Duxiana's 'sleep rooms' win business
By David Perry -- Furniture Today, July 4, 2005
New York — Consumers who visit the Duxiana store in Union Square here can try out the Swedish-made mattresses in the privacy of their own "sleep room."
The retailer has two rooms in the back of its showroom here where customers can literally sleep on any of the company's three Dux beds to see how they feel.
The beds in the sleep rooms sport fresh linens and pillows. The rooms are outfitted with lights that dim and surround-sound stereo systems. Customers have up to three hours to experience the luxuries of high coil-count, zoned sleep sets cushioned with latex and cotton.
The store's employees close the doors of the sleep rooms and let the customers try out the beds in complete privacy. The naked truth is that some customers completely avail themselves of the unique opportunity to try out a new sleep set.
"I've had people in there as little as 20 minutes or as long as three hours," said a Dux employee. "I set a time limit."
The rooms give couples an opportunity to discuss the bedding without a salesperson hanging on their every word.
"They use the time to discuss the purchase privately," the employee said. "They lie there totally relaxed."
Later, when employees ask how they liked the bed, the answers are overwhelmingly positive.
"It isn't only the fact that they have an enjoyable experience," an employee noted. "Part of the value is that the rooms express our confidence in the products. We are not trying to sell anyone anything. This is the most relaxed sales presentation you will ever see."
The close rate for customers who try out the sleep rooms is well above 50%. And the beds are not inexpensive; they generally retail from about $4,000 to $6,500 in queen. The average sales ticket in the store here is about $5,500.
The rooms answer a question that nags at many consumers who shop for beds: How will the beds feel when you actually sleep on them?
"Consumers say, 'How do I know how the beds feel unless I sleep on them?'" the employee said. "We heard that often enough that we now have the rooms and we can say, 'How much time do you have?' "
Dux North America has over 30 stores across the country, including some, like the store on Broadway, that are company owned. President Bo Gustafsson says the company hopes to install more of the sleep rooms where possible.
"Going forward, we will implement them as we can," he said. "They are tremendously helpful to us."
A great sleeping experience is a powerful sales tool. Gustafsson recalled the delighted reaction of one customer: "She fell asleep and then came out of the room and said, 'I have to have this bed'."
