Industry Trends at New Retail Forum

During the event experts of the adult goods industry made speeches. Our reporters visited the conference and are ready to share their impressions.

A small cozy room accommodated about fifty listeners who were ready to exchange experiences and information. From reliable sources we learned that there were no random people among the audience , only those who were really interested in this topic were present. This determined the atmosphere in the hall.

Alexandra Denisova the head of the “Adult Products” category at OZON, spoke about the dynamics of sales of adult goods in the OZON.ru online store which currently accounts for 20% of the total number of products.

Maxim Agarev the director of the Health category of the Beru marketplace shared information about market research and the share of 18+ products in comparison with other categories. He talked about why buying products for adults online is preferable for most customers.

Karen Nazaretyan, Womanizer ’s expert for Eastern Europe market, provided interesting statistics which allows to compare the Russian and European markets. In particular, he noted a growing trend in consumers’ interest in high-tech devices.

Elena Galetskaya (Sex Education Center «Secrets», Condom-Shop.Ru adult online hypermarket) talked about how to work with the audience via social networks and opinion leaders. The main idea of ​​her report: people are the key to success! More and more consumers are listening to the opinions of bloggers and experts, preferring to find out their point of view before making a purchase.

Pavel Koshkin, the director of the «Point of Love» franchising retail network, shared information on the relationship between online and offline stores using the example of the «Point of Love» company. He talked about what you need to consider when opening an offline store, and how to avoid failure at the same time.

Dmitry Korobitsyn, the founder of the Happiness Provider company, paid special attention to ethical issues in our industry, and also spoke about the history of the development of the adult goods industry in Russia since 1992. He also shared Internet links where you can find up-to-date information on world news and trends.

Konstantin Maslov, commercial director of Goods.ru, spoke about the experience of selling adult products in the «Beauty and Health» category of Goods.ru website. He noted a threefold increase in the assortment and a 4-fold increase in sales over a short period of 3 months.

All speakers agree that the global trend is the inclusion of 18+ products in the range of large trading floors. Representatives of retail stores are worried about how they can live in a new reality, how to survive in a competitive environment with such retail giants. However, the speakers insist that everyone can find their place and niche. Marketplaces themselves are looking for new win-win schemes of work and interaction with stores.

In general, the conference was interesting. Separately, I want to note excellent organization of the event, strict adherence to timing and competent moderation.

We thank all speakers for their professionalism and really relevant and interesting message topics. We hope that such conferences will be included in other major business events.