Wicked on the Web

                                 

By Sangeeth Sebastian

A few months ago, the corporate office of a Mumbai-based adult online shopping company, received a strange request from a female customer in Delhi: Hundred and twenty tubes of chocolate flavoured edible body paints. The caller wanted to give it as return gift to young couples at a party which she and her husband was throwing. Unprepared for such a huge order for any single flavour, the company appeased her by offering an assortment of different flavours.

The concern of a worried customer from Gujarat, who placed a similar order, this time for personal use, was regarding the nature of its contents. The buyer wanted to make sure that the ingredients of the edible body paint would not offend his religious dietary sensibilities.

A man from Kolakata who bought a bottle of pheromone spray wanted the customer care staff to confirm if the product would actually make him sexually attractive to women.

We know all this because hidden by anonymity and right to privacy, young Indians who hitherto felt mortified to be seen purchasing a condom or lingerie from a retail store are dropping inhibition and freely expressing their intimate desires to face-less strangers sitting hundreds of miles away.

“We have overestimated the level of shyness among Indian customers,” says Samir Saraiya, Chief Executive, That’s Personal, a Mumbai-based startup and a pioneer in the field, which boasts of 10,000 unique visitors to its site a day. “They (customers) are quite comfortable in calling or writing to us about the kind of products they want and even seek our help in guiding them with the purchases,” says Saraiya.

The company on its part wins customer trust by ensuring that the products are packaged in tamper proof bags and are delivered discreetly at a time and place of the customer’s choice. The anonymity and convenience has emboldened the shoppers to haggle and ask for discounts on condoms and personal lubricants just like any other consumer goods.

                                                   

“We get customers who want an explanation on why the price is what it is. They want the thrill at the lowest price,” says Raj Armani, Chief Operating Officer, IMbesharam, a U.S.-based company that also has offices in Delhi and Mumbai, and claims to have a subscriber base of more than 1.5 lakh and a viewership of 1.5 million on Youtube. “We then explain it to them that the price they pay covers the cost of shipping from the U.S., the duties, taxes and the hassles in delivering the product right to their doorstep,” says Armani. “You can’t get a Lexus in the budget of a Maruti,” he adds.

Yet there is little that can stop a tenacious Indian customer who is out to extract the best deal. A customer who bought a bottle of personal lubricant worth Rs 500 from That’s Personal wanted to know how many times he can use the product. (Remember the famous Maruti advertising tag line Kitna deti hai.)

“The more the number of usage, the better he feels in buying it,” says Saraiya. Buyers are also vocal and assertive. “We once had to pacify a man who purchased a woman’s inner wear called Baby Doll after he insisted that we also send him the doll along with the undergarment,” says Saraiya.

Both Saraiya and Armani claim that Fifty Shades of Grey collection is the latest flavour of the season. (A visit to their sites is like staring at a restaurant menu that offers an assortment of exotic Italian, French and Spanish cuisines.) The collection which features all the erotic items from E.L. Jame’s book including bondage kit, metal handcuffs, anal beads and spanking paddle and are a huge hit among buyers according to the duo, despite a ban on its movie adaptation in India.

                                               

“We get 15 orders a day for the products and have already done business worth more than Rs 50 lakh so far,” says Saraiya.

Though a getting a reliable estimate on the total worth of the Indian adult product market is tricky, as most of the calculations are without the support of actual data, Aramni believes that by adding the total spending population, frequency and cost of the product, the figure can come up to anywhere between 
Rs 1,200 to 1,500 crores.

But consumer power is hardly an insurance against meddling laws that can play spoilsport in bedroom pleasures in India. With ambiguous obscenity laws companies are forced to tread on a thin line while peddling their stuff. The recent criminal complaint against online major Snapdeal for allegedly selling obscene products is a case in point. “There is no objective parameter on what constitutes as obscene. It is a grey area. So we refrain from selling vibrators that resemble a male organ or products that resemble any other body part,” says Lekhesh Dholakia, Solictor, That’s Personal. Both Snapdeal and Flipkart, another new entrant in the adult wellness market, refused to participate in the story.

                              

Yet, there is no let up in demand for more explicit products such as inflatable sex dolls and dildos from the customers. “The buyers have appetite for newer, better and more unique products and our chefs are only happy to create whatever they want,” says Armani “but at times we have to tell them that in India you are not allowed to have all the fun.”

The article was originally published in India Today Group's Mail Today newspaper on April 26

DELHI’S DIRTY SECRETS

Customers from Delhi are the top buyers of fun stuff including edible body 
paints, massage oils and adult games

Delhi is also high into gifting sexual products for friends and couples with 
29 per cent of the total order coming from the Capital

Delhi men top the chart when it comes to buying condoms and personal 
water-based lubricants

A good 33 per cent of orders for women’s lingerie from Delhi are made by men

Delhi women make the third highest purchase of female products after 
Mumbai and Bengaluru

WHAT REST OF INDIA DESIRES

Hyderabad men love to get their hands on handcuffs

Chennai loves its edible body paints

Bengaluru women are the biggest buyers of massage oils

Gujarati’s invest massively in adult games

Men’s innerwear is the hot favourite in West Bengal

Kerala buys more of latex free condoms

Source: That’s Personal

INTERVIEW 

JAYASHRI BENJAMIN

HR Head

That’s Personal

                      

What motivated you to join That’s Personal?

I have been working in the shipping and IT industry for 14 years prior to this assignment. Then, two years ago, I met the founder of That’s Personal (Samir) through a common business associate and liked his vision. The opportunity for growth in the adult products category through e-commerce was large and I was ready to bet on it.

Did you face any resistance from your family when you decided to work for 
the company?

I take my own decision on work related issues. I did discuss with my husband who too believed the opportunity had good potential for growth. To my extended family, I tell them that I am in the e-commerce business selling personal products.

Are you worried about how other people would view your job?

Neither my company nor I, are doing anything illegal or unethical, so I am not really bothered about what other people think. There is a clear cut demand for these products as well as a huge requirement for privacy.

Do you believe there is a need for greater openness on sex considering the huge demand your products are getting from across the country?

Yes. Human beings are the same irrespective of geography. Sure, European and American culture is far more open than Indian culture, but we are catching up fast.

As the HR head of an adult company how easy or difficult it is for you to attract fresh talent?

We receive 20 resumes a day for various positions that we have listed on our career pages. We have candidates applying from all over India. I am pleasantly surprised at how comfortable people and their families are today about this business irrespective of their religion and socio-economic background. One aspect that clearly drives candidates while applying for a job with us is the opportunity for long-term career growth. We mostly hire MBA graduates who have three to five years of relevant experience. Our male to female ratio in the office is 60:40 with the average age being 29 years.

In future if you shift your job into a mainstream organisation will you mention your experience of working in an adult company on your CV?

Yes, I will. I am proud of my work experience and I do not want to hide what I have learnt. Believe me, it like working in any other start-up environment.

The article was originally published in India Today Group's Mail Today newspaper on April 26