By Sheila Long O’Mara
Source: www.furnituretoday.com, February 2023
HIGH POINT – While unit sales of mattresses online inched up slightly last year, consumers showed a penchant to spend more when they bought bedding from a brick-and-mortar store, according to a recent research survey conducted by UBS Securities.
The UBS Evidence Lab survey of 2,500 consumers indicated that 43% of participants bought a mattress online, while 42% purchased a mattress in a brick-and-mortar store. Another 15% purchased through both channels.
When compared with 2021, 44% of consumers that bought a mattress made their purchase in a store, and 39% bought online.
According to the survey, consumers traded down in price across both channels, but in-person shoppers are still willing to spend more with 42% saying they expected to spend between $1,000 and $3,000 and 7% expecting to spend $3,000 or more. On the flipside, 36% of the online consumers expected to spend between $1,000 and $3,000, and 5% were looking to spend more than $3,000.
Online mattress shoppers tend to be younger and less affluent, according to the survey that pointed out that 47% of the consumers in households earning less than $40,000 a year, turned to the Internet for their mattress shopping. On the flipside, 39% of those in households earning more than $100,000 bought online.
The survey dug into brand recognition and included brands such as Tempur-pedic, Sealy, Serta, Simmons, Sleep Number, Stearns & Foster, Purple and Casper. UBS said that consumers most frequently cited Sealy (25%), followed by Sleep Number (24%), Purple (22%) and Casper (20%) when asked what brand they bought in a store.
The numbers shift when the survey turned to online purchases and what consumers say they bought. Purple was the most frequently cited brand at 23%, followed by Sleep Number (22%), Sealy (21%), Tempur-pedic (20%), Casper (19%), GhostBed (19%), Nectar (17%), Helix (16%), Tuft & Needle (15%), Saatva (15%), Leesa (15%), Loom & Leaf (13%) and others (13%).
UBS pointed out that Sleep Number jumped from No. 6 to No. 2, and Tempur-Pedic shifted from No. 5 to No. 4, and it said traditional brands continue to move toward an omnichannel sales strategy. The company also noted that several digitally native brands declined in the 2022 survey and said it sees potential for more consolidation like 3Z Brands recent acquisition of Nolah in the online bedding category. GhostBed bumped up its position six percentage points, and Loom & Leaf’s increased by two points.
When it comes to brand recognition, marketing and branding matter. The survey said 81% of consumers cited an awareness of Tempur-Pedic. Rounding out the top five were Sleep Number (79%), Sealy (72%), Casper (56%) and Purple (53%).
