Ashley is the latest name to bank on the bed-in-a-box business model and court consumers seeking convenient ways to purchase a new mattress.
As 62 percent of consumers say they’d consider purchasing a mattress online, according to Statista, the home furnishings chain relaunched Ashley Sleep in July with three lines—Essentials, Gruve and Align.
The Essentials line starts at $200 and is made with body contouring coils, firm support foam, cooling gel infused memory foam and plush support foam. Gruve offers the option of delivery or same-day take-home from the store, with cooling technology and infused with green tea extract and charcoal. The Align mattress is Ashley’s higher-end offering, starting at $900 for Hypertech cooling, luxury loft fiber and body contouring comfort foam.
While the home furnishings industry has seen dramatic growth over the past couple of years due to pandemic demand, that consumer desire for home goods has cooled a bit over the past six months. But that doesn’t mean the industry is on the decline, according to market research company Absolute Reports.
The analysts’ new home furnishings market report estimates the global furnishings market—which was valued at $7553.67 million U.S. dollars in 2021—will grow by 5.27 percent between 2021 and 2027.
The report looks at three segments within the home goods category: home furniture, home textiles and wall decor. While furniture has the largest marketshare, Absolute Reports analysts said that wall decor is the fastest-growing sector in recent years.
“Due to the higher price and gross margin of high-end products compared with low-end products, in the next few years, companies will invest much more in R&D and transfer to the high-end product field,” the report said. “In the future, production and consumption are estimated to continue developing with a stable growth rate. To meet the large and increasing demand, more and more players will go into this industry.”
The report identified a variety of retailers, both brick-and-mortar and e-commerce, as key players in the home furnishings market. Big box and department stores such as Walmart, J.C. Penney, Home Depot and Macy’s made the list, as did home-focused retailers such as Ikea, Wayfair, Crate & Barrel, Herman Miller and Ashley, which has recently expanded into the mattress category.
Whether investing in bedding, wall decor or some other category, retailers have certainly seen the value in the home furnishings category not just now, but in the long-term.