Managing Director of King Koil India
Q Please share about King Koil’s journey in India and how has the mattress industry changed over the years in India?
King Koil has been in India for over 15 years and has always positioned itself in the premium and luxury segment of the mattress industry. In the last few years especially after COVID-19, there has been a positive change in the buying pattern of customers towards the premium and luxury segment compared to pre-covid times. Moreover, many other international brands and a few domestic brands have positioned in the upper segment of the industry which has positively helped this segment to grow overall.
Q King Koil is associated with some of the biggest names in the hotel industry. Could you highlight your current product lineup and other upcoming plans for the hotel industry?
King Koil has been a preferred vendor to many top global hotel chains like Marriott, Hilton, Wyndham-Ramada, Hyatt, Accor Group, Radisson Group and others. We sell to these hotel chains to a majority level for their upcoming properties and in refurbishment stages.
Q How are other industry verticals contributing to the growth of King Koil in India?
King Koil is predominantly selling to HNIs through premium and luxury retailers, and interior designers across India and Nepal. However, another contributing vertical of growth for King Koil is the hospitality market where we supply to all leading top hotel chains like Marriott, Radisson, Ramada, Hilton, Hyatt, Novotel and others.
Q We see organized market segment giving tough competition to the unorganized players. What should the organized players in the mattress market do to increase their dominance in the overall mattress segment in India?
In a few decades, as India is poised to become the third largest economy in the world and as the purchasing power of people will keep improving, it is imperative to state that branded and organised players will take a majority share in the mattress market compared to unorganised players. Organised players should follow an omni-channel policy as an important marketing strategy to outgrow less organised or unorganised competitors in this market.
Q King Koil’s focus is on luxury and super luxury items only. What they have learnt in the past 10 years about how the consumers prefer the premium products and what is the scope to enhance the consumer experience.
With a consistent focus on the premium and luxury segment, we have learnt that the market is niche in nature but still big enough to accommodate many players that can expand the market further. Just like in the luxury car market, we commonly see Mercedes, BMW, Audi and other premium cars on roads. Likewise, the Apple iPhone sold more than 7 million units in India last year, so purchasing power with our target segment to buy premium or luxury mattresses is very much there. There is a huge scope to enhance customer buying experience at retail outlets with better display systems with mattresses, choice of free trials and returns like in the online market, choice of custom-made size mattresses etc.
Q We have seen a lot of innovative sleep products coming from King Koil’s stable. Could you please highlight some of the key initiatives taken by the company to bring in some more futuristic products?
King Koil strongly believes in taking the lead in the premium or luxury mattress market by upgrading existing products and launching new products which are technologically advanced with better sleep experiences for end customers. Recently, we launched a product named TECHNOSLEEP which can customise the support of mattresses on individual sides from soft to firm with a remote which is getting a good response, another technology we have is by the name, SLEEP ID, which helps to find a right choice of mattress for the end customers by answering some questions related to their body type and sleep preferences, that is helping retailers to sell correct mattresses.
Q How has the demand for technology-based sleep products been after the pandemic? How are people embracing sleep technologies and what is the road ahead for these technology-based sleep products?
It is important that when the price segment in most consumer durable industries goes up, then technology comes as a natural feature to support the price points. So, using technology or high quality technically advanced raw materials becomes important in high price point products which has helped King Koil in its successful journey in the market. Demand in high price point mattress products has improved by more than 30 percent, post covid and customers are seen as more serious about their sleep and buying a good mattress.
Q Please tell us about your contribution in mattress recycling. It would be great if you could tell us more about the ‘Respun’ initiative.
Being a part of the prestigious ISPF – India, we support all decisions taken so far related to mattress recycling projects and contribute to the same. This is an excellent initiative by all the members to kickstart a mattress recycling project which was unheard of, a few years ago and holds a good value addition in our industry. ‘RESPUN’ is a new sustainable line launched last year by King Koil in the USA which uses all recycled and recyclable materials in their RESPUN line of products. We are still learning from the response of this line and may introduce it in India in future.