The trend in national retail towards smaller, more focused store estates has been well publicised – but how is the space inside the sector’s stores evolving? In bed retail, where each model displayed occupies a sizeable footprint, achieving the right balance on the shop floor is particularly challenging. Paul Farley investigates how some of the UK’s leading independent bed retailers are optimising their available bricks-and-mortar assets to meet the demands of today’s shoppers …
The shift to online buying is gathering momentum. According to the NBF, the volume of mattress sales transacted online accounted for 40% of the market in 2015, and that proportion reached 50% in 2017. The most recent report, undertaken from September 2017 to the end of February 2018, found that 51% of mattresses are now bought online.
Few could have predicted the pace and scale of this transition. Even as recently as a decade ago, market commentators insisted that bed shoppers would always need to touch, feel and lie back on a physical model before buying.
But the landscape has changed. There’s growing trust in online vendors’ ability to deliver high-quality beds quickly, efficiently, and cost-effectively. There’s a slew of new players disrupting the market with bed-in-a-box propositions, all offering lengthy, no-quibble returns policies. And there are instances of the refusal (or inability) to evolve from the traditional model, often leading to an erosion of the very qualities consumers value most about shopping in-store – customer service, accountability, and a coherent offer which works with, rather than despite, a retailer’s online channels.
This shift is cranking up the pressure on physical retail outlets, forcing them to continually re-evaluate how they do business, whilst bearing the weight of significant overheads. Some, like Sainsbury’s following its takeover of Argos, are taking the shop-in-shop approach, and utilising their existing space in new ways. Others, like Ikea, are tailoring their big-box models to the high street through smaller-format stores, in a bid to capitalise on growing urban populations.
Independent bed retailers rarely have the freedom to make such drastic changes, but instead must focus on optimising an offer which is generally more localised and more specialised.
However, these qualities can be strengths as much as limitations, and as such these businesses continue to fulfil a vital role in the wider marketplace. There is still a marked consumer desire to inspect physical product, and this is particularly true of a household’s master bed.
Meanwhile, repeated messages reinforcing the health and wellbeing benefits of good mattresses are helping convey the seriousness of choosing the right product in which to spend up to a third of one’s life – and how independent bed retailers utilise their physical spaces to tell that story is becoming more important with each passing year.
So, how are leading bed retailers choosing to present their offer, and why? What are the strengths and limitations of bricks-and-mortar stores in this respect? When does offering customers not enough choice become too much, and what balance of products and channels do bed retailers feel work best?
Ahead of this article, Furniture News surveyed several independent retailers – ranging in size from five-location department store Leekes to the three-store Land of Beds – and a handful of them offered anecdotal reponses to help create a clearer picture of today’s independent bed stores.
The sample comprised a mix of bed pureplays (such as Sussex Beds), retailers with a predominantly bed-focused offer (such as Archers Sleepcentre, which also offers 15 bedroom furniture ranges), and Leekes/Park Furnishers, which offers a full range of home products.
There was general consensus regarding methodology, with broad agreement on the following statements: the number of floor models offered has changed over time; a wide range of bed types is offered; a wide spread of price points is offered; and the retailers’ partner supplier roster has changed very little over time.
When asked if the number of floor models offered is likely to change, as many respondents agreed as disagreed. Although some of the sample strongly agreed that they offer more branded products than unbranded ones, more retailers disagreed with this assertion, indicating a slight skew towards unbranded beds amongst those surveyed.
Space race
In 2015, Furniture News interviewed Dreams’ CEO, Mike Logue, who said of downsizing his estate: “Any [store] larger than 8000 sqft, and I think you’re paying rent you don’t need to be, as the range becomes too big and just confuses the customer.”
He has since settled on anything between 6000 sqft and 8000 sqft as the ideal Dreams store size, identifying that sweet spot as enough room to house a sensible breadth of product without the overheads becoming unmanageable.
Ross Beveridge, MD of Archers Sleepcentre, which operates through 12 locations, concurs. “Having enough choice to be seen as a bed specialist rather than a general furnishers is key,” he says. “You need enough product ranges and types to overcome objections but avoid unnecessary duplication. Showrooms around 6000-7000 sqft allow us to cater for everyone’s bed and mattress demands, but still come across as serious about bedroom furniture.”
Others are working towards an even more concentrated offer. The eight-store independent Sussex Beds once had a store target size of 7000 sqft, but its ideal requirement today is between 3500-5000 sqft, says MD Steve Pickering, who believes that around 40 display models is just enough to cover the required mix of sizes, types, price points and styles.
“The offer in our older stores is larger than required,” he says, “and features tail-line products which don’t necessarily perform well enough to warrant the space they take.”
As every retailer knows, unless the store is purpose-built from scratch, it’s extremely rare to find the perfect space. More commonly, a business must work around a location’s existing shape and limitations – be that splitting the offer across floors, working within narrow spaces, or introducing bays, artificial walls and bedroom cabinet offers to break up larger spaces.
The potential for inflexible spaces means creating brand uniformity across multiple stores can be difficult, if not impossible.
“In an ideal world, our stores would be on a single floor, with approximately 60 beds, categorised by collection, type and different comfort feels,” says Mike Murray, director of Land of Beds.
In larger stores, such as Leekes, where beds are part of a wider offer and compete with other product categories, there’s also the question of how much space should be dedicated to them. Francesca Havard-Evans, bed buyer for Leekes & Park Furnishers, says that the answer comes down to a simple equation – return per sqft.
Line dance
With even some online bed-in-a-box brands conceding that the UK consumer isn’t yet ready for a one-size-fits-all solution, bricks-and-mortar retailers have a real advantage, in that they can immediately present the customer with a comprehensive range of products, suited to various sleeping requirements and budgets.
But, given the value of the space they operate within, how do these retailers decide which lines to display, and how can they be sure that they have covered all the bases? With such a wide variety of product types and technologies available – from traditional pocket spring technologies and natural fillings to the latest cooling gels and hypoallergenic latex – striking the right balance within a defined area is a challenge.
Most start by taking a proven path. Bed retailers still typically take a good/better/best approach when laying out their product offer. By doing so, the price of each model is anchored by another, creating greater value perception of the higher-priced models.
Some will position their entry-level models at the front of any display, to ensure no customer entering the store feels priced out. “The lowest-priced and most-advertised models are the first the customer sees,” says Fairway Furniture MD Peter Harding of his stores.
Sussex Beds’ method is also three-tiered, and posits its batches in price order: from entry-level value collections, which comprise open-coil (three models) and the slightly-higher-priced pocket-sprung mattresses (three models); which then diverge into separate natural/traditional and gel/hybrid collections; and finally two premium collections above each of those, “to stretch price points further,” says Steve Pickering.
Archers Sleepcentre goes one step further in meeting individual shopper demands, by offering a bespoke line which enables customers to specify their perfect height, width, colour and design details. “Odd sizes are normal for us, and we offer every type of mattress filling on the market,” says Ross Beveridge.
While a display can span the entire range of fillings and comfort levels, it can make more sense to arrange them by brand, according to Leekes’ Francesca Havard-Evans: “We do not segregate our product based on fillings or type,” she says. “This helps show it off to its best ability, as we can show brand-appropriate PoS that highlights key information.”
Eyecatching opportunities
Anyone who has entered one of the larger traditional bed stores will concede that a sea of models, without any clear divisions or demarcation between them, can be overwhelming.
One of the principal challenges of bed retail is to present the offer in a logical manner, creating a path or journey through a store – and ticketing, PoS materials (both physical and digital) and back boards present opportunities to do this.
To hark back to that earlier example, Dreams introduced a colour-coded system to flag up the comfort levels/bed types it offers – while Bensons introduced comfort stations to track the pressure points of a sleeper’s body.
In independent bed retail, the focus is more squarely on informing the customer of key messages and deals, and guiding their line of sight. Like Dreams, Sussex Beds takes a colour-coded approach, while Land of Beds focuses on conveying its selling points – pay-monthly options, free UK-wide delivery, mattress removal and recycling, and bed assembly services – at strategic points around each store.
Although brands might encourage the use of their own PoS materials, Leekes takes a firm stance on the matter – as too much messaging can confuse customers. “We have a policy that any PoS on the shop floor has to earn its space by being informative about the product,” says Francesca Havard-Evans. “This actively helps sell the product to the consumer without them realising, and promotes our in-store or short-term offers.”
The effects of a subtle approach are hard to gauge, but they can certainly lift customer perception. Land of Beds, for example, employs back boards to help create inspirational room settings. “Table lamps, throws and soft furnishings emphasise the homely feel,” says Mike Murray, “as do the lighting and colours we’ve carefully chosen to paint our walls.”
Web spinning
Once, a discussion around retail would have ended there – but with the rapid adoption of ecommerce, there’s now an additional showroom available outside the physical limits of the store.
Whether they’re there to enhance a store’s visibility or process sales, websites provide an opportunity to offer customers a wider range of product and price points. Yet, while Leekes offers exclusive models online – characterised by a DHD service and more aggressive pricing – a greater number of the retailers surveyed (including award-winning ecommerce business, Land of Beds) say their websites simply mirror the offer available in their larger stores.
“Additional online exclusive lines or brands would confuse – and in some cases irritate – those customers wishing to see those products in-store,” says Sussex Beds’ Steve Pickering.
A price comparison culture has led some retailers to tailor their in-store offer in response, too. Ross Beveridge says that Archers Sleepcentre has made a conscious effort to move away from the lower end of the market, and from those categories – such as children’s beds – which are already dominated by online pure-plays. The approach seems to be paying off – Archers has seen its in-store average order value increase from £490 in 2015 to £810 in 2018.
The personal touch
Despite having an online component, all of the businesses surveyed say that they make the majority of their sales in-store. It’s here that trained sales staff are able to offer customers expert guidance, where shoppers can touch and feel the product, and where consumers not yet comfortable with online buying can shop with peace of mind.
Land of Beds’ Mike Murray says his expert sales staff take an “active listening” approach, which is “designed to ensure we understand what our customers’ priority requirements are – whether that’s orthopaedic support for a bad back, pressure relief to soothe aches and pains, or cooling properties for a fresher night’s sleep”.
Whether customers use a retailer’s website for research prior to visiting a store, or for narrowing down their options afterwards, digital touchpoints are an important part of the journey – but their role is secondary to what takes place in-store, agree those surveyed.
“Although our website provides consumers the option to purchase electronically, its main objective is to encourage users to visit the physical stores,” says Sussex Beds’ Steve Pickering. “There are major financial advantages to doing so – the average order values are +45% higher, conversions are infinitely higher, and there’s that all-important relationship building between our sales teams and the customer.
“Each month, 40% of our business is consistently attributed to returning customers and recommendations – and this connection and loyalty is only achieved through good relationship building, in-store, face-to-face.”
Best practice
Although retail is changing at an unprecedented rate, the independent bed retailers surveyed are, without exception, finding successful routes to market, and exploiting their bricks-and-mortar real estate to great effect.
By optimising the number and nature of the models displayed – and the manner in which they are presented, and complemented online – these businesses are proving their ability to adapt traditional models to meet today’s demand.
As the similarities in their responses proves, there is a degree of science behind this success – but more important is a willingness to listen to the customer, and please them through good service, great product, and an unimpeded buying journey – whether that journey ends in-store or online.
This article was published in Bed Buyer 2018, a special publication dedicated to the National Bed Federation (NBF), its members and associates, and annual Bed Show.
Image credit: 123RF/Iakov Filimonov
