New FR standard creates opportunity to boost sales
David Perry, Bedding editor -- Furniture Today, June 3, 2007
Anew standard on fire-resistant mattresses offers the bedding industry an opportunity to add peace of mind to its long-established marketing messages of sleep quality and comfort.
And it also offers the industry an unprecedented chance to significantly boost sales of bedding, according to consultant Don Hofmann. The former Simmons marketing exec has spent several months researching FR issues and reflecting on their significance. He's convinced that a huge opportunity presents itself, but it's one that the industry must seize, he says.
The opportunity: Mattress purchase intent increases dramatically when consumers are told about the reasoning behind the new federal mattress FR standard.
Hofmann has been sharing his findings with key industry groups in the last few months. He recently made the case for an FR opportunity in an address at Furniture/Today's Bedding Conference, a sold-out event held at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, Texas.
The heart of his case is based on consumer research done for Louisville Bedding, the world's largest mattress pad producer, which has since entered the FR arena with its FireDefender mattress and box spring protector product.
The research surveyed 415 married women 25 or older and was conducted after the federal government announced the establishment of the national FR standard, which goes into effect July 1. In the study, the women were told why the federal government has established the new mattress standard: The standard "is based on the goal of preventing mattresses and box springs from igniting ... in the event of a fire, allowing more time for people to exit the home safely and more time for firefighters to contain the fire."
In addition, the consumers were given this information: "Prior to this law taking effect, it is estimated that mattresses and bedding were the first items to ignite in 15,300 residential fires each year, which resulted in 350 deaths, 1,750 injuries and $295 million in property loss annually."
That information had a major impact on the women, the study results found. Almost 64% of the women said they would consider buying a new mattress set after hearing about the new FR standard. That is more than five times the normal bedding purchase intent, which is currently at 12%, according to Hofmann.
The findings also show that purchase intent rises dramatically based on the age of the consumer's current mattress. While 49.4% of women with a mattress one to two years old say they would consider buying a new mattress, based on their new FR knowledge, the figure rises to 61% for women with a bed three to five years old. Mattress purchase intent is 71.2% for women with a bed that is six to eight years old, and soars to 80.5% for women with a mattress that is at least nine years old.
The research also found that women said they would expect to pay more for fire-resistant bedding. Almost 89% of the women said they would anticipate paying more than $500 for a new FR mattress set, versus about 62% currently. And 28.1% anticipate paying more than $1,000, a higher number than the current industry standard, Hofmann said.
In addition, the research found that 84% of women who would not consider buying a new FR mattress set would buy an FR mattress pad set.
Hofmann shared two pie charts with his Bedding Conference audience. One shows that without FR communications, mattress purchase intent is 12% and mattress pad purchase intent is 14%. The other shows that with FR communications, mattress purchase intent is 64% and mattress pad purchase intent is 30%.
Which of those two charts do you want? Hofmann asked his audience. He noted that if the industry does not talk about the new FR standard, it will be looking for business in a market in which only 12% of consumers are interested in purchasing a mattress. But the addition of FR communications brings a huge increase in mattress purchase intent, he noted.
"We haven't seen an opportunity like this," Hofmann said. "We can sell peace of mind."
While the feature of new FR-protected beds is that they resist ignition, the peace-of-mind benefit they provide is a substantial one, he said. Consumers with new FR beds have 30 minutes in which the family can get out of the home and the firefighters can get in. And those new beds will save lives and protect consumers' valuable property.
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