Page 54 - AVN April 2017

NEW TAKE ON OLD TECH David Joseph (left)
and Lewis Adams of US Arcades
FEATURE
FEATURE | By Dan Miller
Retail Rally
For large production studios such as Girlfriends
Films, which also distributes numerous others,
finding the sweet spot with its retail footprint is
key. Moose, the president of Girlfriends Films,
says his company understands the importance of
strengthening both e-commerce and brick-and-
mortar distribution.
“In the adult industry just like any other online
retail business, there is an undeniable demand for
instant gratification,” Moose tells AVN. “People
who shop for everyday items online have a certain
demand for ‘what’ they can get and ‘how fast’ they
can get it.
“On the other hand, there are certain things you
just can’t rush. If you want any kind of specialty
item—a custom car, a tailored suit, a fitted wedding
dress—it’s pretty much impossible to have it
delivered to your door in one day. Same thing
with adult films. Many of our customers have
“WHEN YOU HEAR THE TERM ADULT
discriminating tastes and an appreciation for the
collectible value of our top-selling lesbian adult
series. They want a DVD they can add to their
ARCADE, MOST PEOPLE THINK OF THE DIRTY PEEP ROOMS THAT TAKE
collection, something they can hold and keep for
years to come. For those customers, it’s important
QUARTERS. WE’RE TAKING THAT
to keep the integrity of our physical products intact.
ROOM’S TECHNOLOGY INTO THE 21ST
“At the same time as a provider of adult
entertainment we can understand that sometimes
CENTURY.”
you just don’t want to wait to watch good porn.
— DAVID JOSEPH, OWNER, US ARCADES
That’s why here at Girlfriends Films we provide
many of our titles for on-demand.”
Pulse Distribution, one of the largest
manufacturers’ reps in the adult industry, services
both brick-and-mortar and online stores with more
than 100 studios across every genre of porn. Robert
Plarski, executive vice president of sales for Pulse,
tells AVN from his perspective retail in general is
still “going strong.”
“One other large component is the mail-order
business,” Plarski says. “While it’s true that
shopping for shoes or clothing or household goods
is way easier online, there are certain items a person
likes to look at, hold, read, touch and decide and
compare. And then take it home immediately. The
online retailers are making a strong push to outdo
the traditional distributors. But I think there will
always be both options.”
Moose, whose company distributes more than 15
studio brands in addition to its own, echoes Plarski’s
sentiment.
“In my opinion there will always be a need for
brick-and-mortar,” Moose reasons. “Buying online
from companies like Amazon can be a double-edged
sword. On the one hand, you can have anything you
want at the click of a mouse. On the other hand,
what if it doesn’t fit, what if the color isn’t the
exact shade you were hoping for, what if the item is
heavier or lighter than you imagined it would be?
“There are always going to be times when you
want to physically go and try something on and hold
it in your hands before buying. Look at the success
of the adult toy industry. Clients are going to adult
stores ‘fishing’ for products they can see and touch
in person. They ask questions about it and make
a first-hand decision before buying. It’s the same
thing with a DVD. A customer sees the DVD cover
photo on the shelf—that’s the bait. If the title and
text intrigues them, they pick it up. That’s the first
bite. When they turn it over and give it a second
look, now they’re hooked and you reel them in for
the sale.”
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Plarski says brick-and-mortar retailers continue to receive a boost from products such as glassware and sexual
enhancement pills, while toys, lingerie and lube remain bankable at the store level, too.
“On the DVD side, what used to be the main driving force for repeat customers was new releases and then an
additional purchase—a bottle of lube or a boner pill,” Plarski continues. “DVDs have now become the ancillary
product they pick up at point-of-purchase as an add-on, impulse buy. Sure, there are still customers who will
always want the new release—Porn Pros or Dogfart—but I think a bulk of these DVD sales are from the sale-
priced items.”
While taboo and interracial remain among the leading porn genres, according to Plarski, the other trend is for
“value priced sell-thru,” or catalog DVDs available at a bargain price.
“One of the best bonuses of Pulse is the variety and depth with which we stock,” Plarski adds. “I don’t know of
any other distributor that has what we do. By having this much variety, it allows us to combine multiple studios
to make genre mixes that no one else can create.”
Bricks and Clicks
Speaking of variety, online retailer Adult Empire maintains one of the world’s largest collections of adult
content in all formats, including video-on-demand, DVDs and sex toys.
Adult Empire Vice President Colin Allerton tells AVN his company benefits from the reality that stores have
scaled back on their porn content buys in favor of pleasure products and lingerie.
“For the consumers who are used to going to the stores and picking up DVDs, they are finding there is not a
large selection and then they start looking across mobile platforms on their tablet or mobile phone and they go to
our site and find 60,000 movies to choose from rather than 500 in the store,” Allerton says. “So having a larger
selection of in-stock items puts us in a really good position.
“We’ve also found people who look at toys in stores and then shop online and find a good price.”
While Allerton acknowledges it’s hard to replace the personalized experience one can get with interaction in a
store, he says Adult Empire is constantly working to refine its digital service.
“It’s been a never-ending process,” says Allerton, a 17-year veteran at Adult Empire who has held six different
positions at the company. “We’re always moving forward. There will be new site updates in the near future. For
us it’s never just one thing, we are always trying to improve the customer experience. One of the biggest drivers
right now is we really focus on the mobile end of the market. Most people in the adult industry—more and more
people are using their phones to browse around on the internet. We’re really mobile first.
“With mobile now if you combine VOD and everything, it’s definitely the fastest growing segment.”
Allerton points to social media as having a big impact on the consumer “and how they interact with adult
entertainment.”
“Between things like Snapchat, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter they can find out so much more about the girl
they’re interested in,” Allerton continues. “It’s definitely driving a lot of changes in the industry. The fan can get
much closer to the performer than ever before.”
One way the Pittsburgh-based company engages porn fans on social media is through its “Empire Girl” contest,
which last August crowned Katrina Jade as the second annual winner through fan voting.
Jade received $6,000 and a four-scene showcase contract with AE Films for winning the competition, which