Mattress Metrics column examines data that matter
David Perry, Executive editor -- Furniture Today, January 4, 2010
The mattress industry needs to do a better job of handling numbers. So we've created a new column to help meet that need — Mattress Metrics. The first installment of this new feature, which will run 26 times this year, is set for next week's issue. This week, we want to explain what we are setting out to accomplish.
Our premise is that the industry often focuses on the wrong sorts of numbers, such as the length of the warranty or the number of coils in an innerspring bed. And numbers like those don't tell the true story of a mattress.
Take the warranty numbers, for example. Producers slap long warranties on their sleep sets, spanning 15 or 20 years or even 25 or 30 years. Unfortunately, longer is not better when it comes to warranties. As an industry, we are not being honest with consumers when we tout those long warranties. The length of the warranty is not a guarantee of the comfort life of the mattress. How many consumers understand that fact?
Coil counts are subject to misinterpretation as well. There is no magic number of coils that guarantees a comfortable mattress. More coils might be better than fewer coils, but other factors enter in, like the cushioning materials and the design of the sleep set.
Our problem, as an industry, is that while mattresses can be quantified in any number of ways, none of those numbers, by themselves, guarantee a comfortable mattress. Comfort, alas, is subjective.
Our goal with Mattress Metrics is to give retailers and sales associates numbers that can help them sell more mattresses by providing insights on the mattress shopping experience — and on the mattress consumer.
In other words, we are aiming to change the dialogue in the industry. Rather than focusing on largely meaningless numbers like the length of a warranty, we are focusing on numbers that do matter, like how many consumers are interested in a new mattress, or when consumers say they will be ready to get back into the home furnishings market, or what retailers say they want in their mattress supplier. Those are some of the topics we will be covering in upcoming Mattress Metrics features.
We also are emphasizing the power of research. We believe the industry can elevate its level of professionalism by spending more time analyzing consumer behavior and other key industry dynamics.
With each Mattress Metrics feature we will share some key facts from research we conducted, or research that impressed us. Then we will provide our perspectives on that research. We hope to encourage the industry to think more deeply about how we connect with consumers. Finally, we will offer some key take-aways from the research — calls to action.
We hope you enjoy Mattress Metrics. And if you want to share any research with us, we will be happy to consider your studies and insights. Just send me an e-mail.
Contact David Perry at dperry@reedbusiness.com
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