The BSC and Sleep Savvy team up to create a fun, interactive infographic to give retailers insight into their customers and help generate more sales
Looking for helpful, easy-to-understand information to gain insight into today’s consumers? The Better Sleep Council and Sleep Savvy have just the ticket for you.
In May, this publication and the BSC, the consumer-education arm of the International Sleep Products Association, are launching an interactive infographic, “A Mini Field Guide to the Mattress Shopper,” which includes consumer shopping habits, as well as sleep needs and preferences, to help retail sales associates learn more about their customers and nab more sales.
“Our goal is to provide our industry insights into today’s consumer and what they are thinking, how they shop and their perceptions on sleep and their mattress,” says Mary Helen Rogers, ISPA vice president of marketing and communications. “We wanted to develop an evergreen resource that RSAs and anyone selling sleep products can access. We will debut the interactive digital infographic this month during ‘May Is Better Sleep Month’ and will continue to add details and information to the resource each year, giving more insights into today’s consumer.”
The animated infographic, housed at SleepProducts.org, is a playful, easily digestible and visual way to review consumer statistics and to understand the nuances of shoppers by age and gender. Profiles analyze male and female shoppers in three age brackets: 18 to 34, 35 to 54, and 55 and older.
For example, younger consumers (ages 18 to 34) typically are buying their first mattress and 25% how no idea what brand or type of mattress they are sleeping on. But we do know some things about how they sleep and what they want: 60% are side sleepers, 32% want a hypoallergenic mattress, 21% want a firm-edge mattress, 15% could be sold a bed frame, 11% could be sold pillows and 17% are considering adjustable bases. In addition, 78% want enough room for two people on a queen-size or king-size mattress—unfortunately, they’re willing to pay only $400 to $600 for one.
The field guide also offers tips specific to each generation. For instance, chances are younger consumers have never considered buying a bed. RSAs may need to take time to educate them on which mattress might suit them best.
How did the BSC and Sleep Savvy glean these insights into bedding consumers? The digital shopper profiles were synthesized from an extensive analysis of existing proprietary BSC data. First, the BSC consumer research conducted in 2016 offers a robust look at mattress shopping behavior, along with people’s changing attitudes about sleep. For example, trends that emerged from this project indicate consumers’ expectations of a mattress’ life span have dropped below the 10-year mark for the first time since 1996. (For more about the 2016 consumer research study, see the January/February, March and April 2017 issues of Sleep Savvy at SleepSavvyMagazine.com.)
Second, the BSC has accumulated a wealth of consumer self-reported consumer data through the Better Bed Quizzz, which launched in 2016. Currently, 78% of users who start the quiz finish it, offering mattress-buying support to consumers and valuable data on consumer behavior to the BSC via Google Analytics reporting. The BSC will continue to incorporate this data into the field guide as more consumers complete the quiz.
“Everyone sleeps, but not everyone prioritizes it the same way,” Rogers says. “We all have opinions, likes and a specific budget in mind. When RSAs have an understanding of who they are talking to and, in general, their shopping behaviors and preferences, it can shorten the buying cycle and allow for a greater opportunity for up-sale and accessory sales.”
