Mattress Brief: Consumers turn to Internet for info
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, January 11, 2009
ROSWELL, Ga. — The mind of today's mattress consumer is focused on free delivery, comfort, satisfaction and low price guarantees.
Those are some of the key findings of the latest Mattress Intelligence Brief published by The Retail Institute, a consulting firm based here. The brief provides insights into the thinking of consumers who are currently in the market for a new mattress or will be in the next six months.
The findings, gleaned from a survey of 351 consumers, demonstrate the power of the Internet as a consumer research tool. Consumer product Web sites are the top vehicle being used by mattress consumers, with 67% of the respondents rating those Web sites as their primary mattress research tool. Retail Web sites were second, cited by 45% of survey respondents. Internet search engines, cited by 41% of the respondents, were third on the list, with manufacturers' Web sites next at 39%.
“For those retailers with a mediocre presence online,” the brief said, “the message is loud and clear. Now is the time to invest in a Web site that is not only easy to navigate, but, more importantly, a site that provides consumers with key information on products and services to drive them into your store.”
The Retail Institute is headed by mattress veteran Craig McAndrews, and specializes in the study of consumer behavior and the development of sales training programs to improve the mattress buying experience. The Mattress Intelligence Briefs are published quarterly. The latest brief incorporates survey data from the fourth quarter of '08.
That brief also looks at factors influencing consumers on where to shop. It found that newspapers continue to pack plenty of clout in that area, with 58% of the consumers using newspaper ads to determine where to shop. Advice from friends and family was also very important, cited by 52% of the respondents, with direct mail flyers (45%), television ads (42%) and the Internet (32%) following in order of importance, according to the survey respondents.
In addition, the brief looks at factors that influence consumers' decisions at the point of sale. “Consumers are heavily influenced at point of sale by a variety of factors which can ultimately determine whether they buy, or whether they shop around,” the brief said.
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