The growing number of health-conscious consumers has boosted the mattress market immensely over the years. With disposable income on the rise, more and more consumers are willing to spend generously on health-enhancing products. Insufficient or poor quality sleep can lead to depression, reduced concentration, high blood pressure and heart disease. Consequently, considering the increasing need for quality sleep, mattress sales have increased worldwide.
IMARC Group, a leading market research firm, predicts that the global mattress market will grow at a CAGR of around 7% between 2021 and 2026. Global mattress market revenues reached $30.3 billion in 2019 and this is expected to rise to $44.0 billion by 2025.1
COVID-19 is impacting business worldwide, with no exceptions for the mattress market
According to the “e-Commerce in the Global Mattress Industry, 2020” report, online channels, which have already begun to erode brick-and-mortar stores, are growing. The report points out that the online mattress market was already on a growth path, recording a 30% increase in 2019, with varying trends across the globe. The United States is by far the largest market; in Europe, the rise of the online mattress market in Germany has been remarkable; and in the Asia-Pacific region, the booming Chinese market is driving growth.2
In addition, the work-from-home situation caused by pandemic-related closures in many countries has forced millions of people to stay home. This has resulted in increased spending on home furnishings3, including a greater appreciation of bedroom furniture.
Rising consumer preference for online shopping offers promising opportunities
One major trend that is undeniably gaining traction is online shopping, which is also expected to be a major opportunity in the global mattress industry. Due to ease of use, availability of a wide range of products, ability to compare prices, and door-to-door delivery, online shopping is now highly preferred by consumers – a factor that can be leveraged by mattress manufacturers.
As online retailers emerge and e-commerce websites offer increasing convenience, consumers are making fewer trips to brick-and-mortar stores. Retailers are thus benefiting both from consumers’ desire to shop online and from cutting overhead and inventory costs. Offline distribution channels have the advantage that an end-user can get advice from professional sales personnel. But, according to Grand View Research, online sales channels in the global home bedding market in 2020 are expected to register a CAGR of 10.2% from 2021 to 2028.4
Challenges during the mattress online purchasing process
A mattress is not an everyday purchase. It is a significant investment, both financially and in terms of sleep and overall health. Therefore, it is only natural that buyers want to get it right.
Considering the number of products on the market, finding the best mattress can be very difficult as there is often a lack of professional objective consultation.
When customers buy a mattress offline, professional advice, ideally, is provided in-store. However, such advice is often non-existent when choosing a mattress online. Customers research mattresses to better understand each of their comfort and performance attributes. But reading product descriptions online does not tell them if a particular mattress will suit their own characteristics, like height, weight and sleeping position preferences.
Moreover, most online mattress manufacturers offer weeks or months of guarantees during which consumers can return a mattress for a full refund. But there is a downside to such free trials. Regardless of whether a mattress is thrown away or recycled, it is a wasteful practice. The financial and environmental impact of the logistics and waste, the hassle of sending it back and the general dissatisfaction on both sides is not something to be pleased about.
Revolutionary AI and biomechanical solution enables ideal online recommendations
Other providers of mattress recommendation engines rely exclusively on data entered manually by customers, such as height, weight, and sleeping position. However, if you want to stand out from the competition and create a sustainable offering that reduces return rates and increases customer satisfaction, you need a scientific approach like the Motesque mattress solution. Our AI based biomechanical technology combines personal data with two full-body photos (front and side) of the customer. On this basis, an individual 3D avatar is then created to simulate the different lying positions on all of the provider’s mattresses previously measured.
We create a physical simulation that puts a 3D avatar on different mattresses and calculates a whole night of sleep and how your spine deforms during the night. Our software takes into account several parameters – like curvature of the spine from the side, maximum sinking depth, torso tilt and more – and combines these with a picture of the body that shows the customer’s proportions. In this way, we can predict and recommend on a scientific basis.
Exactly your style
Our solution becomes an integral part of your brand, and we provide it as a white label solution for online and in-store selling in your own individual CI. Every mattress is unique. Therefore, using a short procedure, each mattress is measured individually. In this way, specific parameters can be determined and matched with customer requirements.
Our measurement equipment runs a specified measuring pattern completely autonomously, and for a single mattress we record more than a hundred and fifty measurements and two million data points. We have developed a portal CNC machine with a special strain-gauge-based test head that automatically scans each mattress with different sized test-stamp contact plates in different grid widths. This allows us to capture the viscoelastic properties of each individual mattress. Once the mattress profile is created, it can be used in online stores as well as in physical stores worldwide.
Because health is our most precious asset
The mechanical properties of a mattress change significantly in the first thirty minutes of use because it is an elastic material that changes depending on the temperature. For this reason, customers cannot decide whether a particular mattress is actually suitable after testing it for just a few minutes. With our AI-based solution, we simulate the lying-down test in just a few seconds. The ideal mattress is then suggested, including an individual evaluation that explains which characteristics of the mattress guarantee, e.g. an ergonomically correct sleeping position. Lying correctly will lead to more energy for the day as you fall asleep faster, your deep sleep phases are longer and you simply feel more rested.
More than ever, a trending change in consumer behavior resulting from the impact of COVID-19 is definitely an increasing awareness of health. Our mattress solution for healthy sleep and overall well-being improves not only the user experience, but manufacturers and retailers also demonstrate a decisive competitive advantage by valuing the customer’s health. Consumers are far more health conscious than they used to be. According to Accenture, health is currently consumers’ top priority.
It is our mission to keep people healthy and to improve their quality of life through biomechanical solutions. With our unique solution, we evaluate using reliable, scientific parameters, we take health and environmental aspects into account, and we advocate for the ease of use of digital solutions by utilizing AI and biomechanics in the cloud.
If you are interested in more information about our game-changing mattress solution
Author
Carolin Hamacher
Marketing Manager at Motesque