The whole idea behind pushing the hybrid category was to give the industry a different way to talk about quality innerspring mattresses that was easy to understand and would help the retailers sell more expensive beds. Well… it appears to be working.
According to this blog post by Professor David Perry from Furniture Today, sleep shops are reporting that the hybrid category is up 7 points and the memory foam category is down 5 so we are looking at a 12 point shift. Why is this happening? The manufacturers out there are making some very compelling products, retailers are doing a great job of telling the story, and the consumer is saying that they get it.
I’m not sure how well these numbers translate to the industry total given the growth in the e-commerce space but it sure tells us something about brick and mortar. Don’t forget that the bed in a box guys are almost exclusively foam and that 20% of all finished beds being sold these days are actually imported from outside of the United States. Did you just spit out your coffee? So where is the foam category really? Have you seen the Zinus queen memory foam 8″ mattress for $163?
I have been involved with hybrids from the beginning and both of the Quinn brother ventures Spink and Edgar and Herobed are hybrids so you don’t have to guess how I feel about this construction. Average prices for foam mattresses are going down, hybrids are going up, so where will you put your focus?
9 thoughts on “Hybrids Deliver”
So as President of the Specialty Sleep Association (SSA), any thoughts I might have on this topic may seem to be skewed. I think that hybrids are actually innovative, technically designed mattress products that offer the best of both worlds…offering both the resilience and support offered by innerspring technology and the conforming, embracing comfort offered by various polyurethane and latex rubber foam cores and comfort layers. Since their introduction in the 1990’s various mattress and bedding foams have improved considerably..breathability, coolant aspects, various densities and hardnesses, as well as responsiveness and feel. Innerspring have been completely redesigned offering different response mechanisms, densities and profiles. Taken together as a hybrid product, there is a lot to be said for the hybrid bed. The one exception is the still strong airbed and niche waterbed markets. To sum up this combo is great; however, I’m waiting for the NEXT specialty category to emerge from product development labs…Silicon? Hydrolic suspension? Newer polymer developments beyond gel?
The future is bright Dale. Innovation is inevitable and I am excited to see something new in the market. Whenever that is! We are actually working on something pretty cool that will be different than anything out today. Can’t wait to share it!
The global demand for sleep is more and more high, but most consumers understanding of mattress products and materials, most of the guided by the seller.So the material of the above instructions are tend to be more interests.We will how to improve the people’s perception of mattresses and mattress material?
As product eveloper I can’t wait to see news, and I feel myself involved as well, but I think Hybrids can give much more than what they have offered.
I think also that foam mattresses will leave a second life, due to last improvements on PU research. But at the moment it’s easier to build a story on hybrid than a new one on foam.
The consumers do not comprehend jargons being used in the bed industry in general and the hype surrounding the marketing puffery in particular. Most of the consumers are driven to a particular model of a mattress by the shop floor sales person and take their advice very seriously before purchasing a mattress. Hybrid is one of the terminology profusely exploited to drive the sales and up the profit margin by categorizing it to be something innovative.
For me being a scientist, technologist and manufacturer, the most important aspect is to make sure the mattress delivers the health and well-being benefits irrespective of its construction (innersprung mattress, open coil mattress or foam mattress). Furthermore, it’s of paramount importance that the advertised benefits on the mattress labels or in marketing materials including point of sales must be independently verified so that the consumers can take an informed decision. Because of high impact advertisement, consumers often end up buying the expensive mattresses though they could have bought a more cheaper mattress with better quality and independent validation if any.
I have been striving to bring this awareness in the UK bed industry where I want that the manufacturers go for independent testing of their mattresses’ health and well-being benefits and not rely on the mere marketing puffery.
In nutshell, a well researched mattress will always be a winner in a long run – slow but steady wins the race.
Could not agree more Mr. Ansari. Let the truth be told. Thanks for reading!
Thank you Mr. Ansary.
Surely the main point is a satisfied customer in an healthy enviroment as a well researched mattress can be. Price alone isn’t a demo of quality.
Thank you Mark for letting us share this thoughts.
When I originally commented I clicked the “Notify me when new comments are added” checkbox and now each time a comment is added I
get four emails with the same comment. Is there any way
you can remove me from that service? Thank you!
I will sure try and I’m really sorry that is happening. I will ask my web guy to give it a look.