It’s perhaps not the sort of thing you might have seen on the shelves of John Boot’s pharmacy when the Methodist set it up with a local chapel in 1848.
But Boots has launched a new range of sex toys – from the £65 So Divine Vibrating Rabbit to the £6.29 Durex Pleasure Ring – as part of a new sexual wellness campaign.
The retailer, which has been selling sex toys since 2004, is trying to tap further into the growing global sex toy industry which is now said to be worth about £12billion.
The new range of sex toys launched by Boots from the £65 So Divine Vibrating Rabbit to the £6.29 Durex Pleasure Ring is pictured on its shelves at its store in London’s Covent Garden
Britain’s biggest chain of pharmacies said it wants customers to ‘say yes… yes… YES to our lust-worthy collection of adult toys to create a buzz in your sex life’.
The company is expanding its sexual wellbeing range with the likes of fertility trackers, vibrators and lubrication in some of its 2,485 UK stores and online.
The new range includes products from Love Honey, Britain’s biggest online adult retailer which makes products based on EL James’s Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy.
Boots will also be stocking items from Smile Makers, which it says have ‘given wand vibrators a makeover’, along with Hanx, Fert-iliy, Ava, Hanx and Durex.
The £55 So Divine Wicked Game Magic Wand (left) and the £16 So Divine Lovesexy Silky Touch Vibrator (right) are among the products now on the shelves at some Boots stores
And as part of its launch of new products, it commissioned a study which found 80 per cent of people in Britain still don’t feel confident enough to talk about sex.
The launch will see Boots compete with High Street chains more well-known for sex toys such as Ann Summers, which employs 1,250 staff across 106 stores.
Research by Censuswide also showed only 7 per cent of people prioritise it the most compared to other ways of boosting wellbeing such as sleep, fitness and nutrition.
Psychosexual therapist Kate Moyle, who is working with Boots on their campaign, said: ‘Sex is such a central part of people’s lives and has been shown to benefit our physical and mental health, but we don’t seem able to talk about it yet.
Boots, whose flagship store is in London’s Covent Garden, said it wants customers to ‘say yes… yes… YES to our lust-worthy collection of adult toys to create a buzz in your sex life’
‘It’s incredibly encouraging to work with a major brand like Boots to facilitate change and give people the confidence to assert what makes them feel good.’
The most expensive new product being sold by Boots is the £65 So Divine Vibrating Rabbit – Kiss Kiss, which says in its description: ‘Ready for some bunny fun?
‘Both the stimulator and shaft can be operated separately and with three speeds and seven pulsating patterns, you’ll be reaching new highs in no time.’
Boots was the first pharmacy to offer Viagra Connect over the counter, and one of the first high street retailers to start selling sexual pleasure products 15 years ago.
The Smile Makers £40 Millionaire (left) and £20 Surfer (right) toys are also now being stocked
Boots UK and Ireland marketing director Helen Normoyle said: ‘Our research shows that 80 per cent of people believe that your sexual wellbeing can increase self-confidence, and nearly 60 per cent of us believe it can improve general happiness.
‘But we still don’t feel comfortable talking about female sexual pleasure and intimate health. So we are using our own communications channels – to help normalise sexual wellbeing as a topic, as well giving customers an accessible way to find out more.’
The launch comes three months after Boots managing director Seb James admitted that the retailer had become less relevant and was ‘behind the curve’.
He added that Boots needed to make ‘radical changes’ to survive as High Street retailers in Britain are battered by soaring costs and fierce online competition.
The £13 Lovehoney Thrill Bullet Vibrator (left) and £10 Tease Finger Vibrator (right) are in stock
And the 53-year-old signalled in June that he will close some pharmacies as he unveiled a new ‘store of the future’ in London’s Covent Garden.
The site was previously occupied by Marks & Spencer, which shut the shop last year as it faced a 40 per cent rise in its annual business rates bill, to £1.7million.
Boots then signed a 20-year lease which will cost it £3.3million a year in rent. The shop is being used to test new ideas which could be rolled out to more stores.
The £10 Lovehoney Buzz Vibrating Love Ring (left) and £40 So Divine Flower Vibrator (right)
One year after launching the sex toys in 2004, the company scrapped plans to sell them alongside toiletries over fears that stocking them could damage its brand.
The retailer was founded in Nottingham in 1848 by father-of-two John Boot and rose to become Britain’s biggest chain of pharmacies.
He established the herbalist outlet to provide inexpensive remedies for the working poor who could not afford a doctor in the impoverished areas.