Challenges in the job market, motherhood, and the fight for the right to decide over one's own body: what defines women today? Whatever the answer may be, one thing is certain – it is necessary to break taboos. Breaking paradigms and deconstructing prejudices, a pelvic physiotherapist and a marketing specialist, both from Porto Alegre (RS), combined sexual education and e-commerce to sell erotic and self-care intimate products exclusively for women through the online store VagiShop.
The business story began with Ana Gehring's, one of the founders, interest in female sexuality. Graduated in Pelvic Physiotherapy from PUCRS, she specialized in the field and began to see women in her office, teaching techniques such as pompoarism – a type of pelvic exercise that strengthens the vaginal muscles, providing benefits such as increased sexual pleasure and assistance in the treatment and prevention of urinary incontinence. Noticing her patients' recurring doubts, Ana decided to create an Instagram profile to educate and inform about women's intimate health in a light and colloquial way. Thus, in 2016, the page was born@Vaginasemneura, which today totals 870 thousand followers.
"I have always been interested in female sexuality, mainly because it is a topic surrounded by taboos. In college, I already knew this was the path I wanted to follow. With the page, I was able to demystify the subject and provide knowledge to many women who would not be able to attend a clinic. Prejudices can only be broken with knowledge," says Ana, who adds, "Even today, we have many followers who view our content but do not follow the profile out of shame or fear that they will see the name @Vaginasemneura on their profiles."
E-commerce platform drives business
In 2019, the success of the page led Ana to team up with digital marketing specialist Nalu Dorscheid. Nalu, who already had experience with online commerce, saw the monetization potential of Ana's initiatives, which she was accumulating."The program revealed that our students were also seeking recommendations for complementary products. So we launched our first product, VagiFit. We didn't imagine we would have such demand upon launching; we had to organize ourselves to meet it," she recalls.
With the growth of sales, entrepreneurs needed to seek technology to support the increase in website traffic. Then they adopted the e-commerce platformTray, belonging to LWSA, which allows the creation of online stores integrated with digital channels, as well as facilitating marketing and sales actions, thus creating VagiShop, a virtual store exclusively dedicated to intimate health and female pleasure, setting itself apart from the traditional sex shop business.
"With the growth of digital commerce, those who undertake online need to rely on solutions that offer secure and well-structured websites, including logistics, payments, and marketing services," explainsThiago Mazetto, director of Tray.
The partnership with Tray allowed the entrepreneurs to review a sales strategy on another channel in time to achieve a record revenue during Black Friday 2023. "We saw that the previous strategy did not perform well, sales were very low in the monthly analysis. We created the store with Tray, and on the eve of Black Friday, with the online store, we broke our revenue record that year," highlights Nalu.
Today, the product portfolio includes: intimate hygiene, cosmetics, pompoirism, and vibrators. Among the most sought-after items are soaps, moisturizers, and intimate lubricants, as well as other accessories.
Facing taboos
Since the beginning, VagiShop's purpose was to combine education and service provision for women's self-care. However, in a market still permeated by prejudices and its own challenges, Nalu highlights the obstacles to the scalability of the business.
Among the barriers are platform restrictions, which often classify content as inappropriate. "In 2023, the Instagram profile was deactivated due to alleged violation of the platform's guidelines. We faced the same problem in 2024 with YouTube. It was necessary to pursue legal action to recover our accounts," says the marketing expert.
The taboo extends to partnership relations, with some influencers refusing to collaborate with the brand due to fear and shame of exposing themselves to such a sensitive subject. Consumers also seek discretion when purchasing products. "We use discreet packaging and, on the card statement, the store's name is an acronym. Confidentiality is essential; clients feel intimidated, so much so that most of the customer service calls are to inquire about how discreet our shipment is," explains Nalu.
Despite the challenges, the entrepreneurs continue to forge a path of success. The upcoming plans include a dedicated line of products for intimate care and a subscription app featuring various specialists in health content, sexual education, and women's well-being.
