Blog: Three numbers that bring hope on eve of another HP market

Time：2019-10-22 16:30:54    Share：

Everyone in Mattressville wants some good news as another High Point Market draws near. So this week we’ve got three good numbers for you: 28, 22 and -22.

Let’s start with 28. That is the percentage of retailers who are expecting stronger business in the remaining months of this year. That breaks down to 14% of retailers who expect sales trends to get much stronger in the last four months of the year, compared with the first eight, and another 14% who expect sales trends to get somewhat stronger.

So that means that almost one-third of mattress retailers expect stronger sales trends in the months to come, and that would be good news for an industry that has seen a roller coaster of good months and bad months so far this year.

Those results are from Piper Jaffray’s August Mattress Survey, which reflects the views of retailers around the country. And while they show that most retailers — 57% — expect sales trends to remain the same for the rest of the year, it is also notable that only 14% of the respondents said they expect sales trends to get somewhat weaker later this year. That means that twice as many retailers see stronger days ahead rather than weaker days ahead, and that’s good news. The optimists have the edge.

The second positive number is 22. That’s the median adjustable bed attachment rate for mattress retailers these days, according to that same Piper Jaffray survey, and it’s been steadily rising, from a median of 17% in 2017 to a median of 19% last year.

Those higher attachment rates are bringing in more sales dollars for retailers who may be facing declining foot traffic, and they mean that consumer interest in the category remains on the upswing. Adjustable beds fuel today’s active lifestyles, come in more choices than ever and are offered in a wide range of price points. They are an essential part of a winning mattress retailer’s product lineup.

The third positive number is, oddly at first blush, a negative one. That minus-22 is the percent decrease of mattress imports in July, which followed a 27% decrease in mattress imports in June.

Those numbers represent very good news for domestic bedding producers, who are hoping for a resurgence after years of rapid mattress import growth and domestic struggles. The antidumping petition filed by several domestic players against Chinese producers is having a big impact on mattress imports in general and China in particular.

As we noted here recently, China’s share of the mattress import market slipped to a tiny 2% in July. That gives domestic bedding producers a chance to reverse the script and put themselves on a growth footing.