The evolution of the mattress market in the post-pandemic era
What is the new consumer needing that companies need to follow?
How is the bedding market, and in particular the market for mattresses and polyurethane products, evolving in the post-pandemic era? Covid-19 has had a major impact, still difficult to calculate on our lives and on our habits - of behavior, of living, of consumption. The first impact, especially in 2020, but with strong aftermath in 2021 as well, has been one of social distancing and health isolation. More people at home, with different needs, and more time to devote to themselves and their home environment. The result, we know, has been an exceptional increase in online sales and e-commerce development.
This surge has involved just about every product sector that can in some way have an online store. And beware: this change has been so strong and radical that it could be almost permanent. A point of no return. Even for the mattress industry, there has been a real boom in online sales. The industry was already partly ready, but this real sudden increase has pushed companies, and the whole market, to ask themselves questions and to change - and very quickly.
How? The mattress company now must adapt to market and customer demands, meet their needs as quickly as possible, or else lose competitive advantage and customers. Speed, availability, rapidity, personalized experience; all without forgetting attention to the environment.
The year 2020 has exploded these trends that have been in place for some time with the result that "the shift and responsive actions of mattress brands that have made their products immediately available online has led to a 7.5% jump in U.S. manufactured mattress shipments," according to Bedtimes Magazine (August 2021 issue, p.38).
The new world in which we move
For some time now, as we have reported, we have been talking about the concept of reduction: of energy consumption, of space, of production and transport costs, of waste. And of time. Everything must be done faster and more efficiently. The mattress industry has faced major changes in the way mattresses are packaged and shipped, precisely to facilitate transportation, reduce shipping costs and follow changing consumer habits.
The rolled-up mattress allows air to be expelled from the polyurethane, reducing the volume of mattresses without compromising the hygienic and quality status of the product, thus increasing the number of mattresses shipped, reducing transportation costs and pollution (fewer trucks on the road, more mattresses per shipment).
Now, with online mattress sales increasing dramatically, manufacturing companies are increasingly turning to packaging machines to compress and roll up mattresses.
According to reports from the International Sleep Association, packaged ("in a box") mattress market shares were 15% at the end of 2019 and slowly growing; by the end of 2020 they were 35%, and by 2024 they could reach 60%.
Packaged mattresses and online sales are not a 2020 discovery, but the pandemic has exploded a trend that would otherwise have taken years to reach these levels. Insulation and lockdown have forced people to spend a lot more time at home, resulting in a decision to spend more money on making the home environment better and more comfortable. Result? Boom in online mattress sales!
New consumer behaviors
According to the Better Sleep Council's latest quarterly report, covering Q3 of 2021, the resurgence of the year-end pandemic has brought consumers back to some of the attitudes of the early lockdown - more isolation, online shopping, especially dedicated to the home. Still 66% of people in the U.S. preferred to buy a mattress online, rather than in-store. In short, the trend is enduring.
This push - given by the online - towards mattress sales has led to new packaging needs from manufacturer brands and, consequently, the development of new solutions and innovations from those, like Dolphin Pack, who make mattress packaging machines. And these implementations can't just be designed to cope with the pandemic period but must also adapt for the future era of "new normal" when the pandemic finally ends. Some trends will remain:
- Greater attention to the home and home environment.
- More attention to the environmental aspect of packaging, which will need to have the lowest possible footprint as consumers begin to become aware of a product's entire supply chain.
- Need for simplified, fast and convenient experiences for consumers who require efficient and optimized logistics.
What's new for packaging machines
Also, Bedtimes reports that, "with online mattress sales traveling at record rates in the U.S. and everywhere else, demand for packaging and rolling machines continues to grow." And manufacturers, too, must adapt to come up with more productive, cost-effective, and sustainable packaging machinery. Here are some of the industry innovations reported:
- increased automation: companies have been driven to use even more automated machinery to employ less labor (often reduced due to isolation and shift changes) and to increase distances between operators and improve working conditions.
- from an environmental perspective, new plastic films (bioplastic, recycled or more innovative) are introduced.
- increased use of virtual reality, to be able to "guide" the operator even from a distance to facilitate installation and minor maintenance operations
- new machines to reduce the volume of mattresses and toppers more, so that even smaller boxes can be used, improving logistics, costs, and environmental impact.
As Bedtimes puts it, "Manufacturers now need the ability to compress, fold and roll mattresses if they want to remain competitive and meet their customers' needs for convenient, direct delivery."
What does Dolphin Pack offer?
The trend to reduce production size, costs and waste has played a fundamental role in the evolution of mattress packaging. The main goal has always been to find win-win solutions for companies, consumers, and the environment.
Since the real trend of online mattress sales began in 2014-2015, Dolphin Pack has constantly implemented its production lines to offer its customers solutions in step with market demands.
One of the latest packaging solutions developed by Dolphin Pack is Etesian Double Roll: In fact, it allows to further reduce the volume of foam-only mattresses, so you can use smaller boxes and increase the number of products per shipment (truck or container), improving logistical efficiency, reducing transport and production costs and, at the same time, reducing the environmental impact of the supply chain.
The machine is configured with two roll-pack machines that allow the mattresses to be rolled up twice, thus reducing the final volume; this is valid for double mattresses as well as singles and toppers, which already occupy a smaller volume.
In general, the trend is no longer to reach the correct dimensions that allow online shipping but is to reduce as much as possible everything that can be reduced.
That's not all; the machine can be implemented with other solutions, developed, and designed over the years, such as the double film unwinding carriage system that allows operators to carry out film change operations without interrupting production, and a new system to help operators better manage box loading and unloading operations.
But there are other news and innovations, linked to post-pandemic developments. One example is the new type of technical assistance, enhanced with the use of Augmented Reality. The use of AR software makes it possible to facilitate and speed up after-sales assistance; it can be used during maintenance, troubleshooting or training on machinery. The software can then be used on different devices, such as smartphones, tablets, smart glasses. With the latter the operator can operate hands-free on the machine, in a safe and controlled way.
The mattress market, and the bedding sector in general, are going in a very precise direction, following trends that were already in evidence years ago, but which have exploded in the post-pandemic era: focus on the consumer, who is therefore concentrating on online sales, simplified purchasing experience and delivery, personalization. Mattress brands must respond by increasing the number of mattresses available online and choosing packaging solutions that allow for greater automation and efficiency, space and cost savings, and lower environmental impact. To everyone's benefit.
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