VENUS exhibitor LELO has analyzed conversations with experts and its own surveys and made a forecast for the trends of the upcoming year. The five most important trends for 2020 from the perspective of the Swedish sex toy manufacturer.
Swedish luxury toy manufacturer LELO has produced a trend forecast for the coming year based on customer surveys and discussions with experts. According to the forecast, five major sex trends are set to shape the start of the new 20s in 2020.
According to LELO’s prediction, the five megatrends in 2020 are the return of love as a pleasure driver, female orgasm and masturbation, sexual well-being, CBD lubricants and digital sexuality.
1. Love as a pleasure driver
According to LELO’s experts, #MeToo and the new feminism seem to have a positive effect on intimate relationships and love between the sexes. The return to love as a driving force for desire and lust for the other can now be lived out more honestly and with deeper knowledge of each other’ s anatomy, pleasure, and desires.
This is also what Dr. Laurie Mintz, sex expert and author believes. She says: »While I unfortunately believe there will continue to be a backlash, I also believe that this continued conversation will help enhance sexual communication and decease sexual coercion and sexual harassment.«
2. Female orgasm & masturbation
The global trend that education, the decrease in taboos and the development of ever more sophisticated sex toys are leading to the closing of the so-called orgasm gap is also one of the major megatrends for the year ahead, according to Lelo and the expert Dr. Mintz.
Mintz says: »I think female pleasure and the clitoris (which for most women, go hand in hand, pun intended) will become less of a taboo. And I think women will get increasingly comfortable with using technology, especially those focused on female pleasure such as clitoral vibrators.«
Although studies show that women still have difficulty with masturbation, society is becoming more and more open to the subject. Various surveys show that 40 to 60% of women say that they regularly masturbate. For men, this figure is 95-99%.
3. Sexual Wellness
For manufacturers and retailers in the erotic business, one of the macro trends remains sexual wellness. This also plays into the immensely successful and popular self-help market with self-optimization advice.
In addition to sexual health, sexual well-being is also an important factor for a happy and successful life. More and more people are aware of this and in more and more societies this is resulting in a tendency to open up to sexual issues. This is also accompanied by a more open approach to gender identities, sexual preferences, and fetishes. Sexpositivity and body-positivity are some of the keywords associated with this.
It is becoming increasingly clear that masturbation is not just self-satisfaction, but an important part of physical and mental health. A more relaxed and honest approach to different body forms, eroticism and pornography are also associated with it.
LELO anticipates that this macro-trend will also lead to the development of sex-positive and sexual health-focused apps that may be related to issues such as mindfulness and guided masturbation.
4. CBD lubricants
Many countries are currently considering the legalization of cannabis. Some have already decriminalized the natural product completely, albeit sometimes just for medical purposes. In Germany, too, the social and political consensus seems to be moving in the direction of legalization across party lines.
Since hemp is an extremely diverse raw material, many new products containing cannabis will be developed in the future. From tinctures and gums to flavors and aromas in beverages, cannabis could be used in the 20s in more and more countries in a growing number of products.
In the business of human sexuality, it is also to be assumed that hemp will appear in varying combinations as a versatile ingredient. LELO expects that especially lubricants and tinctures for sexual health will be increasingly offered with cannabis.
5. Digital Sexuality
Digitalization has long since covered all areas of life and millions of people cannot imagine their sex life without it. From online pornography, cam chats, VR and AR offerings, AI-supported sex robots to app-supported sex toys and the booming sex-tech market: the sexuality of human beings is being completely digitalized in all areas.
Although the VR porn market is growing slower than expected, the constant improvement of sex dolls and sex toys has long since shown results. The turnover of manufacturers and retailers has been rising for years – all over the world. The former shadow economy has become a globally booming growth market that acts as a technology driver in many industries.
At LELO, too, toys are becoming more intelligent, smarter, and digitally enhanced companions in our love lives – be it alone or as a couple.
For more information about LELO, click here.