We first have to sell the very idea of a mattress

Divyesh Modi, Chairman, Magenta Life Care Pvt Ltd, explains how knowledge about mattresses and awareness of sleep health have redefined mattress shopping and sales in the current environment.

Q. Can you share something about your brand expansion and market strategy? Any USPs that you can highlight?

We have worked for more than four years with rigorous studies to find the best way to design mattresses for the Indian customer. We are the first company to have a certification for non-hazardous products for the Indian market. We also pioneered a bed-in-the-box format with a special compression technology in the market. We have tested many parameters and ensured quality during this compression. It took us six months of arduous testing for the purity and quality of mattresses with impressive bounce-back capability. We have also tried to create transparency between customers and channels with open-zip mattresses so that the customer can look inside and ascertain the quality of the mattress.

Q. You have also been working on some radical areas of the overall setup and green-friendly materials, right?

Yes. We are also the first ones in rubberised bottom-grid formats. Usually, people struggle with the storage and weight of mattresses with hassles and the tedious problems of tucking in bed sheets. Our approach solves that problem. It is also skid-free in its properties and the mattress does not move from its position even when it is handled for bedsheets. We are also educating architects to help customers with easy tuck-ins.

We have also designed organic mattresses that have been created with bamboo charcoal extracts which help to reduce electromagnetic radiation. It is important in today’s era when people sleep with electronic gadgets in their bedrooms. It also has the capability to absorb humidity.

Q. What is your assessment of the future of the mattress industry from a lock-down impact angle?

The mattress industry in India is pretty much unorganised in a dominant way. There is a huge potential for migration with factors like the Internet, changing lifestyles and smartphones. The pandemic will induce a temporary slowdown but I believe that everything will bounce back with double speed. There is a huge opportunity for e-commerce companies. These are creating more awareness levels. The more awareness we create, the more we all will benefit.

The health consumption market is very nascent and there is huge scope for growth here. People are becoming more aware of health. Priorities are also changing in terms of where they spend money. People have put the value of sleep and the quality of mattresses on a different priority now. In the next ten years, we will see the industry changing in multiple folds in India.

Q. Any surprising customer behaviour that you have come across during the pandemic?

We are not selling mattresses but sleep. We cater to high-end markets. We address the high-end interiors and furnishing outlets. Of course, they saw some impact during the lockdown but I reckon this is a temporary situation and will change soon. We have seen customers expending more time and looking for more details while purchasing the product.

The knowledge and research effort done by a customer has gone up considerably. Earlier they would rely completely on dealer suggestions. Today they know and ask about density, hazardous materials, what fabrics are being used, what is latex, what is memory foam etc. That’s a big change. We have to stick with quality. The challenge with the Indian market is that the industry has no room to capitalise on the purchase, unlike other products. The mattress is not purchased every few days or weeks. It is done once in five or eight years. We should stick to good quality and not compromise on quality.

ISPF is an industry body which promotes importance of sleep and role of mattress for a Indian consumers. ISPF plays very important role in connecting Indian bedding industry ecosystem. ISPF also acts as bridge between India and international players.