Organic Mattress Retailing Series - Part 12: The Supermarket Approach to Selling Organic Mattresses.

Furniture World News Desk on 4/28/2024

The first 11 installments in this series on Organic Mattress Retailing focused on defining the organic mattress category and explaining the various certifications. This and future articles will examine ways furniture and mattress retailers can attract more shoppers interested in purchasing products that align with their organic and healthy lifestyles.

This will include basic messaging, local outreach, in-store events, partnerships, social media, and more.

I don’t need to remind Furniture World’s readers that attracting incremental retail traffic is especially important this year. That includes attracting new customers who are more likely to purchase from other retailers (such as specialty stores or online-only specialists).

Given the increase in consumer interest in organic and healthy lifestyles, it’s been surprising that many home furnishings retailers have not chosen to capitalize on this growing market. Why is this?

The first issue retailers have is how to present “organic,” “healthier,” or other products that are certified to a higher standard. In other words, if most of the other products in a store don’t meet those standards, what kind of comparisons can be made that will still maintain and present a retailer’s core products as high-quality?

The best solution is to use a supermarket approach. Most supermarkets give customers a choice of many types of food items, including junk food, gourmet items and healthier products, including certified organic vegetables. Supermarkets don’t need to compare or influence customers' decisions regarding purchasing Twinkies®, Häagen-Dazs® or organic broccoli. They don’t need to because consumers already know what they are interested in and can afford.

That said, retailers need to be able to answer questions about how items are sourced, constructed and certified. For example, sales associates need to be able to answer basic questions. If a product is “organic,” is there a certification? If they say a product is healthier, there must be a factual claim, for example, that organic cotton fill is healthier than many petrochemical foams.

To communicate these claims successfully, retailers need to have strong relationships with the manufacturers of their products. Naturepedic, for example, supplies detailed product information that sales associates can use to answer and back up any shopper’s question.

Conclusion:
As organic and healthy lifestyles continue to grow, retailers should consider re-aligning product selections to bring in incremental traffic.

While a few bedding retailers have converted their entire floors to feature only organic, healthier, and certified products, a “supermarket” approach is the best option for most mattress retailers to enhance consumer choice.

To read more articles in this series by Barry A. Cik, CLICK HERE. 

About Barry A. Cik: Barry A. Cik is a Board Certified Environmental Engineer and founder and technical director of Naturepedic Organic Mattresses & Bedding. Since 2003, Naturepedic has been on a mission to protect the lives of families through safer, healthier organic-based products that have a positive impact on the environment. A brand with purpose, transparency, and ethical practices, Naturepedic is the recipient of many certifications and is highly respected by numerous health and environmental organizations (https://www.naturepedic.com/certifications) and is an EPA Green Power Partner. Since its inception, Naturepedic has been a consistent and generous advocate and supporter of NGOs and nonprofits advocating for the “Right to Know” about what is in the products that people bring into their homes.