Technology has had a huge impact on retailers in the last 5 years. E-commerce sales have been exponentially growing and with direct access to customers over social media, brands have been pressured to consistently sell and showcase the brand throughout all the different platforms.

One industry in particular is seeing a major shift from technology and that is the mattress industry. With the growing confidence from consumers to buy products online, established brands and start-ups have been launching mattress collections online at wholesale pricing. Claiming not using a middleman at stores to sell the mattresses, the brands can sell world-class mattresses online direct to the buyer and ship to their house free of charge. A few of the brands doing this are: Casper, Tuft & Needle, Endy, and Leesa.

Bringing this new concept into the mattress market might seem strange when the touch and feel of the product is just as important as the price. The start-ups leading the way have developed a budget friendly, 1 type fits all mattress to accommodate the mass consumer. With free shipping and usually a large time frame for testing and returns, the brands are pushing buyers to skip the mattress store and have a mattress, just as good, arrive at your doorstep in a box.

With the streamlined business model where the brands sell direct to consumer, the consumer can benefit with lower costs by having the brands not go through a department store or what some may call a middleman. Many businesses around the world have been vertically integrated and the business model is a great option for brands wanting to control their brand image as well as sell directly to the end user. For the mattress industry, brands creating a streamline avenue to sell great mattresses online without the use of department stores or specialty bedding stores have definitely seen a large amount of interest.

Ordering online has never been so easier. With the Internet disrupting industries around the globe we can see markets that had stagnant change, like the mattress industry, become an opportunity for start-ups and industry disrupters.

As a relatively new concept, will shipping mattresses to your door and cutting out the middle-man change the sleep industry?