Low innerspring scores raise no ruckus
It’s the case of the lion that didn’t roar.
I thought the provocative findings of our recent “Rating Sleep Surfaces” study would bring forth howls of protest from the innerspring side of the business, which did not fare well in the study. But I’ve heard very little response to the survey findings. Maybe everyone took some time off after the recent Las Vegas Market.
Our supplement on sleep surface ratings found that airbeds have the highest percentage of satisfied consumers, followed closely by memory foam beds. Latex bed owners generally rated their beds as giving them an excellent or good night of sleep.
In every survey, someone has to come out on the bottom. In this study, it was innerspring bed owners. Only 36% of them said they are getting an excellent or good night of sleep. Ouch! The owners of innerspring beds cushioned with specialty foams were more positive about their beds, with more than half saying they are getting an excellent or good night of sleep.
We didn’t correlate the price of the bed with the satisfaction level, so we don’t know how many of those low-scoring innerspring beds were low-priced models. We suspect many of them were inexpensive beds, which shouldn’t be expected to score as well as much more expensive, more luxurious beds.
What do you think? Did innerspring beds get an unfair rap in the study? Or are specialty sleep sets clearly superior?
Kennesaw Tom commented:
Times are tough. People are hurting. For some, despite our best efforts at educating them about "better sleep", $399 is a major purchase. As those customers run out of the air bladder and ton-o-margin stores, I will be more than happy to sell them the best bed they can buy for their budget . . . . and, more often than not, that is an innerspring product. Don't even start about "cost-per-night" or financing!!!
Thinker commented:
Dave,
I also do not want to give you a hard time, only shed some light on the other side of that issue. You have brought up some great points for us to think about and some good debate is good for any issue if you ask me. Keep up the excellent work!
Respectfully,
The Thinker
Dave Perry commented:
Dear Thinker: I agree with you that such a comfort test would be an interesting exercise. And, yes, that would be an apples to apples comparison. But it is important to note that we did not use that kind of methodology in our survey, which was a self-rating survey. I also want to say that I'm not trying to give you a hard time. You are raising good points. I'm just trying to encourage a broader discussion of why some consumers aren't happy with their beds. If you think about it, this could be an extremely important area to study. If we can closely correlate consumer satisfaction with purchase price, we have very valuable information to give to RSAs. Anyway, thanks for keeping the discussion going.
Thinker commented:
Okay Dave, one more try...here we go. All I am trying to say is that more people sleep on low end mattress made with innersprings. I would imagine that they are getting caught in this sample as well. There should be a comfort test challange...three beds; one innerspring, one visco, and one air set to a single firmness. All selling at a $2,000 retail price point. (In other words apples to apples.) Let's test them out and see who wins the comfort game.
Dave Perry commented:
Dear Thinker: Nice try. Just answer this question: Why are so many people who bought innerspring beds less than happy with the sleep they are getting on them? Since innerspring has the lion's share of the bedding market, this is an important question to address, I would think.
Thinker commented:
Dave, no disrespect but you may be missing the point. How many innerspring customers polled were sleeping on a bed over $1,500? I am going to imagine that 90% of the specialty sleep consumers are and it is something less...much less than that on the innerspring side. So...is it fair to compare a $699 (or pick your price point) innerspring product to a $1,500 specialty sleep product?
Dave Perry commented:
Folks: You are missing a key point. The scores are given by owners of each type of bedding. Innerspring owners themselves rate their sleep as poor, while specialty sleep owners rate their sleep as good or better. The question you should be addressing is: Why aren't innerspring owners happy with their beds?
Sandman commented:
There is no doubt that the survey can not be credible if you don't take into account the price point. Where the majority of beds in the "specialty sleep" category are north of $1,500, innerspring beds hit every price point. If you are good comparing apples to oranges then this survey is fine.
Jake commented:
How many people pay $2-$3,000 for an inferior product and then say to themselves and those around them---"I was a fool to have been duped so badly".....
Lisa S. commented:
I recently switched from all latex back to innerspring. (Avoiding name brands here, but you probably know what I went back to). I loved my latex for the first few years, but realized it was softer than what I needed.
All those satisfied airbed people... I'd love to hear from them. I see the unsatisfied ones weekly. They come straight to us from the airbed store. It is usually the high pressure of the airbed store that gets them. I have a salesman who more than once, has called the airbed store and said "Mrs. Doe has already purchased from us, please quit calling her."
There were quite a few details left out of this study.
DH commented:
When was the last time someone slept on an innerspring bed? With all the foam, latex, memory foam, etc. being put on these beds today, who feels the difference an innerspring offers? You'd have to sink more than 3 inches into the surface to feel the difference.
Warren Littrell commented:
Th bedding industry along with the retailers continue to talk out of both sides of their mouth. They continue to offer and advertise $99 matresses. The consumer understands why they should purchase the upperend models in other products but not mattresses. The long warranties are part of the problem. If it is being warrantied to 10 years then it should be comfortable for 10 years, right? We all know that is not true but the consumer does not. The ridiculous low price queen sets in advertising is killing the industry. No manufactuer or retailer wants to be the first to try to change it. So it goes.
JR commented:
Maybe the industry (manufactures and stores) should stop pushing price and instead focus on quality and the benefits of sleep. People are paying the same or more for their cell phone than promotional queen sets! If we cut warranties and raised unit selling price and quality we will all be better off.
Steve H commented:
I agree with Bedz; with most Latex, Memory Foam, and so called "specialty" beds being in the higher price range, it goes without saying that this survey is arse backwards. Metal and foam are not the same, they react differently and so do our bodies.
bedz commented:
As stated, if the price point/ satifaction correlation wasn't considered the whole survey is pointless. Just my 2C ......
Survey news commented:
Recently, Ruth Chris beat McDonald's in a customer satisfaction survey too.
I wonder who's winning that contest.
What a waiste of/print.
lol
