A new wave of the coronavirus seems to be creating major ripples in people’s lives – affecting their concerns, behaviors and shopping habits, according to the Q4 2021 “Inside the Mind of Today’s Mattress Consumer” survey by the Better Sleep Council. The research suggests that people are partially retreating into their homes – increasing their prioritization of optimizing them for comfort and efficiency. The study found that mattress purchase intent, specifically, is also rising as people continue to make getting a good night’s sleep their No. 1 health and wellness priority.

Preference for shopping and buying mattresses online rose in the fourth quarter, edging ahead of in-person mattress shopping, compared with the previous quarter. Despite recent increases in people’s overall concerns and preferences for not going out, consumers remain significantly more confident about going to the doctor, shopping/purchasing in-store, and traveling/patronizing a public establishment than they were a year ago at this time.

More details about what mattress shoppers are thinking, feeling and doing can be found in the full report here: BSC Tracker Results: Q4 2021.

In Q3 of 2021, Americans experienced a major COVID-19 resurgence – through the number of cases, in people’s news feeds and in consumers’ concerns and behaviors. According to the Better Sleep Council’s Q3 2021 Tracker, people are reverting toward some attitudes and behaviors exhibited earlier in the pandemic. This comes after seeing some relaxation of COVID-19 concerns and shopping behaviors earlier in 2021. In these third-quarter results, consumers are showing revived concerns about COVID-19 and the overall environment they live in. Confidence in travel and in brick-and-mortar shopping and purchasing has declined in this quarter, as opposed to the previous quarter, and preference for online shopping and purchasing remains strong.

Not surprisingly then, many people – almost two-thirds of those surveyed – said the current environment is affecting their sleep. Interestingly, more people are reporting their sleep as “good” and “very good”– perhaps reflecting the impact of strong mattress purchasing over the past 18 months and the fact that sleep remains their most important health priority.

People are cocooning again, spending much more attention and dollars on optimizing their homes for work, education and living. Bedroom products/sleep accessories purchases are still the No. 1 actual and planned purchases, and purchase intent for mattresses rose slightly. This suggests demand will continue. Brick-and-mortar purchases of mattresses surpassed online purchases for the first time since the BSC tracker began monitoring people’s shopping behaviors in 2020. All of this suggests that sleep will remain a high priority for consumers, and that demand for mattresses is unlikely to dip significantly. It also suggests retailers and manufacturers with effective digital and eCommerce programs will compete more effectively than others.

More details about what mattress shoppers are thinking, feeling and doing can be found in the full report here: BSC Tracker Results Q3 2021.

To give the industry insight into shifting consumer attitudes and behaviors in today’s environment, the Better Sleep Council has set about to conduct a quarterly national survey of mattress buyers.

The first quarter of 2021 (the second installment of the research) has seen some changes and some consistencies in how people are sleeping, how they are shopping and what they’re buying for their homes.

This installment of the Better Sleep Council’s quarterly tracker found:

• Respondents still say that a good night’s sleep is more important than diet, exercise and even relationships when it comes to their health.
• Almost half of respondents still aren’t getting a good night’s sleep – many of those who are credit their mattress and sleep environment for the quality of their sleep.
• In Q1 2021, mattresses became a lower priority for people’s purchases, falling from 5^th most important to 8^th – although the larger bedroom products category remains a priority for home product purchases.
• While online mattress shopping remains strong, people who are shopping for mattresses are starting to return to in-person shopping as they become more confident about going out to public spaces.
• Slightly more people are shopping locally, while interest in new retailers and new brands fell in the first quarter of the year.

More details about what mattress shoppers are thinking, feeling and doing can be found in the full report here: BSC Tracker Results: Q1 2021 .

Go here to see the first installment of the BSC’s quarterly research.

There’s no argument that 2020 was a crazy year. Uncertainty, turmoil and change hit virtually everyone and all sectors of the economy, including the bedding products industry. Unlike other sectors of the economy, mattress sales and revenue were strong in 2020, but how companies did business and how consumers thought about, shopped and bought bedding products underwent significant transformation.

To give the industry insight into shifting consumer attitudes and behaviors in this environment, the Better Sleep Council has set about to conduct a quarterly national survey of mattress buyers. The initial study, conducted in late November, surveyed 500 people, all of whom had purchased a mattress in the last month or planned to do so within 30 days.

The study uncovered several interesting facts about mattress shoppers’ mindsets and actions, and about how they’re adapting to the current environment. For example:

• Mattress buyers say a good night’s sleep is even more important than diet and exercise when it comes to their health.
• With home being the place where people have to live, work and attend school, consumers are spending money on all kinds of things to optimize their homes – and the broad category of bedding products is their top purchase, while mattresses rank fifth.
• Not surprisingly, people are buying mattresses online more frequently, but they miss the in-store shopping experience.
• With so much of their lives being affected by change, people are reacting by searching for and shopping new brands and retailers.

More details about what mattress shoppers were thinking, feeling and doing in Q4 of 2020 can be found in the report here: BSC Tracker Results: Q4 2020