Russell Parsons, Director at Boston Sleep Company – owners of the Norfolk Feather brand, talks about why pillows are being undersold and how retailers can remedy this potential revenue stream.
When it comes to bed buying, consumers tend to focus on the bed itself and of course the mattress. However, there seems to be a problem involving pillows as a natural add-on to the sale. Perhaps pillows get forgotten or perhaps they are not stocked at a retailer’s store. Whatever the reason, Russell believes there is a sizable opportunity in pillow sales and retailers are missing out.
“Retailers don’t always stock a range of products that suit the consumer,” he says. “Often pillows are purchased from mattress suppliers of pillows which match/coordinate with the mattress, such as memory foam pillows etc by memory foam suppliers.
“The pillow is not always viewed as an essential sale, but while you are selling a night comfort experience, the obvious add-on to this is a pillow. Consumers should be encouraged to try pillows while they are testing mattresses. This is real time experience matching pillow with mattress.
“We purposely have championed the Made in Great Britain as we believe that is important to many consumers and retailers. We do not sell or promote low-cost products, so our pillows are a meaningful add-on sale when made.”
Russell continued by debunking the often-used phrase of “a pillow is a pillow”, which, he says, “many people” have this mindset. Countering this, he explains: “Norfolk Feather has a range of products that are suitable to sell with retailers’ products and we are always keen to have real differential to our product range, so there is not duplication of offer but a tight and varied range for the consumer.
“Taking a bit of time to learn the real benefits of the product is key for store staff and we keep this as simple as possible. As an example, retailers should have Super King pillows on their Super King beds and again we offer this in a natural and fibre option – sounds simple, but it often goes unmatched. We also supply pillowcases and protectors in this size too.”
So, how can the myths around pillows be improved?
“Offering of a range of pillows, both fibre and natural to the consumer – it does not have to be a large range, but choice means you can capture a wide range of consumers with a carefully chosen selection of product,” says Russell.
“We are pillow specialists, it is not our aim to load the stores with many different options but an offer of our best-selling lines, the retailer will soon discover if there is a call for other options to be added. Making it as important for retailers to sell pillows as an add-on as they do mattress protectors is key and crucial to a shift in mindset.”
To help bridge this gap, Norfolk Feather prides itself on working extensively with mattress and bed suppliers as well as attending industry events to spread the awareness of the power of pillows. “Having exhibited at shows like the NBF Bed Show on a number of occasions, we believe we have offers that suit the market sector,” says Russell. “Natural mattresses deserve the option of a natural pillow to add consistent comfort to the offer, however some people are unable to use a natural pillow so deserve an alternative such as our Soft as Down pillow. We have material to support online and fibre brands that work extremely well too.”
After a positive start to the year, Norfolk Feather are looking to maintain its momentum and will be exhibiting at the upcoming Spring Furniture & Bed Show in Telford next month. “The year has begun extremely well for Norfolk Feather,” revealed Russell. “We feared February may show a dip in sales but repeats have been strong. We also continue to grow our distribution base and this has been extremely exciting with new customers coming on board and the brand gaining further distribution.
“While we have been extremely strong in natural pillows and are renowned for these, our fibre collections and the new lines we have added have gone from strength to strength giving us multi-channel fibre and natural sales.
“We will be launching new product at the Spring Show, again with product differential for the market, and we have a number of things in the development stages too. We encourage retailers to come and explore a revenue stream they are missing out on and don’t ignore pillows as they are a valuable source of income.
“When you have the consumer in a positive buying mood, pillows are extremely important to be added for extra revenue – just like duvets and other add-ons too. Let’s make pillows a powerful revenue stream together.”
