Honey Birdette doubles revenue by closing doors for private shopping experiences
A Sydney business owner has revealed how an idea created to help her risque store survive lockdown has turned into a money-maker.
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Six months ago, businesses around the country were forced to shut up shop, some of which remain closed to this day.
For many, harsh lockdown rules have had a huge effect on their livelihood, and sent Australia spiralling into its first recession in 30 years.
But the coronavirus pandemic has seen some businesses thrive – just ask Eloise Monaghan.
The Sydney-based founder of Honey Birdette, a risque lingerie chain which also sells sex toys, has revealed while she was “terrified” about the impact on business – it has sparked a whole new way of shopping with her customers that has doubled revenue.
“I was frightened for my brand but it made us think, ‘right, what can we do?’” Ms Monaghan told news.com.au.
“So we did virtual appointments, Zoom rooms, Insta rooms, virtual erotic book readings … but private appointments were the COVID option that really emerged as a banger.”
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The “VIP” appointments involved closing stores to accommodate private shopping experiences for singles and small groups.
Customers are then given a glass of champagne on arrival and the privacy to explore everything the label has to offer, with the limited number of guests ensuring COVID-Safe practices are upheld.
“You walk in the doors and they shut them. There’s a glass of champagne in your hand and you’ve got the whole salon to yourself,” Ms Monaghan said.
The idea proved so popular, Honey Birdette voluntarily closed the doors of a store to the public altogether, only accepting private bookings made through the brand’s website.
“We closed Sydney City last Saturday all day and we doubled our revenue, so we’re going to trial it with all Sydney flagships,” Ms Monaghan said.
In the next few months a new appointment-only store in Sydney’s CBD will open and it’s only the beginning for the global brand, with plans to roll it out in other cities and countries.
“If you told me six months ago that we would’ve been shutting stores to take appointments, I would’ve laughed in your face,” she said.
“But they’ve continued to increase every week, and now 25 per cent of our retail sales across all stores come from private appointments.”
Since the coronavirus lockdowns began, the sex toy industry has experienced a huge boom, with sales in Australia seeing a 42 per cent increase in March according to online adult store The Hot Spot.
While the tactic was born in response to forced closures at the height of the pandemic, Ms Monaghan said it has now become a key plank in the company’s survival plan.
The company was born in 2006 and started with a shopfront in Brisbane. But its provocative nature quickly caught on and today there are 55 stores, including four in the UK and four in California.
However, the brand’s success hasn’t been without its controversies.
In February, Honey Birdette was forced to censor a promotional image featuring co-founder Eloise Monaghan and her wife Natalie released to coincide with Sydney’s Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.
The image was ruled by Ad Standards, the organisation that self regulates the Australian advertising industry, as too explicit because it featured female nipples.
An uncensored image appeared in the US and UK but in Australia it had to be blurred.
“I honestly don’t know what’s happening with Australia. It’s seriously frightening,” she said at the time.
In 2017, an image was also banned for use as a digital billboard at the chain’s stores across the country after the regulatory body received complaints.
Collective Shout, an advocacy group against the objectification of women, has published posts criticising the exposure of the content to young shoppers.
One complaint was from an “appalled mother” who said she was walking through a shopping centre with her four-year-old son when she saw an inappropriate image in the store window.
“I have to go towards it and past it to get to the Kmart, essentially,” she said. “Their current campaign is for white lacy teddies/negligees and in the full-size posters, there are nipples clearly visible.”
The change in shopping tactic with her customers could spell a more private era for Honey Birdette, with Ms Monaghan explaining part of the appeal was because “people want to discuss sex toys in private”.
“You do have customers who don’t want to be standing at the toy wall or the fetish wall when their child’s teacher walks in,” she told news.com.au.
However, she insists its not the end of conventional stores, declaring “COVID has changed retail forever”.
Continue the conversation @RebekahScanlan | rebekah.scanlan@news.com.au
Originally published as Honey Birdette doubles revenue by closing doors for private shopping experiences