Tailor messages to reach key female consumers
Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, August 26, 2010
Karrie Forbes, a 13-year veteran of Houston-based Mattress Firm, discussed the ways her company connects with consumers in an address at Furniture/Today's Bedding Conference. One key: Mattress Firm understands that gender is a powerful differentiator in how men and women view the world.
The chart above, which Forbes presented during her talk, reveals some differences in how men and women view the mattress shopping experience. And those differences present opportunities for smart retailers to tailor their messages accordingly, Forbes said.
On a macro level, we would suggest that insights like those can help retailers focus their advertising messages. Women - and men, too, for that matter - are interested in broad selection. "Broad selection" is a great message for retail ads. Do consumers really want to visit three mattress stores to find a new bed? We think not.
And giving consumers a guarantee that they will sleep more comfortably is wise, although the details of such a guarantee will vary by retailer. The bottom line here is that consumers are looking for comfort. That is the number one attribute consumers say they want in a sleep set, according to research conducted for Furniture/Today. Smart retailers should talk a lot about comfort.
The sales associate messaging can present a challenge. It may not be a wise idea to simply declare that the store has trustworthy sales associates; trust has to be earned, after all. But retailers can talk about having veteran sales associates who are trained to meet consumers' needs.
While Forbes described a number of steps that Mattress Firm takes to connect with its consumers, she also stressed the importance of research. If you are running a store, do you know what attributes consumers want?
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