As Dreams continues to grow its UK market share, CCO Paul Solly takes a moment to share his views on today’s turbulent retail environment, multichannel approaches, support services and more …
It’s been said the bed marketplace is the most difficult it’s been in living memory – do you concur?
Undoubtedly, the past few years have been challenging for retailers. A range of circumstances have impacted purchasing behaviour here in the UK, most notably the rising cost of living, which has increased customers’ price sensitivity.
This is specifically relevant to retailers selling big-ticket items such as beds and mattresses, as these purchases are often the first to be delayed when finances become tight. This kind of economic downturn can then further intensify market pressures, with retailers competing for customers who are still able to buy.
Despite this backdrop, we’re proud to have delivered strong financial performance this year, exceeding our expectations. This success can be attributed to our unwavering customer focus and commitment to delivering excellence across all aspects of our business.
How are your digital capabilities evolving to address changing consumer demand?
When it comes to big-ticket items such as beds and mattresses, consumers are rightly concerned about making the correct choice. They want to see, feel and test these products to help them decide before they buy. So, while there has been a significant shift towards ecommerce, bricks-and-mortar shops are still a very important part of our customer journey. This is why we have placed a lot of focus on building an omnichannel experience.
A great example of how we are doing this is through Sleepmatch. We’re well known for our bespoke experience that uses ‘3D fit technology’ to measure customers’ movement and support needs – and we’ve been working to bring Sleepmatch technology online, helping to drive customers into their local Dreams store, giving them a seamless omnichannel experience.
For example, customers who may not have considered a store visit before browsing may now find themselves making the trip to try the smaller tailored range of mattresses they’ve received by completing Sleepmatch online.
And how is that store estate changing?
We’re extremely proud of our network of 208 shops across the UK, as well as our expert retail colleagues who make visiting these stores such a positive customer experience. Last year marked a record year of investment for us, with a significant portion of this money allocated to new store openings and store refits.
As our business continues to go from strength to strength, we’re committed to maintaining the steady and sustainable growth of our retail estate.
What additional services/benefits are most important to your customers right now?
There are lots of additional services we offer our customers that we know they really valuable, such as our assembly service and 100-day comfort guarantee.
A particularly popular benefit is our mattress recycling scheme. For optimal sleep, mattresses should be replaced around every eight years. But we, and our customers, aren’t comfortable with the idea of sending multiple mattresses to landfill over our lifetime.
So, in 2014 we launched a mattress take-back programme through which we collect customers’ old mattresses and recycle them, making sure nothing goes to waste. 2024 marks the 10th year of this scheme, and over that time we’ve recycled over 1.5 million items. In 2023 alone, we helped our customers to recycle over 115,000 mattresses. This equates to one in five of our customers using this takeback service.
Read the rest of Paul's interview in this year's Bed Buyer supplement.
