BEDS AND BEDROOM
Irreplaceable
Mattresses are on sale in more than 3,000 stores
Why physical stores matter In 2016, Emma The Sleep Company launched in the UK with an online-only approach. The mattress market here is one of the most Neil Robinson online-driven markets worldwide: every second mattress is purchased online. However, many UK shoppers are also looking for personal advice in-store. They want to see, feel, and experience the product before buying it. Since 2019, the company began to pursue an omnichannel strategy, offering products both online and offline, to ensure it met its customers wherever they need it. Currently, Emma has more than 200 retail partners worldwide and its products are available at more than 3,000 locations. ‘In consumer-facing work, we highlight the risk-free and convenient purchase that our customers can have online. For example, we offer a free trial so that
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Interiors Monthly December 2021
customers feel comfortable ordering a mattress online because they can still return it for free. In trade-facing communication we don’t need to focus on this since customers are experiencing the product beforehand - even though we are still offering a 200 night trial regardless. Instead, we want to provide all information about the product they need in order to facilitate their decision. Furthermore, we differentiate our products by highlighting different USPs to make them easier to comprehend. This is supported by a system of different colours to highlight the distinctions,’ says Neil Robinson, Emma The Sleep Company sales director, retail UK & Ireland. ‘At Emma, we are convinced that there will always be a more advisory-oriented target group that wants to experience the product before buying it. The offline experience can never be fully replaced by online shops. After growing a lot in the online world, we are now investing more in trade, building a local retail team located in the UK, underlining the big growth potential we see. Prospectively, there will be new sleep products that might need even more
explanation because they are techy or offering new types of solutions. This is where the offline experience will be irreplaceable: we want to explain this to our customers. At the same time, the online share in UK is immense, and after buying a mattress online once, a lot of people won’t miss out on the convenience in their next purchase. As a result, we are convinced of the benefits of an omnichannel approach: both channels will be needed to offer everyone a perfect sleeping experience.’ Visit: www.emma-sleep.co.uk
Models are colour coded to differentiate them
