Fresh designs, modern touch turning sex toys into bedroom staples

In a country that is largely sexually repressed, it is fairly easy to find and purchase sexual pleasure products in India—offline, on e-commerce marketplaces, on D2C brand websites, or even on quick commerce.

A quick search will give you 15 websites to choose from in the first 20 results. The first 20 results will also take you to a very helpful Quora page that answers this question: What is the safest website to buy sex toys for women in India?

For the longest time, sexual pleasure products have been sold in the garb of “body massagers”. E-commerce websites continue to label some intimate massagers as generic massagers. A quick search for women’s massagers reveals an array of phallic-looking objects that have the added feature of vibration. Iykyk, right? 

Until now, supply has matched demand; the change the sector is witnessing is coming from new brands that are catering to young consumers who are willing to experiment in their bedrooms—alone or with partners. 

Bedroom matters

Largely, sexual pleasure products are sold in a clandestine manner, both online and offline, with some street hawkers displaying drab, discoloured phallic objects next to torches on pavements. Elevating the look and feel, and experience of buying and receiving said products is the most significant contribution of new brands.  

“We didn't want to create a crass sex toy brand and become a niche, deviant brand. We wanted to successfully normalise the idea of sexual wellness in India and bring it out of the shadows by using the right type of language and design,” says Anushka Gupta, who co-founded MyMuse with her husband Sahil Gupta in 2021. 

With the pandemic raging in the country, the Gupta couple hunkered down during lockdowns and launched MyMuse with four products—a massage oil, a lubricant, an aromatherapy candle, and a massager. 

Overwhelming consumers with multiple options might not be the right approach for a market where people are only now starting on their self-exploration journey. Three years on, MyMuse has seven female massagers, four male massagers, and still just one lubricant. 

About a year ago, sexual health and wellness communicator Leeza Mangaldas (creating content since 2017), launched another brand, Leezu’s, which has a total of seven massagers and two lubes. Mangaldas launched in 2023 with one massager each for men and women. 

Massagers are priced in the range of Rs 2,000-3,500 and a massager combo could cost anywhere from Rs 4,000-8,000. The $1 billion sexual health and wellness category includes condoms, which have a market size of only $210 million, intimate hygiene products for women, and a large unorganised sector for adult pleasure products. 

Sahil views fence sitters as a promising opportunity in this market. Perhaps, they have been waiting for visually-appealing products that can aid their self-discovery and pleasure their partners too.

Janhavi Iyer, VP brand strategy at Gozoop, a digital ad agency, has studied the sexual health and wellness category to service her client LoveDepot—an online store for self-pleasure products. She says, “A lot of purchases in the category are driven by men for partnered or even solo play. Women who are aware of the pleasure gap actively seek solutions to meet their own needs.” 

In fact, women are almost always delighted by the joy of experiencing an orgasm with the aid of a friendly massager. “After years of thinking my pleasure was difficult and mysterious, that orgasms were too much to ask for and that I’d be better off faking it, a toy showed me that they could reliably be achieved within minutes, every single time,” says Mangaldas about the ease and consistency with which women can experience pleasure. 

You know India’s market for sexual pleasure products is serious business when TTK Healthcare, the brand behind Skore condoms, launches a platform exclusively for intimate wellness. Arjun Siva, senior deputy general manager, digital & e-commerce, CPD at TTK Healthcare, says that in the two years since Love Depot was launched, he has seen a gradual shift in demand from purely metro and tier-1 cities to tier-2 cities and beyond. 

“When we started off, metros and tier-1 cities dominated our revenue numbers. Now we see that tier-1 cities account for 55% of our revenue, while the rest of it is from tier-2 and beyond. Our top cities continue to be Bangalore and Delhi-NCR. Over the last few months, Lucknow has been the rising star, as the fastest-growing market,” Siva observes. 

Gayatri Sapru, a consumer research expert, says India’s queer community has also found reliable options for intimacy products thanks to the proliferation of sexual health and wellness brands. Sapru is the founder of Folk Frequency, an outfit that studies culture and trends to aid brands in decision-making.  

Sales in the category are largely online; however, some brands are also available on quick-commerce, and MyMuse is stocked at pharmacies in the Delhi airport. Brands use visuals and content that is social media-friendly to drive curiosity and serve Instagram ads to those who fall in their consumer cohort. 

Sex toys tend to be one time purchases. So these brands sell naughty merchandise, products like lubes and candles and games couples can play in their bedrooms. 

Sexy content

Siva in fact says that a key contributor to people proactively searching for pleasure products has been the availability of “good educational content in the sexual wellness space, from relatable Indian creators that has made more people aware of this category and normalised pleasure products for people.” 

Both Mangaldas and the Guptas, among many others, use their brands and platforms to inform consumers about sexual pleasure—especially the awkward stuff. 

MyMuse surveys people to glean insights into how Indians really think about sex because most information on the internet has a Western context. The brand also creates resources about sexual health and intimacy that’s easy to follow and incorporates current dating and relationship trends. 

Mangaldas says about the importance of information: The privacy and ease of the internet, social media, and e-commerce—in terms of facilitating access to information, conversations, resources, and tools—has certainly helped.

Gozoop’s Iyer feels that pop culture too has played an important role. “Mainstream narratives from films and OTT go a long way in destigmatising conversation, with more content being created by women for women that drives open acknowledgement of the pleasure gap and even actors being willing to talk about love, intimacy, and relationships,” she says. 

Touch and feel 

Discreet delivery and aesthetic packaging and design have helped reduce the ‘ick factor’ associated with sex toys. For instance, take the colours the products come in: pink, powder blue, pastel yellow, emerald green, sea foam, inky blue, etc. New brands stay away from the typical colours associated with sex toys—hot pinks, reds, and blacks or aggressive designs—and are attempting to create new category codes.  

Unboxing a massager from MyMuse is similar to opening a box containing a smartphone. The founders say that this was the intention all along. However, the real challenge with selling these products lies in making users feel empowered and not ashamed and dirty after buying the product. 

As Sahil puts it, there are only a few categories in which the consumer feels uncomfortable after receiving the product. The team at MyMuse decided to delight the consumer when they bought the product so that they don’t feel like they are indulging in a “wrong, sinful, shameful” act. 

Siva of Love Depot also wants brands to steer clear of shocking users with imagery. “Creating shock may get you eyeballs in the short run, but it is counter-productive for the acceptance of the category. Our vision is to build a place where people discuss pleasure gadgets, like they talk about the latest gaming console or smartwatch,” he says.  

The catch

The explosion in the sexual health and wellness category is no doubt promising and demonstrates that Indians are enjoying aided orgasms more now, but this is not indicative of India becoming accepting of adult pleasure. Moreover, the logistics don’t allow the use of sex toys as much either.

Consumer research expert, Gayatri Sapru, points out most Indian homes don’t even have private spaces where individuals or couples can use a sex toy. People sleep in halls, share bedrooms with family—space is the first hurdle. 

The category is exclusively for the top 1% of Indian households, she says, calling it an elite category. The size of India’s population makes even the 1% a sizable number, but it is worth remembering that sex toys still live in the shadows—just fancy shadows. 

Lastly, one look at all the brands operating in the market will demonstrate that the products look almost identical. The curse of Chinese imports plagues the category. Sapru says that the next frontier for brands will be to design and differentiate their products themselves instead of importing the cookie-cutter versions.