Mattress shoppers favor decorative displays

Survey reveals consumers are less drawn to plainly dressed beds

Seven in 10 consumers say they are more drawn to elaborate top-of-bed displays than more plainly dressed mattresses, according to a survey commissioned by Colonial LLC and released earlier this year. A slightly higher number—75%—say they expect “top-quality brands” to have more attractive displays than “lesser-known brands.”

“Understanding what the mattress consumer is thinking when they are shopping in a mattress showroom can go a long way to help retailers exceed customer expectations and sell more beds,” says Britt Beemer, chairman and chief executive officer of America’s Research Group, which conducted the survey on behalf of Colonial, a display and branding services company based in High Point, North Carolina.

For the research, 20 identical queen-size bed sets—all private-label, plush pillow-tops with a suggested retail price of $799—were set up at a home show in Charlotte, North Carolina, and dressed with 20 different top-of-bed displays that varied in terms of style, colors, fabrics, sales aids and marketing collateral. Visitors to the show were queried about the displays over a three-day period. All respondents, who received a nominal fee for participating in the survey, said they planned to buy a mattress within the next 12 months.

Other findings from the survey:

O  Seven in 10 respondents said it’s “very important” to them to know how a mattress is constructed.

O  One in two respondents said hanging pockets and signs “do the poorest job” of providing needed information about bed sets.

O  Three in four respondents said they don’t want to watch an informational mattress video—whether it be on a smartphone, tablet or computer monitor—while shopping in a store.

“There are so many opinions as to what looks best when it comes to mattress displays,” said Mark Hobson, Colonial president. “Yet few marketers have unlimited budgets or the desire to gamble with their presentation and sales results. Having knowledge of what the consumer thinks about the category should help us figure out what really works best.”