Protect-A-Bed Names 2017 “The Year of the Retail Basket”

Furniture World News Desk on 1/20/2017

Protect-A-Bed recently announced the kickoff of their new marketing and support campaign, “Grow the Retail Basket”, designed to help retailers increase revenue through improving an often under-developed area of the business: Top-of-bed accessories.

Throughout the last two years, the bedding industry has been focused on increasing average unit prices. “As we have seen marginal increases in average unit selling price for mattresses over the last four years, and future increases are projected to shrink in the next three years, we believe retailers must increase their focus, efforts and strategies beyond just unit selling price to be successful in today’s retail market,” said John Rachid, President of Protect-A-Bed. To accelerate sales increases and profits in 2017, Protect- A-Bed believes retailers will need to increase their focus on and commitment to add-on sales, making 2017 the “Year of the Retail Basket”.

To aid retailers in top-of-bed accessory sales, Protect-A-Bed will launch “Grow the Retail Basket”, a multi- level campaign centered around partnering with retailers to provide enhanced accessory and add-on sales. The focus of the campaign will be to improve incremental revenue, while keeping resources devoted to core areas of business, such as mattress sales.

“We recognize that the accessory business represents untapped potential for many retailers,” says James Bell, CEO Protect-A-Bed. “I believe we have the formula to increase our partners’ businesses 20%, even 30%, through gains in this area.”

“Grow the Retail Basket” focuses on six of Protect-A-Bed’s core areas of support, developed to give retailers an edge in building their accessory business.

Marketing: Protect-A-Bed products are supported by traditional and digital marketing, robust social media campaigns, promotional campaigns and frequent sales promotions – all designed to continue to boost awareness of Protect-A-Bed and drive traffic to retailers.

Product: From the first product released in 2000 to the current line-up of more than 1,800 SKUs, Protect-A-Bed develops innovative products with meaningful benefits. For retailers, this means more opportunities for sales and profit.

Display: Protect-A-Bed supports their retail partners with signs, product demos, in-store displays, and videos focused on driving education and conversion. In-store displays are tailored to each retailer’s target audience and key benefits.

Training: Protect-A-Bed’s training department focuses on much more than product training. By aligning goals and training approach with that of retail partners, the team is able to develop and deliver materials, and training, which support the growth of sales for the entire bedding system, and sleep recovery as a whole. From strategic planning sessions to product launches, to one-on-one store support and cutting edge e-learning tailored to each business, Protect-A-Bed’s training department is all about execution that delivers results.

Service: Protect-A-Bed has been recognized for best-in-class customer service. An expanded and increasingly efficient 24-hour warehouse and the doubling of drop-ship capabilities are a few of the benefits the company brings to retail partners.

Trust: With over 34 years of experience, Protect-A-Bed is recognized as a worldwide leader in mattress protection innovation. The company stands behind all of their products with warranty protection programs. Protect-A-Bed products are listed as Class 1 Medical Devices with the Food and Drug Administration and have received the Good Housekeeping Seal. In addition, AllerZip® Smooth Mattress and Pillow Encasements are Certified Asthma & Allergy Friendly™ by the Asthma and Allergy Foundation of America.

Protect-A-Bed will bring the “Grow the Basket” strategy to life in their 9,000 square-foot showroom through interactive displays and demonstrations.

“Visitors to our showroom will learn how ‘Grow the Retail Basket’ will help increase sales performance and drive revenue,” Rachid explains. “Our team’s dedication, attention to detail and emphasis on partnerships gives ‘Grow the Retail Basket’ the support it needs to really deliver.”

The showroom also includes three private conference rooms, three lounge areas for customers to relax, a full-service bar and merchandising display units of Protect-A-Bed and REM-Fit products, where customers can get a hands-on experience.

REM-Fit’s newest product, the ZEEQ™ pillow, will also be featured.

ZEEQ™ by REM-Fit™ is the world's first smart pillow. It plays music, podcasts and audio through 8 built-in speakers. It tracks sleep through motion and sound sensors, analyzes sleep data, wakes you during the best time in your sleep cycle, delivers long-lasting comfort and helps end snoring by urging you to change positions when snoring volume rises above the range you choose.

Each morning, ZEEQ sends the night’s data to its app, delivering real insight into your sleep via SleepScore, SnoreScore and Restful Sleep time. The app also connects with others on your device, allowing you access your favorite playlists and audiobooks, then play them through ZEEQ.

To learn more about Protect-A-Bed, visit the Protect-A-Bed Showroom at Las Vegas Market located at B900, or visit www.protectabed.com.