According to Fast Company’s State of Consumer Behavior report, 83% of consumers are more likely to return to your store after a positive in-store experience. In comparison, 63% of shoppers will spend more per visit with a positive in-store experience.
As mattress retailers struggle with declining foot traffic, it becomes more important than ever to provide an excellent in-store experience for every person who walks in the door.
Bedgear has represented this mindset with its innovative retail displays that both attract customers to it as well as educate them on the product.
“Bedgear’s displays stand out on our showroom floor,” says Bill Papettas, president and CEO of Mattress Warehouse. “The sleek design and educational elements make Performance bedding an easy conversation starter, helping our team guide customers to their perfect sleep solution.”
Stacey McCormick, executive vice president of retail performance and merchandising at Broad River Retail, shares a similar sentiment.
“Bedgear’s retail displays make it easy for our customers to find the right Performance pillow to enhance their sleep,” he says. “The interactive setup encourages shoppers to test products in a way that feels engaging and personalized.”
To learn more about the company’s displays as well as the thinking and success behind them, Bedding News Now caught up with Jonah Nelson, Bedgear’s senior director of brand experience.
“The consumer shopping experience is a big part of what we focus on as a brand,” Nelson explains. “And when we think of innovating, we don’t want that innovation to stop at our product and how we approach it. We want all of our touch points — whether it’s marketing assets and materials to in-store displays — to reflect that same quality of innovation that we build into the products themselves. This stems from the idea of being able to stand out from the crowd and create a more consumer-friendly and engaging shopping experience for the category.
The consumer experience is something the mattress industry has had a hard time with, Nelson explains. That’s why breaking through the noise with useful and entertaining displays can be helpful. The displays are also free to Bedgear dealers and are matched to dealers based on their retail strategy.
“Our founder Eugene Alletto makes it very clear when people come into our space that everything from the product to the displays is a menu for retailers to choose from in terms of how they want to activate our brand in their store,” Nelson says.”It’s interesting to me that the bedding category still does 85%-90% of its business brick and mortar. And I would say that the majority of online or e-commerce transactions still involve a consumer going to a brick-and-mortar store to do more research. We see a lot of value in creating that improved experience and standing out on the floor.”
Many of Bedgear’s display materials fit into areas of showrooms that are typically underused by retailers — like wall space. The company takes advantage of vertical wall space to tell a story with its pillows and sheets. Instead of having accessories in a different section, everything can be grouped together by utilizing wall space.
“We fit in small windows between mattresses with our protectors and sheet displays so that they can be incorporated into that sales process,” Nelson says. “And then we work hard to integrate into that sales approach with our customers and make sure that the display supports their process on the floor.”
The company has several display options, but one of the newer tools is the Fit pillow. This pillow uses an air mechanism to inflate and deflate a single pillow. With four profiles of pillows available from Bedgear, a remote control can change the feel of the pillow. This eliminates the need to switch out pillows and can help make the sales process smoother.
“This is a neat concept that we’re working to improve,” Nelson says. “You’re not swapping out four pillows underneath the customer’s head while they’re trying to get fit. There is a proprietary mechanism inside that includes sensors and air bladders that allow us to replicate those four different profiles within one product to make that fit experience a little more seamless and engaging for the consumer.”
The winter Las Vegas Market was the first time the company tested the concept, and it is gathering feedback to make the product even better.
Another unique tool the company offers is the Fitting Booth, which is a giant immersive booth where customers can be fit for a mattress. Nelson says the company is starting to get traction around that with some key retailers and looking to expand that program. It started with just a few select retailers and also uses proprietary technology in terms of generating body scans that allow it to compare body types from a database of millions of data points that Bedgear has been gathering.
“The booth has been successful with our pilot test partners out in the marketplace,” Nelson says. “And they don’t only suggest Bedgear beds; they will direct a customer to the best mattress for them, no matter the brand.”
The most popular display, according to Nelson, is the pillow display with pinwheels that shows how air flows straight through the pillow, promoting a cooler night’s sleep.
“We’ve been expanding the number of locations that have this pillow display on the floor,” Nelsons says. “Last year, we put this in about 200 locations, and this year it will probably be closer to about 300 locations. We’re ramping up that execution on the floor. We are very passionate about our retail displays and how we bring the brand to life. They are a huge opportunity for everybody to continue to improve that consumer journey and that shopping experience.”
I am curious: does Bedgear supply the retailer with these incredible displays, or does the retailer have to purchase them?