More consumers are now purchasing their mattresses online rather than in a store.
That’s according to The National Bed Federation (NBF) who has revealed the results of its latest consumer research report, undertaken twice a year to gauge consumer bed buying habits and trends.
The survey*, carried out on a sample of 500 people who had purchased a mattress from September 2017 through to the end of February 2018, showed that 51% of purchases were made online compared to 47% in-store.
Said Simon Williams, marketing manager of the NBF: “This is the first time our consumer research has shown that online bed purchasing is preferable than buying in-store, confirming the steady rise of internet shopping and e-commerce.
“It was also interesting to see the research showed there was little difference among the age groups this time, demonstrating that the over 55s are now as comfortable as their younger counterparts when it comes to using the internet to make purchases.”
Other interesting findings included:
- Mattress only (flat) sales were down from 44.5% on the previous report to 40.2%. Roll up mattresses were up from 11.2% to 17.2%, making the share of mattress only sales 57.4% of all bed products purchased.
- 65% of those aged over 55 bought a mattress on its own, compared to just 45% under 35 years old.
- Mattress and bedsteads accounted for 25% of sales (up from 21%) and divan sets 17.6% (down from 22%), indicating there may be a decline in the traditional divan set.
- Pocket springs are still the most popular mattress core (44%) with memory foam the most popular comfort layer (38%).
- More people are choosing king size (31%, up from 24%) but the standard double is still the most popular bed size (44%).
- The average price paid for a new bed/mattress was £505.70 (up from £476.28), with the under 35s spending the most on their new bed (average spend £535.80).
- Purchases made at the big national bed specialists and local independent bed stores were down year-on-year (19% vs 23% and 9% vs 15%) whereas buying from the ‘one size fits all’ tech start-up companies (Eve, Casper, Simba etc) more than doubled going from 2% to 5% of market share.
- The most important factor in the purchasing decision was Price at 58%, followed closely by Comfort (56%).
As the recognised trade association representing UK manufacturers of beds and their suppliers, the NBF produces the twice yearly research to give members insight into their market and provide extra data to inform decisions about production, product development, routes to market and promotion
*The survey was carried out by ‘DJS Research’, based on a broadly representative sample of 500 people – by age, gender and region – who had purchased a bed/mattress from September 2017 to the end of February 2018.
