Friday 31st October is once again upon us, yet today’s variation of Halloween is somewhat more advanced than the traditional trick n’ treating we’ve come to know, and love.
Matilda Rose Moir
In fact, the emphasis placed on Halloween has increased substantially over the last decade, and the spook-tacular event is fast becoming a key annual focal point for multiple retail brands; joining the ranks with big players, such as Valentine’s Day, Black Friday and Christmas.
With an estimated $10.1 billion being spent in the US alone over Halloween, we sat down with Christina Weaver, Global Affiliate Marketing Manager from online adult retailer, Lovehoney, to talk all things sexy! And the benefits of using Halloween as a springboard for revenue.
Lovehoney is an online Global retailer that specializes in selling sex toys, lingerie and erotic gifts. The brand was first launched in 2002 by colleagues and friends Neal Slateford and Richard Longhurst, who wanted to challenge societies view on sex toys as pornographic – setting out to create a more accessible, inclusive and approachable way to buy lingerie and erotic products on the internet. Their tagline is ‘the sexual happiness people’ and they are one of the World’s biggest online adult retailer, and a leader in the UK.
Halloween
Whilst seasonal periods such as Valentine’s Day and Christmas are huge revenue drivers for Lovehoney, Halloween is a real marker on the calendar for the start of their ‘crazy busy’ festive season. In fact, taking a deep dive into their customer research, Lovehoney discovered that 6/10 adults (in the US) celebrate Halloween, of which 50% wear and/or purchase Halloween-related costumes. As one of the largest online retailers for erotic lingerie and Halloween costumes, Lovehoney see their sales spike substantially in the two weeks leading up to October 31st – with a huge focus on fantasy costumes and themed lingerie. Be sure to check out their ‘wet-look’ Halloween best seller…
Self-Love & Singles Day
Tailoring their messaging to support their target demographic, Lovehoney are big advocates for self love and pleasure as well as couple-centric marketing. Alongside classic seasonal periods such as Valentine’s Day and Halloween, Lovehoney also views Singles Day (11th November) as a huge retail opportunity for their brand, whilst serving and supporting their ‘self-love’ narrative. In fact, certain research indicates that Singles Day drives the same, if not more revenue than Black Friday. Keep your eyes peeled for titillating offers across the Lovehoney website this November 11th…
Lingerie & Costumery
Despite mainly selling ‘bedroom’ lingerie, Lovehoney try to use seasonal events such as Halloween to demonstrate how their lingerie can be repurposed from underwear to outerwear – mixing and matching to get multiple uses out of one product. Where possible they try to help their consumers as much as possible, even running Get The Look banners/ads across social and display to show consumers how they can match certain products together to achieve a more ‘pop-culture’, outerwear look.
Bypassing Competitors
Every Halloween we see a rise in brands taking average objects and making them sexy (sexy cat, sexy officer or even sexy traffic warden) which means an increase in competition for Lovehoney. To bypass competitors, Lovehoney chooses to focus specifically on the quality of their products, using Google Shopping as a main channel so that consumers can see their products alongside those from rival brands – hoping that the quality will speak for itself. Additionally, recognizing that 62% of UK consumers go straight to Amazon for their product search, Lovehoney do advertise on the platform as a means of generating awareness, with the aim of guiding prospective buyers to their own website to complete a purchase. Lovehoney rely on their UX, consumer care and ‘Lovehoney touch’ to compete with the likes of Amazon.
Inclusive Marketing
With an ethos characterized by body confidence and self-happiness, consumer inclusivity is of paramount importance to Lovehoney – and this is really channelled in their outputs. Seasonality aside, Lovehoney ensures that their products consistently appeal to a wide and diverse audience, including but not limited to bespoke plus-size ranges.