Most men are too embarrassed to enter a lingerie store by themselves. Before the 21st century, wives and girlfriends probably didn't get lingerie gifts very often.
But in the age of online shopping, buying lingerie has never been easier for men, who are enthusiastically snapping them up in droves.
The online lingerie firm Clovia says that around one quarter of its buyers are men, according to a report in the Times of India. And that whopping figure rises even higher during certain parts of the year.
"The figure touches almost 40% during the November to February period -- the wedding season in many parts of the country, and hence also the wedding anniversary season. Many of these orders ask for gift wrapping," said founder Neha Kant.
Men also frequently call the company's customer care centre to seek recommendations on what they could buy.
Clovia has even remodeled its advertising to make it gender neutral in order to cope with the flood of male buyers.
Another online lingerie store Zivame said that Valentine's Day, anniversaries and birthdays are the occasions when men splurge on lingerie.
While the offline lingerie market is worth a staggering $2 billion, online sales are only a fraction of that right now. But they are growing speedily.
The future belongs to online lingerie ventures, with investors lining up to pump money into them and men lining up to buy their products.
