Should I talk about new fire resistant bedding materials?
David Perry, Bedding Editor -- Furniture Today, February 4, 2007
Today's topic: How to sell mattresses with new fire-resistant materials.
Overview: Serta was the first national bedding producer to incorporate new fire-resistant materials throughout its bedding lines. Initially, that company made safety part of its marketing program, but later concluded that effort wasn't worthwhile.
No other national bedding producers have elected to actively market safety messages, even though some have introduced their own FR bedding lines. Suppliers of FR materials note that safety is a marketing theme in a number of industries — and they don't see why more bedding producers don't take that approach.
California was the first state in the nation to mandate that beds made for sale in that state must meet a new open flame flammability standard. A federal mattress flammability standard takes effect in July of 2007.
Challenges: Some sales associates say that bringing up the possibility of mattress fires is a negative. Most consumers, they say, don't view their mattress as being unsafe. Introducing a scary prospect into the sales process could spook some consumers, sales associates say. The subject of mattress fires must be handled carefully. A minus: Many consumers don't want to pay more for new levels of FR protection.
Opportunities: Some mattresses now for sale in the U.S. have significantly improved levels of open flame protection. Regulators say that offering improved FR protection in mattresses should help save lives. Mattresses with that protection can be marketed as providing state-of-the-art technology that brings peace of mind to consumers. In addition, retailers selling beds with new FR protection can tie in with various public safety groups and causes for social marketing programs.
What sales associates say:
Consumers don't care about FR protection: "We sell Serta, the company that has really gone after the fire-resistant mattresses. At first, we thought that FireBlocker would help to sell more beds. We quickly learned that consumers really don't care. FireBlocker doesn't sell more beds; it's just a nice feature that's there to protect people. Most consumers are still of the mindset, 'I don't smoke, so I won't have a house fire.' They think that a house fire can't happen to them and so they have no interest in buying a bed simply because it has FireBlocker. After the customer has purchased the bed and I hand them information on FireBlocker with their sales receipt, they are usually happy to hear that their new bedding has that extra feature, but they certainly didn't choose one brand over the other simply because we have FireBlocker bedding."
Consumers don't know about the dangers of mattress fires: "Consumers don't have the facts on how many people die in mattress fires. Unless they know someone who died in a fire, they don't think about it. Customers don't think about the percentage of people who die in a mattress fire. They think of the bed as their sanctuary."
It could be a negative: "It's not something that usually comes up. Sometimes the customer does ask about it, and then I explain it to them. Fire-resistant protection might be looked at as a negative. I might bring it up if I feel the customer will be receptive."
Consumers won't pay for it: "Consumers don't want to pay extra for a feature that they don't think they need. I constantly have parents walk into my store and say: 'I need your cheapest twin mattress. I don't want anything at all fancy, it's just for my kid.' When it comes to paying more for something like fire safety, people just don't want to do it because they don't think there is a possibility of a house fire."
FR bedding a good thing: "I believe fire-resistant bedding is an excellent quality for mattresses to have. It has been proven to save lives and to give firefighters more time, which is essential during a fire. All mattress fires do not necessarily start because of smoking in bed. Fires can happen through candles, electrical problems, etc. I am happy to offer people this safety feature."
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