As a multifaceted business leader with a demonstrated history of working in the consumer goods industry, Mathew is an expert in Marketing Management, Product Design, Advertising, Sales, and Trade Marketing. At Sleepyhead, as the Co-Founder & Mathew is responsible for Product Alignment, Brand Strategy, Operations, Sales and Marketing. He dedicates most of his time on strategy and planning and has been instrumental in establishing Sleepyhead as one of the fastest growing mattress brands in the e-commerce space.
In India, the mattress category has traditionally been retail-led with shopping experiences dominated by local multi-brand furniture stores. This traditional purchase experience is fraught with many pain points for the shopper including but not limited to dependency on the sales representative for the right recommendation, high costs, poor shopping experience, added delivery costs and no return option.
However, led by new age D2C brands like Sleepyhead that leaned into technology to solve these customer pain points in the mattress industry, the category is now seeing a boom. Bed-In-A-Box is the one such technology that changed the game for the mattress industry in the country. This revolutionary technology allows for full-size mattresses to be vacuum compressed and roll packed into a simple box. This nifty solution allows mattresses to be transported easily and delivered to the doorstep comfortably with less manpower. The logistical cost-saving benefit is passed onto the end customer, making high-quality mattresses highly affordable. Sleepyhead is one of the 1st brands to launch the Bed-In-A-Box concept in India. This simple idea revolutionised the unorganised mattress industry and allowed many D2C players to grow in the sector.
The compact and easy delivery of the mattress opened doors to solve two other significant mattress related problems- poor buying experience and no return option. According to studies, it takes at least 30 days for your body to get used to a mattress. But on the contrary, consumers were only getting 3-5 minutes to experience the mattress before making the purchase and to make matters worse there was no option to return it. The entire process was not fair to consumers.
The solution for this was through the unique concept of 100 nights trial. This trial concept allowed consumers to experience the mattress for 100 days, before deciding to commit to it. And if during this period they feel that the product is not suited to them, the brand accepts a return order and fully refunds the money the consumer spent during the purchase. This customer-friendly approach also helped brands reassure consumers that their comfort comes first.
The technology in mattresses goes beyond logistic and service innovations. Material tech innovations focussing on improving body support and comfort resulting in higher sleep quality are also changing the sleep game thereby the mattress game in India.
New Age Memory Foams
While memory foam was originally invented in the 1960s, the foams used today are far more advanced. Memory foam compared to other foams have a longer recovery time in response to weight on it. It contours it for longer to give the sleeper a cushioning feel and pressure relief resulting in deeper, more beneficial sleep.
This foam provides better support it has lower resilience to weight and easily adjusts to the body’s contours. The weight is enveloped by the memory foam while other foams push it back up. Memory foam absorbs impact and has very less motion transfer, giving a comfortable full night’s sleep.
Orthopaedic Zoning technology
The human body is not a uniform shape. Our torso and hip are heavier than our limbs and head region. With Zoning technology, we build a differentiated supportive mattress that matches the way the human body is shaped and weighs such that different areas of the body get different amounts of support.
Having different zones in the mattress means the body gets targeted support, which means wherever the body is heavier, it’s going to get more support and cushioning.
Heavier spots like the hips would sink deeper in a regular mattress but with zoning, this heavy area gets more support and is aligned with the rest of the spine. Mattresses with zoning technology provide the optimum ‘sleep setting’ for different areas of the body.
Without zoning, the sink or float of different areas can be downright uncomfortable and the lack of support can have negative effects on your body
Ultimately, zoning is another push forward in the search for perfect sleep.
Pincore Latex
Latex is a foam made out of the sap of rubber plants and therefore a 100% biodegradable and natural foam. Latex foam mattresses have a pincore structure that offer better breathability, and air circulation and hence reducing sweating while sleeping.
It returns to its original shape quicker than other foam, giving the body a lighter feel and more bounce. It responds to the body’s weight and shapes to provide uniform pressure distribution unique to you. Latex is a natural product and is eco-friendlier than other foam.
Technology in mattress innovation has extended to all touchpoints of purchase and usage. It is a growing category and with only 40% in the branded space, there is huge scope to educate the customers and build better products. The entire value chain from the equipment manufacturer, sourcing, and packaging to sleep technology is focused on finding solutions that let better products at affordable pricing be available to all customers.