Mattress Sales Remain ‘Challenged’ in November

Retailers report slight sales uptick for Black Friday holiday weekend.

Black Friday weekend sales were up slightly, but that was one of the few highlights for mattress retailers in November, a new survey says.

Piper Sandler’s November Mattress Retailer Survey found participating retailers reporting total sales growth down by a mean of 14%, with units falling by a mean of 19%. That was on par with the performance for the worst months of the year.

“The results suggest the October weakness was more than just pre-election advertising crowding out industry spend,” Piper Sandler says. “Black Friday weekend holiday sales were a high point of the month at up by a mean of 1% and a median of 2%, showing that consumers are still showing up for major selling periods.”

New York-based Piper Sandler conducts its surveys each month, checking in with a sample of retailers around the country.

Retailers’ outlook for the fourth quarter remains unchanged; retailers expect fourth-quarter sales to be down by a mean of 10%.

Piper Sandler says that November was “another challenged month,” with sales effectively “inline with October and inline with the worst months of the year – May and June.”

The average unit price increased by a mean of 8% in November.