Kingsdown rolls out fourth-generation sleep diagnostic system

Helps retailers find right beds for consumers

David Perry -- Furniture Today, May 3, 2011

Frank Hood, left, and Lee Hinshaw of Kingsdown show the company’s new bedMatch system, which helps retailers find the right mattresses for their customers.

MEBANE, N.C. — Kingsdown's newest computer diagnostic system is helping retailers match the right beds to their customers' needs.

The Top 10 bedding producer's new system, called bedMatch, is the fourth - and best - version of the diagnostic selling program that has helped set Kingsdown apart in the bedding marketplace for more than a decade, company officials said.

Kingsdown rolled out the new bedMatch program, which features better science and a more robust user experience, earlier this year. More than half of the dealers who use Kingsdown's diagnostic system will have the new bedMatch program in place by the Memorial Day holiday, the traditional kickoff for the important summer bedding sales season, said Eric Hinshaw, CEO of Kingsdown.

The bedMatch program, which offers dual diagnostic beds, is based on an interactive computer system that uses 18 statistical measurements and more than 1,000 calculations to determine a sleeper's optimal surface pressure and postural support needs. It then uses that information to scientifically recommend the type of mattress best suited for that sleeper.

A major new feature of the bedMatch program is that it is "brand agnostic," meaning that it can recommend all qualified bedding brands that a retailer wants to include in the program. The Sleep to Live Institute, a subsidiary of Kingsdown, will test the other beds, inviting the retailer and the manufacturer to watch the testing, if they wish.

Earlier Kingsdown diagnostic programs recommended only Kingsdown beds. By expanding the program to incorporate other brands that retailers want to include, Kingsdown is giving consumers information they want, said Frank Hood, president of the Sleep to Live Institute.

"Consumers want as much information as possible, and they appreciate transparency in the process," he said. And Kingsdown demonstrates its commitment to help retailers find the best beds for their consumers, regardless of whose beds are recommended, Hood added.

BedMatch is the fourth version of the diagnostic approach to mattress selection that Kingsdown introduced to the market with the launch of its DormoDiagnostics system in 1997. The second version, Body Diagnostics, debuted in 2006. Two years later Kingsdown brought out its Sleep to Live Diagnostics program, which included recommendations for personalized sleep systems produced by Kingsdown.

The new bedMatch program incorporates the third generation of diagnostic science developed by Kingsdown, refined with insights from the Mattress Matters Study, which examined how consumers rated mattresses of various firmness levels, Kingsdown officials said.

Mattress recommendations will be listed on a printout given to the consumer in the order of the best fit for the consumer, or based on retail prices, depending on the wishes of the retailer. All of the Kingsdown My Side personalized sleep beds floored will be recommended, along with other beds that meet the consumers' sleep needs.

On the average, eight to 10 bed options will be presented to the consumer, officials said.

The bedMatch program includes a pillowMatch component, enabling the retailer to recommend one of four pillows - goosedown, fiber, latex or memory foam - designed to complement the recommended mattress. Retail sales associates can sell the pillows as part of the mattress purchase process, or can sell them as a post sale add-on purchase.

The system reminds shoppers that the pillow is an important component of a good night's sleep. "When you change your mattress," the consumer printout says, "remember to change your pillow."

Kingsdown officials said the bedMatch system gives retailers a way to stand apart from the competition, offering something more than just price and brand selection.

Diagnostic selling yields significant benefits for retailers, they said. Almost 60% of the consumers who completed a diagnostic test offered by Kingsdown in the last two years purchased a mattress, with an average purchase price, in queen, of $2,400. Consumer feedback on that process was "extremely positive," with consumers seeing the science in the system as "highly credible," officials said.

The new bedMatch program is backed by retail support materials, including two television ads and a variety of print ads.