside from Valentine’s Day, including “cuffing season” from October through February, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and as expected, late nights and weekends.
Cadence OTC Morning After Pill
Courtesy of Cadence OTC
“The uptick on Friday and Saturday is remarkable. There’s at least 5x [growth] on Friday and Saturday,” said Cadence OTC chief executive officer and cofounder Samantha Miller. “I would say late night shopping is the most common time to shop.”
It’s not just sexual wellness that is seeing an uptick on consumers’ weekend and late night shopping habits. When consumers shop for sexual wellness on delivery platforms, other categories see an uptick. Oral care items, in particular, are often added to carts. Data from DoorDash shows that “toothbrush and toothpaste orders climb nearly 30 percent between 5-to-9 p.m. on Thursdays through Saturdays, then spike over 10 percent after midnight.” Additionally, purchases for items like sheets, triple A batteries, chocolate truffles, ovulation sticks, mints and massage oils also see an uptick.
With this continued growth, brands are heavily investing in these platforms by working directly with their teams and hiring employees to focus on this channel specifically.
“We look at it as a core part of our business, just based on the growth that we’ve seen,” said Asperheim. “We definitely are going to continue to invest in them. We’re going to launch new innovation [with them].”
Warrington added: “It’s going to continue to be a significant part of our growth. We have created this distribution sector to be a new channel for us, so [we are] focused with a sales team and a marketing team to continue to learn about what this channel can can do, as well as align our product development and marketing activations to support digital and online.”
However, brand founders say some of these platforms require expansion across the U.S. to meet consumer demand in underserved areas and a bit more sophistication to meet the standards of traditional retail.
“Frequently, some of these warehouses are out of stock, and they don’t know it,” said Miller, noting this comes from platforms that own their own warehouses, not traditional retailers that are available on delivery services. “We’re trying to fill in their gap by hiring somebody on our end to probably use artificial intelligence to monitor their warehouse.”
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