Lovehoney is a British business that sells sex toys, lingerie and erotic gifts on the Internet. Their tagline is "the sexual happiness people". In addition to retailing, Lovehoney has over 400 own brand products and does development and publicity. In 2014 the company was the focus of a television show entitled Frisky Business, which looked at their day-to-day operations.[2]
Lovehoney was founded in Bath, Somerset in 2002 by Richard Longhurst (former editor of .net magazine and PC Format) and Neal Slateford (former member of DNA). The company employs 230 people in the area, and is an official UK distributor of Durex products.
In 2009–10 Lovehoney had a turnover of £10.4 million and profits of £1.5 million[3] In 2010-11 it had a turnover of £13.4 million, and in 2011-12 it had a turnover of £16 million. In 2020-21, the turnover was 87.3 million.
Lovehoney launched its online store in 2002, operating from Richard Longhurst's bedroom. The next year Lovehoney moved into a small warehouse, and became a limited company.
Lovehoney developed its first product in 2005, a music-activated vibrator called iBuzz; and in 2006 Apple Inc. threatened to sue Lovehoney over the iBuzz.
In 2007, Lovehoney launched the world's first sex toy recycling scheme, called Rabbit Amnesty.
In 2009, Lovehoney announced the first Lovehoney Design A Sex Toy Competition. The winner of that competition was Trevor Murphy with the Sqweel Oral Sex Simulator. The Lovehoney Sqweel Oral Sex Simulator is the best selling oral sex simulation sex toy in the world. Lovehoney USA was launched to sell Lovehoney own brand products wholesale to the United States.
In 2011, Lovehoney expanded its warehouse and workforce[3] and the company is rebranded, with the cartoon mascot "Honey" being dropped and the tagline "the sexual happiness people" adopted. Lovehoney was featured in a Channel 4 documentary titled "More Sex Please, We're British" in 2012.[4] Also in 2012 – Lovehoney secured exclusive world rights outside the Americas to design, manufacture and sell adult pleasure products based on the Fifty Shades trilogy by E. L. James.[5]
In 2013, a Lovehoney advert was the first to say "sex toys" on UK TV.[6]
Lovehoney released television show "Frisky Business" in 2014, where viewers get an inside look into the Lovehoney business.[7]
In 2021, Lovehoney received the Queen's Award for Enterprise[8] (now known as the King's Awards for Enterprise), allowing it to use the Queen's Award emblem in marketing and on packaging for the following five years.
Also in 2021, Lovehoney underwent a consensual merger with WOW Tech to become Lovehoney Group,[9] and was later featured in Channel 4's Christmas-themed documentary titled "Naughty & Nice: Sex Toy Britain".[10]
Retail
Lovehoney has over 400 own brand products, including the Lovehoney Sqweel Oral Sex Simulator (the first winner of Lovehoney's Design A Sex Toy competition). Sub-brands owned by Lovehoney include BASIC Sex Toys, Bondage Boutique, Death By Orgasm, Pin Ups, Shag Factory, Swoon, VibraExciter and a range of sex toys developed with Tracey Cox.[citation needed]
Lovehoney Ltd holds the official license to design, manufacture and sell adult pleasure products based on the Fifty Shades trilogy by E. L. James. This includes the Fifty Shades of Grey Official Pleasure Collection and Fifty Shades of Grey Sensual Care Collection. Lovehoney also hold the official license to design, manufacture and sell adult pleasure products inspired by Bettie Page.[citation needed]
A sex toy is an object or device that is primarily used to facilitate sexual pleasure, such as a dildo, artificial vagina or vibrator. Many popular sex toys are designed to resemble human genitals, and may be vibrating or non-vibrating. The term sex toy can also include BDSM apparatus and sex furniture such as sex swings; however, it is not applied to items such as birth control, pornography, or condoms. Alternative terms for sex toy include adult toy and the dated euphemism marital aid. Marital aid also has a broader meaning and is applied to drugs and herbs marketed to enhance or prolong sex.
Trojan is a brand name of condoms and sexual lubricants manufactured by the Church & Dwight Company. Trojan condoms were started by Merle Leland Youngs in the 1910s after he moved to New York City. The major condom manufacturer before Youngs was Julius Schmid, who had made condoms from animal intestines starting in the 1880s.
Ann Summers is a British multinational retailer company specialising in sex toys and lingerie, with 80 high street stores in the UK, Ireland, and the Channel Islands. In 2000, Ann Summers acquired the Knickerbox brand, a label with an emphasis on more comfortable and feminine underwear, while the Ann Summers-labelled products tend to be more erotic in style. The chain had an annual turnover of £117.3 million in 2007–2008.
Good Vibrations is a sex-positive San Francisco-based corporation selling sex toys and other erotic products. It operates nine retail stores: seven in the San Francisco Bay Area, one in Brookline, Massachusetts, and one in Harvard Square; a mail-order business; an e-commerce website; a wholesale arm; and an erotic-video production company, Good Releasing. Formerly, it operated three publishing companies: Down There Press, Passion Press and Sexpositive Productions.
A vibrator, sometimes described as a massager, is a sex toy that is used on the body to produce pleasurable sexual stimulation. There are many different shapes and models of vibrators. Most modern vibrators contain an electric-powered device which pulsates or throbs. Vibrators can be used for both solo play and partnered play by one or more people. Devices exist to be used by couples to stimulate the genitals of both partners. They can be applied to erogenous zones, such as the vulva, vagina, penis, scrotum, or anus, for sexual stimulation, for the release of sexual frustration and to achieve orgasm. Vibrators may be recommended by sex therapists for women who have difficulty reaching orgasm through masturbation or intercourse.
A rabbit vibrator is a vibrating sex toy, usually made in the shape of a phallic shaft for vaginal stimulation with a clitoral stimulator attached to the shaft. The device's name is derived from the fact that the clitoral stimulator looks like a pair of rabbit ears. The first rabbit vibrator appeared on the market in 1984 and, along with the magic wand vibrator, is considered by Cosmopolitan magazine to be one of the classic sex toys.
A double penetration dildo or double dildo is a type of sex toy used for double penetration, the simultaneous entry of two body orifices at the same time, belonging to either one or two people. It is a dildo designed in the form of two penetrative stimulators that are either separate or fixed on a single shaft. Some double penetration dildos include a vibrating motor that allows them to be used as double penetration vibrators.
The Magic Wand aka the True Magic Wand, Magic Wand Original, Vibratex Magic Wand and Original Magic Wand) is an AC-powered wand vibrator. It was originally manufactured for relieving tension and relaxing sore muscles; however, it is most known for its use as a sex toy. Japanese company Hitachi listed the device for business in the United States in 1968. Sex educator Betty Dodson popularized its use as a vibrator and masturbation aid for women during the sex-positive movement in the late 1960s. It functions effectively as a clitoral vibrator, to bring females to orgasm. The wand is 12 inches (30 cm) long and weighs 1.2 pounds (540 g) with stimulation provided by its rubberized 2.5-inch (64 mm) head.
Xandria was one of the largest distributors of sex toys and adult videos, books and novelty items in the United States. It began as a catalog of sexual aids for people with disabilities at a time when the disability rights movement was in its infancy. Xandria was also one of the first companies to sell sex-related items online. The business closed in 2016 when Lawrence Research Group, Inc., which operated the business, filed for dissolution with the Nevada Secretary of State.
LELO is a Swedish company that manufactures sex toys and massage products, based in Stockholm, Sweden with other offices in Melbourne, San Jose, and Shanghai. According with TheNew York Times LELO currently sells one of the most expensive vibrators in the world, a 24-karat gold plated vibrator that costs $15,000.
JIMMYJANE is a luxury intimate wellness brand that was founded in San Francisco, California, and produces high-end, design-oriented lifestyle and sexual accessories, including vibrators and sex toys. Ethan Imboden, the company's founder and creative director, launched the company in 2003. In October 2014, Robert Rheaume became the president.
OhMiBod is an American company that manufactures sex toys, based in New Hampshire, United States.
Bondara is one of the UK's largest adult retailers, specialising in the sale of sex toys, lingerie, bondage and erotic gifts.
Bluebella is a British lingerie company founded in 2005 by Emily Bendell, with operations in the UK, US, Australia, France and Italy. It is headquartered in London, England.
MysteryVibe is a British-American firm that focuses on sexual health devices. In 2023, their laboratory was featured in Popular Science and recognized by The Guardian as the "only facility in vibrator research and development in the UK". According to Femtech Insider, they are the "first pleasure-focused brand to offer FSA & HSA eligible vibrators". They beat Apple Watch at the 2018 Design Week Awards.
Brian Sloan is an American entrepreneur known for creating a number of sex toys and adult-themed beauty contests. He is one of the few entrepreneurs in the adult industry to successfully use crowd funding for his products. He hosted a number of genital beauty contests, including a vaginal beauty contest, a scrotum beauty contest, and an anus beauty contest. He is also the inventor of the first sex toy that uses artificial intelligence to replicate human movements, and appears as a pitchman in infomercial style videos for most of his products and contests.
We-Vibe is a brand of sex toys manufactured by Standard Innovation, a company founded by a Canadian couple in 2003. It is one of Canada's largest producers of adult toys. The company has sold millions of devices since the launch of its first vibrator in 2008. It has been the recipient of over twenty awards including the best couples sex toy at the Sexual Health Expo in Los Angeles.
Unbound Inc. is an American sexual wellness company based in New York. Unbound is better known for manufacturing women sexual accessories such as vibrators and lubricants. In 2018, the company was announced runner-up at the TechCrunch Disrupt - San Francisco.
Womanizer is a German brand that produces intimate stimulation devices. Womanizer is part of the internationally operating WOW Tech Group. In 2021, WOW Tech merged with Lovehoney to create Lovehoney Group. As part of the Lovehoney Group, Womanizer manufactures pleasure products based on patented Pleasure Air Technology.
IMbesharam is an Indian e-commerce website that sells sex toys, sexual wellness products and accessories. It was founded in 2013 by Raj Armani and Salim Rajan. The website sells sex toys, accessories such as lingerie and strap-ons, sexual wellness products such as lubricants and condoms, and other products such as games and edible underwear.
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