WEST HOLLYWOOD, Calif. — Last Monday evening, XBIZ Retreat kicked off its annual winter edition at the Andaz West Hollywood hotel with a welcome reception in the bustling lobby of the iconic hotel, where vendors and buyers from across the globe gathered to catch up with one another before the next day’s full schedule of private meetings.
While some vendors and buyers arrived immediately after making the trek from Burbank following two days at ANME, several other XBIZ Retreat vendors and buyers had arrived fresh from traveling from destinations across the world, including Europe, Australia and South America. Regardless of their various levels of exhaustion, attendees enjoyed an open bar and appetizers before heading off to bed in preparing for the busy day ahead.
The first full day of XBIZ Retreat kicked off with a round of speed networking that took place on the rooftop Panorama Ballroom of the hotel. With the sun beaming in, the volume of the conversations resonated throughout the room, attracting the attention of looky-loos that wanted to get in on the action — but of course, this event was exclusively for XBIZ Retreat participants. Running over an hour long, attendees only had a few minutes before their first scheduled meetings of the day.
Inside the Andaz suites, each vendor uniquely utilized their space to showcase their newest releases. As the second adult retail event of the year, several vendors discussed their plans for the New Year.
“For wholesale distribution we have started to change the way that we approach customers,” said Miguel Capilla, the global sales director of Fleshlight. “It started in 2019 — the goal is to keep making those changes, which includes announcing launches on time, and being more communicative. We’re already setting the launches until June of this year whereas before it was more last minute… We also intend to offer better communication and customer service — trying to be more flexible is the greater goal for 2020.”
Capilla — who has attended XBIZ Retreat for the past six or seven years — calls the event’s concept “unbelievable,” and notes how he’s incorporated it into his regular trade show experience.
“I love it — I’m doing 40 meetings in three days,” he said. “That’s why I’m now doing XBIZ Retreat twice a year. I adapted this kind of concept when I go to other shows actually. For example, at Erofame, I now set 30-minute meetings back to back. It’s the perfect way to conduct business and not waste any time.”
According to Justin Vickers, who was showcasing the Prowler range of men’s products, he is pleasantly surprised at the amount of recognition that the European brand has in the U.S. Additionally, with ECN as its major distributor, Vickers says the brand is enjoying a growing consumer base.
“At the few consumer events that I’ve done in the U.S., the brand recognition was better than I expected,” he said. “It was like 30-40% of the people knew about the Prowler brand from our social media and brand marketing. We’re going to spend more time, energy and money to develop the name of Prowler out here in the U.S. Our consumer base is not just necessarily gay over here — in E.U., it is. In the U.S., there are also a lot of straight people that are gravitating to the line. It’s kind of a weird dynamic that we hadn’t thought of before. ECN has done so well with the brand without having a distinct gay customer base.”
In 2020, Pipedream is setting out to be more innovative and limiting its releases to four times a year — “quality over quantity,” says Pipedream’s Briana Honz-Watkins.
“We’re focusing items that are different and unique and areas in today’s marketplace and we’re focusing on customer service,” she said. “We’ve always been known for our focus on customer service and now we’re beefing it up with marketing support for retailers.”
Fresh off its first-time participation at CES in Las Vegas, Satisfyer showcased some of its 200 products being released this year at XBIZ Retreat. The company’s most major development was the debut of the Satisfyer Connect app, which offers a variety of features that allow users to control Satisfyer toys remotely via Bluetooth while communicating via voice and video chatting. The app allows users to create their own vibration patterns, share them with others and unlike other apps, Satisfyer Connect shows the battery level of a connected toy to avoid it dying while in use.
Satisfyer’s Jerome Bensimon noted that the app securely protects users’ privacy, allowing them to create a login without any personal information and deleting any information without the use of a code that’s not generated or stored by the company.
Among Satisfyer’s new releases is a new Pro 2 that will be available in full silicone at a lower price than the original, retailing for $39.95. Satisfyer’s new wand massager, offers 50 different vibration functions, is submersible in water and — like all of Satisfyer’s products — comes with a 15-year warranty. The new app compatible wand will retail for $59.95.
Satisfyer also unveiled new packaging available in 90 different color combinations, which features a tear-apart seal along its edge, and “gender progressive art” on the cover. “It’s not geared to any specific gender, you use your imagination,” Satisfyer’s Melody Cazarin said. “Even on the boxes with solo imagery — it can be geared towards any gender that you want it to be.”
For the company’s selection of edgy sex toys which includes the Mr. Cock line of realistic dildos, MVW Schmitt Vertriebs attended XBIZ Retreat in search of global distributors.
“We’re here looking for distributors for our brand — for the U.S., Mexico, Columbia and beyond,” MVW Schmitt Vertriebs’ Christian said. “We’ve been in contact with some people and are looking forward to seeing them again. Our goal for this year is to release more items. Our most popular line is the Mr. Cock collection and we’re going to add more styles and sizes.”
U.K.-based Rouge Garments is also setting out to conquer new territories. “We want people to know what it is that we do and why we do it,” Rouge’s Kerry Hart said.
Noting that she had only been six meetings into the event, Hart said XBIZ Retreat was already proving to be promising.
“We’re here seeing current customers, which is great because since we’re in the U.K. it’s not like I can easily pop in to visit our U.S. customers,” she said. “It’s good to see current and new customers — there are a few new buyers here that I feel we’ll get something good from. Our products sell face-to-face. You can see a photo online but you can’t appreciate the quality as much as you can in person. Most people know what it is but they won’t necessarily know about the additional features that could make them — and us — more money.”
French manufacturer Gangbangster made its XBIZ Retreat debut in hopes of its European popularity crossing over into the U.S. The up-and-coming brand won New Pleasure Products Company of the Year at the 2019 XBIZ Europa Awards, and was also a nominee for the 2020 XBIZ Award for Fetish Line of the Year.
“We’re playing with the big boys now,” Gangbangster’s Vincent Renou said. “We really want to extend the brand into the U.S. market. We are very prevalent all over Europe — because of the XBIZ Europa Awards, which we won in September. We’re in Australia and Japan and now we’re looking to expand into the U.S.”
In the New Year, Renou says the company gearing up to introduce new colors — red and flesh — into its product lineup.
XBIZ Retreat veteran Voodoo Toys decorated its luxury suite to reflect the brand’s vintage-inspired color palette.
“The feedback has been really great,” Voodoo Toys’ Danielle Seerley said. “2020 is finally our chance to really roll out Voodoo. The packaging will make it destination point in stores. It really stands out as something different. I’m exciting to see the results now that it’s in store. I think 2020 is going to be a great year.”
Regarding the benefits of attending XBIZ Retreat, Seerley says the interaction is improved and empowers participants to have more honest conversations.
"This Retreat is a good launch show because it’s the beginning of a New Year,” Seerley added. “People are in buying mode, they’re looking for new products. They’re a little bit more open in these private meetings, whereas at a trade show, it seems like people are more polite and only express themselves on a surface level. We’re excited to see international people here. It’s a good mix and it also has our core distributors and we also have some retailers in there. It’s a nice mix.”
Doxy took advantage of the event to kick off 2020 with new branding and new packaging — which includes stylish metal tubes to store the brand’s latest rendition of its signature wand massager, which is rechargeable.
"Our biggest request has been for a rechargeable so we’re happy to say that it’s here," Doxy’s Leigh Dedhar said. "I’m using this show to introduce the brand to customers that haven’t seen it before. It’s more difficult to do something like this at larger trade shows because buyers usually already have appointments with the larger brands. I like the one-on-one time that XBIZ Retreat meetings offer. I like that we’re all together and you get to spend a lot of time with customers and build on those relationships."
Bathmate is kicking off 2020 with the goal of increasing its U.S. footprint.
“We’re going to offer a lot of more in-store sales support, more trainings and really getting people to understand the Bathmate brand a lot better this year,” Bathmate’s rep said. “There is also new products in the pipeline, but our real goal is to put more into store support and trainings. In the U.S., we plan to have two reps so there will be a Bathmate rep in the U.S. six months out of the year.”
High On Love showcased its full range, including a new collaboration with Jopen that pairs High On Love’s stimulating sensual oil with the Pavé Grace massager, which features High On Love’s signature rose-gold accents. High On Love President Angela Mustone, who has become a leading expert in the field of sexual wellness and cannabis, says that she predicts that this year’s trends will include the growing acceptance and celebration of self-love with sensual bodycare becoming a booming category. Mustone says she intends on participating in XBIZ Retreat every year to build connections and stay on top of upcoming sexual wellness trends.
“I think while a trade show may offer more potential contacts, XBIZ Retreat allows you to spend more time with a core group of individuals,” Mustone said. “Those meetings can be longer and you can leave those events with a framework of an agreement. A traditional trade show might give you a contact but all the work begins after the show. An intimate show can bring immediate sales or distribution.”
With private meetings running into the early evening, XBIZ Retreat participants were elated to hit the bar for Satisfyer’s Signature Cocktail Hour for some pre-dinner drinks. The group of over 100 participants then made their way across the famous Sunset Boulevard over to the Mondrian Hotel, where XBIZ Retreat participants were treated to an upscale dining experience, sponsored by Satisfyer, at the Ivory on Sunset restaurant.
Looking forward to the rest of the week, Honz-Watkins said a highlight was the inaugural XBIZ Honors Awards ceremony.
“The awards show is always fun, like a family reunion,” she said. “I’m excited because I get to present the trophy for Businessman of the Year and a lot of them are my dear friends.”
For some XBIZ Retreat attendees, day one concluded soon after dinner … while others made their way to XBIZ 2020’s Rooftop Rager, sponsored by MojoHost and Silverstein Legal. The suite party brought together the adult biz at large, with adult retail execs rubbing elbows with digital media pros, cam models and performers — as well as ‘90s movie star and comedian Pauly Shore, who also made an appearance at the event.
Stay tuned for more coverage of XBIZ Retreat, along with coverage from the inaugural retail edition of XBIZ Honors.
