Consider where the ad money is coming from in the mattress industry at the moment. No doubt, brick and mortar retailers are spending to bring people into their stores. Tempur-Pedic is banging their drum, although, considerably less than in previous years as I understand it. But outside of that, there is very little happening from the traditional manufacturers. Yes, they are doing some content marketing and investing in co-op as well as dabbling in some smaller campaigns perhaps, but nothing to really move the needle. (Warning: This last statement is totally irresponsible because it is not based on any hard data because I didn’t have access to those reports when writing this. The comment is based solely on my sense of things so if I have it wrong, send me a note and I will correct it! But I don’t think I do.)

So… as a brick and mortar retailer what sort of bait are you using to catch your fish. I don’t know a lot about Fishing but I know enough to say that you do your research before hitting your spot and use the bait that’s getting the action. Don’t consider what worked last time you were there either because it’s constantly changing.

If it were me I would give some serious thought to bringing in some of the bed in a box guys to my retail floor, at least the ones that are spending the ad money. Off the top of my head Purple, Casper, Leesa, Saatva, and Nectar are getting it done with television and a strong approach to the internet with ad words, display and content marketing, so aren’t they the Brands you should be advertising?  Makes sense to me but there are a few problems with this.

1. Not many of them are making a push into brick and mortar so you won’t have access to them.
2. Even if they were, I doubt they could compete with what you already have on your floor which is really odd given the fact that a lot of these guys started out saying that they were going to deliver much better values to the consumer. Uhhhhh, I don’t think so. (I have to exclude Purple from this however because they are not selling a foam bed like everyone else, they have intellectual property in their sleep tech, the beds are proven to perform in certain areas, and they feel very different from what’s in the market.)

What if you just brought these products on to your floors to give consumers a comparison to what you are carrying in your store and set up a tablet on a pedestal for them to use should they want to buy one. Don’t be foolish about it either, don’t attack the product just let the consumer see what it is, and actually give them a way to buy the bed so that you’re not breaking any laws with your comparison. If you really do offer value then you should be ale to overcome the e-commerce brands that are out there AND you give your customer a way to see those products in person. “Want to buy a bed on the internet? Fine, come on down we have some of the major brands in our stores for you to try PLUS our very own brand that will blow you away!”  The Original Mattress Factory used to do a brilliant job of this and they killed the traditional brands as a result.

I like products and stores that approach the consumer with confidence. “Here it is. See for yourself. We will kick everybody’s butt because we are better and we will prove it. See for yourself!”

Caught any big ones lately? Maybe you need to stop fishing with hot dogs.