Sexual Wellness Market - Global Outlook & Forecast 2023-2028

MARKET OVERVIEW

The global sexual wellness market size was valued at USD 35.22 billion in 2022 and is expected to reach USD 54.20 billion by 2028, growing at a CAGR of 7.45% during the forecast period. The ongoing creation of a new sexual culture devoid of the stigma attached to the concept of sex is witnessing the exploration of sexual fantasies, driving the change in attitudes, and linking sexual wellness to a healthy lifestyle. These products have garnered extensive media exposure and a supportive environment encouraging new players to enter the sexual wellness market and serve customer needs and requirements. The sexual wellness market had passed the phase when sexual wellness products used to be sold in down-market shops. Recently, there has been a remarkable shift in consumer interest and attitude. Conversations on sexual fantasies and pleasure have rapidly amplified and have begun to come to the forefront. This factor has created a phenomenal shift in consumer expectations and acceptability of sexual wellness products in the mainstream market.

Sexual wellness refers to products and services that support sexual health, pleasure, and well-being. In other terms, sexual wellness is an approach toward sexual health and encourages well-being related to human sexuality. Sexual wellness also depends on the union of mental and physical well-being as per an individual’s sexuality. Products in the sexual wellness market focus on enhancing the experience among end-users and checking their sexual health. These products include condoms, lubricants, sensual lingerie, sex toys, exotic costumes, herbal supplements, and other allied products. They are also known to enhance sexual pleasure and induce an element of adventure during sexual intercourse. The sexual wellness market is driven by increasing consumer demand for products and services that support a healthy and fulfilling sex life and changing attitudes towards sexuality and sexual health.

PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES KEEP THE MANUFACTURERS AT THE FOREFRONT

To keep manufacturers at the forefront, it's crucial to implement effective promotional strategies that showcase their products, enhance brand visibility, and attract potential customers. 

• Large-scale condom and other sexual wellness product promotion have enabled the government and vendors to reach the population, especially in the South region, where there is a huge burden of HIV/STI infections and unmet contraceptive needs.
• Vendors are likely to adopt multiple marketing and promotional channels, with social media expected to make the most significant impact.
• Vendors in the sexual wellness market widely use media platforms for multiple marketing, such as community outreach, advertisements, and social media.
• Adapting promotion through mass media channels and understanding the demographical and behavioral changes enable vendors to reach widespread audiences.
• Promotional activities targeting the young population in all regions by focusing on social norms, beliefs, and condom use behavior are expected to boost the sales and distribution of sexual wellness products in the sexual wellness market.

MARKET TRENDS & OPPORTUNITIES

The Rising Shift Toward Female Condoms
The sexual wellness market has long remained male-dominated and required a glance by the vendors to refocus their growth strategies. Women have remained objectified in advertisements, campaigns, promotional gimmicks, and packaging strategies. The global sexual wellness market is witnessing significant growth in focus on women customers. For instance, in condoms for women, market vendors in the U.S. are looking to attract investors. This is because the FDA has made the much-awaited transition of female condoms from Class III to Class II, which enables the product to be sold over the counter without a doctor’s prescription. This transition even led to the female condom company (FC2) rebranding their condom product version by the name of FC2 internal condom. Other locations worldwide, such as Sub-Saharan Africa, China, India, and Europe, have immense potential but lag due to various factors. Female condoms can be strategically well-positioned to leverage and build additional demand and thereby grow brand awareness substantially in the coming years

Other products, such as exotic lingerie and sex toys, are also witnessing an increased attention shift toward women customers. Several designs and start-ups have focused on catering to women customers in the industry. Sex toy vendors are also evolving in age and creating bold and more transparent designs that target women. Several start-ups engaging in delivering sex toys for the sexual wellness market are realizing the fact that women today want to have a healthy wellness quotient instead of just being objectified for mere products in the market. This essence of realizing the urge to fulfill the needs and desires of women tends to create a market opportunity for various vendors in the market.

The Evolvement of Gender-Neutral Tone in the Market
One of the key growth drivers for the global sexual wellness market is persistently evolving gender-neutral products for a wide array of customers. Over the last couple of years, the market perception has witnessed variations from being a male-centric one to more of a unisex one. An unserved section of the audience has remained less vocal about their sex lives; thus, a few brands have developed offerings apt for such an audience. Other factors driving the adoption of gender-neutral sexual wellness products include easy-to-use packaging, enhanced ingredients, and friendly content. Brands lay constant emphasis on human-focused design for convenient usage across various end-users. For instance, Maude delivers completely silicone-based vibrators. The usage of silicone is attributed to the fact that the gay community, which is the target customer for the brand (Maude), does not prefer using water-based lubes.

INDUSTRY RESTRAINTS

Lack of Investor Confidence in Potential Startups
One of the major challenges for the global sexual wellness market is the lack of confidence displayed by institutional investors in high-growth potential start-up brands. Over the years, several new brands have emerged worldwide with quality sexual wellness products. Despite being a profitable investment opportunity, investors step back due to legal complications and cultural and moral challenges. Cultural and social taboos surrounding the market are the major challenge faced by investors. Emerging countries in APAC, such as India, Malaysia, the Philippines, and China, are still considered to have societal mindsets confined to cultural prohibitions. Despite having two of the world's most populous countries (China and India), the APAC region faces the challenge of cultural and social taboos. Thus, brands are continuously urged to put in more effort to attract investors and even help them regain lost confidence.

SEGMENTATION INSIGHTS

INSIGHTS BY PRODUCT
The global sexual wellness market is characterized by high demand from the sex toys and condom segment. Amongst these, condoms accounted for more than 27% market share. Further, vibrators or dildos, massagers, rubber penis, real dolls, sexual games, and bondage gear are the prominent sex toys in the industry. Historically, men were the primary customers of sex toys worldwide. Recently, the market is witnessing a shift in this trend as women become sexually more empowered. There is also a growing demand for both shared and solo sex toys among end-users. Sex toy manufacturers and retailers capitalize on this growing interest by offering bundled products and “starter kits” for interested customers. All these factors contributed to the growth of sex toys in the market. Vendors are catering to the demand for condoms by delivering variants of sizes, shapes, thicknesses, flavors, prices, and packaging, among others. The perception of using condoms has changed from obscene to more wellness-centric. While several factors contribute to the decline in the growth rate, one significant reason is the continuously decreasing fertility rates. Using sexual protection measures or contraceptives gains prominence with the emergence of STDs and STIs, preventing the spread of diseases and potentially limiting birth rates.

INSIGHT BY GENDER
The global sexual wellness market is categorized into the male and female segments based on the diverse needs of both genders. The male segment accounts for a larger industry share. Other high revenue-generating products, such as condoms and sex toys, have a huge demand among male customers in the industry. The condom product category, largely dominated by men owing to diverse factors, tends to be a lucrative revenue-generating one for vendors to target. It is accepted that both men and women have their specific needs & desires. Thus, the need for appropriate marketing for a range of sexual wellness products catering to such gender requirements is highly prioritized in the sexual wellness market.

INSIGHT BY DISTRIBUTION CHANNEL
Delivery channels for a commodity are the path followed by the title of the products from the manufacturers to final customers. There is also a vast distance between manufacturers and customers, and the void can be filled across delivery networks. Sexual wellness products are mainly sold through retail distribution channels such as specialty stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, mass-market players, drug stores or pharmacies, and grocery stores. Sexual wellness products are also available to end-users through online OEM's e-commerce portals and online direct-to-consumer stores such as Amazon, Adam & Eve online stores, eBay, Ann Summers, Alibaba, and AliExpress.

GEOGRAPHICAL ANALYSIS

APAC was the largest revenue contributor to the global sexual wellness market, accounting for a share of around 39% in 2022. The region was led by China, where sexual wellness products such as sex toys, condoms, and sexual lubricants are witnessing a surge in demand. Europe followed APAC in the global sexual wellness market in 2022. However, Europe will likely gain market share from the APAC region during the forecast period. The industry in Europe is characterized by high demand for premium sex toys and condoms along with water-based and silicone-based sexual lubricants. However, the stringent government regulations will hinder industry growth in the region.

North America represents some of the most advanced economies in the world. It is a major industry for contraceptives and sexual wellness products due to a properly formulated sex education program and an efficient distribution network. The penetration of sexual wellness products in North America remains high, and the market revenue has been increasing steadily. Moreover, the U.S. dominated the sexual wellness market in North America. The industry's growth is likely due to the innovation and introduction of new product formats. Key new entrants in the global sexual wellness market will likely be US-based.

Further, there is currently low penetration of sexual wellness products in many Middle Eastern, Latin American, and African countries. Moreover, the commercial sales of sexual wellness products in the region have not peaked yet. Thus, the industry demand and penetration are low in countries in these regions. However, with many vendors expanding their operations in these countries to enhance their market share, the demand for these products will grow during the forecast period.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

The global sexual wellness market is highly fragmented, with several top vendors. However, the industry witnesses consolidation, albeit at a slow pace. Some prominent players in the global sexual wellness market are LIfeStyles, Church & Dwight, Diamond Products, Reckitt Benckiser Group, Okamoto Industries, Karex Berhad, and Doc Johnson.

The competitive scenario in the global sexual wellness market is currently intensifying. The rapidly changing technological environment could adversely affect vendors as customers expect continual innovations and upgrades. The present scenario forces vendors to redefine their unique value proposition to achieve a strong industry presence. The market is moderately fragmented, with many global players providing sexual lubricants with high functionalities and designs. However, local vendors provide products with similar specifications at low prices. This has intensified price wars among vendors. The market has the threat of infiltration with low-quality products. Major vendors continually compete for the leading position in the market, with occasional competition coming from other local vendors.

Although diversified global and regional vendors characterize the market, international players would increase their footprint; regional vendors would find it increasingly difficult to compete with them. The competition will be based solely on features such as quality, quantity, technology, services, innovation, and price. The industry competition is expected to intensify further with increased product/service extensions, technological innovations, and M&A activities. Arizton believes that international players would grow inorganically by acquiring regional or local players in the future. Further, companies with better technical and financial resources can develop innovative products, which could threaten competitors' products and run their products non-competitive and even obsolete before recovering R&D and commercialization costs. Therefore, vendors must develop new technologies and remain up-to-date with upcoming technologies to have a competitive advantage over other vendors.