We all know that mattress retail is challenging these days. That’s why it’s comforting to know about a group of shoppers with plenty of money to spend, who list master bedroom mattresses high on their shopping lists, and who overwhelmingly say their financial situation is good or excellent. And they plan to purchase three home furnishings products this year, spending, on average, $5,000 in total.
As you might have imagined, we are talking about high-income shoppers, the darlings of the home furnishings industry these days. At a time when inflation is pinching many home furnishings shoppers, these well-off consumers have the resources to buy what they want.
Consumer Insights Now, in its latest round of consumer research, sponsored by Bread Financial, presents a compelling overview of high-income shoppers, those reporting household incomes of $150,000 or more. All of the respondents in our online survey purchased or plan to purchase home furnishings in 2026, and are either the primary or joint furniture-purchase decision-maker.
The survey results are particularly encouraging for mattress retailers, especially those who worry about Amazon eating into their market share.
Mattresses are No. 3 on the plan-to-purchase list for high-income households this year, with 35% saying they plan to purchase a mattress for their primary/master bedroom. Only sofas/sectionals, cited by 47% of high-income consumers, and area rugs, cited by 39% of those consumers, rank higher on their shopping lists.
And those high-income consumers are also looking for mattresses for other rooms in their homes, with 13% saying they plan to purchase a mattress for a guest bedroom and 7% saying they plan to purchase a mattress for a child’s bedroom. And it’s a pretty safe bet that they won’t be looking for the cheapest mattress for their guest or child’s bedrooms.
Quality is of overwhelming importance to high-income shoppers, our survey found. Ninety percent of those shoppers say they are willing to pay more for quality, while just 10% of them are price-focused.
And where will these high-income consumers be looking for mattresses? Amazon is far down on their list of shopping destinations. Here, national furniture and mattress chains have a big edge, with 72% of high-income shoppers saying they will be looking to those retailers. That’s more than for any other channel of distribution, by a wide margin.
The No. 2 channel targeted by high-income shoppers is big-box retailers, cited by 43% of respondents. That’s about the same percentage as for local or regional furniture/mattress stores (42%) and home specialty retailers (also 42%). Next is Wayfair, cited by 35% of respondents. Amazon was also cited by 35% of respondents.
Amazon does sell high-end mattresses, but it makes a major push on low-end mattresses, dominating the commodity end of the market and now making inroads into the middle price points. But with high-income shoppers, Amazon surrenders a more than two-to-one edge to national furniture and mattress chains on their shopping plans.
Mattress manufacturers serving high-income consumers face a potential challenge, our survey finds. Just under half (44%) of high-income consumers say they typically shop for the same mattress brands. While that’s a solid core base of consumers for mattress makers, the findings open the door for competitors to make their mark, as 56% of high-income shoppers say they will be looking at different mattress brands.
When it comes to retailers, 48% of high-income consumers typically shop at the same mattress retailers, while 52% shop at different mattress retailers.
These results underscore the importance of advertising and promotion for mattress makers and mattress retailers who want to gain ground with high-income consumers. Standing pat could give aggressive competitors an edge.
Yes, high-income shoppers are a wonderful market to be serving these days. But neither retailers nor manufacturers can take their positions for granted with these well-to-do consumers.
