“Our product consistently gets top ratings.”

Having one of your products reach the top echelons of the Amazon bestseller lists is a sign of success if there ever was one. Tracy’s Dog achieved this feat with their “Clitoral Sucking Vibrator” on the international site of the online behemoth. But the company, which was founded in 2015, has much more to offer than just their bestseller. In our interview, CEO Fish Zhang tells us more about the Tracy’s Dog product range and the developments Zhang expects to see in the upcoming years.

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Tracy’s Dog offers a wide variety of sex toys, most famously your “Clitoral Sucking Vibrator”. Before we talk more about your products, could you tell us a bit more about the company and its history? When was it founded and how has it developed since then?
Fish Zhang: We started the company on the 3^rd of July, 2015. The idea of starting the company had a simple root – engineer and design discreet adult toys that will encourage new users to try it out, along with focusing on individual powerful features, that won’t send customers into the indecision trap set by the paradox of choice. Instead, we would give them their go-to toy. We’ve had multiple reviews from sex toys experts, people who have drawers or baskets full of toys, and yet TD is in their go-to top 5 of “nightstand drawer choices”. I say this without any vanity: With our focus on functionality and powerful features, it seems that we are on the right path.

What’s the story behind your – rather unusual – company name?
You see, names are intended to trigger something in people; either it’s one that is completely made up or one that reminds you of something. Tracy’s Dog came from the idea of being playful and helping to eliminate the stigma of using a sex toy. Consumers relate to it in the same way they would to the girl next door. It’s simple, approachable, beginner-friendly, and enticing curiosity. If you look at names that mean “nothing”, you realise that they became something only through the value and the meaning they provide. That is exactly what we wanted to achieve with it.

Who are the people behind the products? Could you tell us a bit about the team of Tracy’s Dog?
What a great question! The team behind the TD brand is a cool group of people who are incredibly creative and talented. They are dedicated to the mission of the company, but keep coming with great ideas because we need to go outside the box when working towards normalising women’s orgasms and closing the gap.

On your website, you state as part of your mission that “when every other thing in your life gets complicated, orgasms shouldn’t be one of them.” Would you say this is at the core of your company: making orgasms easy and accessible? 
There was a recent study that found that 91% of men and 39% of women always or usually orgasm during sexual encounters. But when masturbating, The Hite Report from 2003 and many others following it cite “that 95% of women reach orgasm easily. Why? Because when women masturbate, they focus on clitoral stimulation 99%.” When having sex, on the other hand, most women report that they’re not getting clitoral stimulation. And THAT is the major reason for the huge orgasm gap. Our mission is to help women close this gap once and for all, with a clitoris stimulation toy that, as research says, gets women off as close as it gets to 100%.

Could you give us an overview of your current portfolio? What kind of products are you offering?
Our current portfolio features our star product – the Clitoral Sucking vibrator, that reached No 1 in the Sexual Wellness category on Amazon as the most wished for vibrator, retailing at $47. Along with it, we have a male masturbator, that also ranks as the most popular toy for men, “Tracy’s Dog Pocket Pussy”, retailing at $24 in our Amazon shop. And to enhance both partner’s pleasure, whether they are having solo fun or as a couple, we have a lubricant as well, retailing at $7.89

Our products consistently get top ratings. And there are several reasons for that: thoughtful engineering, countless trials, body-safe silicone with a highly realistic feel, and the toys are also waterproof, which increases the range of places where they can be used. But the primary reason is that it makes our customers, both male and female, experience orgasms as some of them never have before in terms intensity and overall feeling.

What aspects of product design do you attach particular importance to?
Research is a big part of our design process. Orgasms are as unique as our bodies, and to be able to engineer a toy that will bring you to climax requires thousands of hours of research. The most attention in our design team is given to the functionality side and the features, heavily influencing the other aspects, like not giving too many colour options or not including unnecessary design parts that just fool the eyes. Ultimately, we want our products to be an eye shutter moment, and if it does the job well, if it gets you off, then the colour won’t really matter.

“Research is a big part of our design process. Orgasms are as unique as our bodies, and to be able to engineer a toy that will bring you to climax requires thousands of hours of research.”

One of your flagship products is the “Clitoral Sucking Vibrator”, which is definitely worth a closer look. Would you mind presenting this product to us?
That’s the pride of our brand. Not only in the number of sales (although for a business that’s obviously an Important metric) but also in the number of reviews that top each other. A lot of women report back and share their experiences. Given that this is a very intimate moment, we feel incredibly proud that we are able to bring such powerful intimate moments and strong orgasms to women worldwide.

The clitoris sucking vibrator has sold over 1 million units now, and it is selling like hot bread. What makes it so special? The U-shaped toy offers two options for stimulation: vibrations or gentle suctioning, each having 10 levels of intensity for both, intensity and frequency. Your very own superhero game.

It’s highly flexible so as to appeal to everybody because our bodies, much like our personalities, are different.

The shaft is inserted vaginally to reach your G-spot while the suction part is adjusted to each woman’s clitoris, and you can try different patterns of intensity.

The toy is rechargeable (via USB) and doesn’t need batteries. A full charge will only take 1.5h and it will last you a full 60 minutes of pleasure and fun. And with reports back of only having to use the toy for several minutes at a time to reach a full blossoming orgasm, it will last you quite a while.

The toy is made out of body-safe silicon and is completely waterproof, so you can take the fun outside of the bedroom, but that also makes for the perfect “me time” in the shower if your house is full of (little) people running around.

The year 2020 is still young. Which developments will dominate the erotic market this year and how do you intend to respond to them?
Awareness of the sexual wellness movement is increasing, and it prompts ample dialogue, making both men and women open up about their intimacy. Technology is also taking a more solid role, developing tools, form physical products to virtual ones (like apps, see the mindful masturbation app, Ferly) or a combination of both. And with that in mind, with an educated audience and more advanced technology taking a more inclusive part in their intimate life, 2020 looks very exciting. The whole reason why only few men, and sadly too few women as well, know so little about the clitoris is because of sex aid classes that are completely avoiding this part and instead go onto discussing the internal organs of a woman’s vagina.

We find it quite peculiar that it’s been a taboo (and, frankly, still is) to talk about your orgasms or sex, while violence and murder get prime time on the TV without any restrictions. And we expect 2020 to feature an increase in sexual education, having more people open up about their experiences, moving the subject closer to normality, the same as going to your therapist once was. A taboo at the beginning that you hardly dare whispering about, while now, it’s on everybody’s lips and accepted wildly.

Are you currently working together with any distributors or wholesalers? Where can retailers purchase your products if they want to sell them in their stores?
We have had great success selling from our Amazon shop. But for 2020, we’re looking to expand and enter the retail space because Tracy’s Dog is becoming a highly recognisable brand. Currently, we have already established partnership with ABS HOLDINGS, Lubry GmbH, ELDORADO, and MS-ONLINE.CO.JP.

What is Tracy’s Dog’s strategy for the future? Will retail sales play a greater role?
Our strategy is to keep increasing the popularity of the brand by showcasing the vibrator and explaining why it’s different from anything else on the market. We aim to expand our online reach and we are also working on some offline events, which will give us the opportunity to engage more with the end users, get their insights, and see how we can be of more help and value to them.

We will also be working on an art collaboration that will feature different artists and their interpretation of how different women’s clitoris are. We will provide ongoing education on our website and social media.