Lovehoney will be competing with household names such as Ocado after being nominated in the Best Large Pure-play Etailer category at the PayPal Etail Awards, which take place in June. Lovehoney co-founder Richard Longhurst [pictured] said the nomination showed how reputable sex brands had been embraced by the mainstream as a result of the huge success of Fifty Shades of Grey.
He said: “This is a real recognition of just how far we have come in the last few years. To be nominated alongside brands like Ocado shows just how much the retail landscape has changed. Enjoying sex toys has become very much a part of the mainstream – and brands like ours can now sit very easily alongside household names like Ocado. I think that is down to the Fifty Shades effect. The phenomenal success of the book has made everyone in Britain grow up a bit about sex. And thankfully buying a sex toy for many people is seen as no more risque than splashing out on some nice lingerie.”
Lovehoney obtained the worldwide rights for the Fifty Shades of Grey Official Pleasure Collection last year and the range of sex toys and soft bondage accessories went on sale in Europe just before Christmas. The collection will be launched in America on April 8th.
The PayPal Etail Awards will be presented at Old Billingsgate, London, on June 12th and, in addition to Ocado, Lovehoney is also up against Appliances Online, My-Wadrobe, Shop Direct Group and The Hut Group for the etailer award, which is sponsored by Chase Paymentech.
