Sleep problems open new opportunities for bedding product makers

Over 300 million people in China are currently suffering from sleep problems, offering huge business opportunities for bedding product makers in the Chinese market, said a report released on Wednesday in Shanghai.

With 100,000 questionnaires and 100 household surveys carried out in a four-month period, the results show that over 80 percent of the respondents find changing mattress and bedding products as a way to improve sleep quality.

Released by Cheers 5-star mattress brand under the Hong Kong-based Man Wah Holdings, the report was jointly carried out by Shenzhen Furniture Design institute, Shenzhen Association of Ergonomics Application, Chinese Sleep Medicine Congress, National Association of Health Industry and Enterprise Management.

While sleep is crucial for people in a fast-paced daily life, 76.7 percent of the respondents are not getting a good sleep. They are suffering from various problems such as difficulty in getting sleep and insomnia, snoring, narcolepsy, bad sleep with too many dreams and sleepiness during the day.

In addition to changing lifestyles, trying sleep-aid products and improving bedroom environment, people are caring more about mattresses for a good sleep, with 74.7 percent of the respondents putting it in the first place among all bedroom furniture and bedding products.

Despite the crucial role of mattress in offering good sleep, many Chinese consumers are seeing a delay in the timely change of a mattress. About 36 percent of the respondents tend to change a mattress in more than 10 years, much longer than the suggested period of five to eight years.

Among all the features Chinese consumers would consider in choosing a new mattress, softness, quality and anti-bacterial and anti-mite, healthy and environmental friendliness come into the top places.

Besides, with the expansion of smart home appliances, intelligent beds are drawing increasing Chinese consumers, including 77 percent of all the respondents. Smart functions such as softness automatically adapted to the body, adjustable angle and temperature, sleep data monitoring and connectivity with other home appliances are among the most popular ones.

"The mattress sector is still a 'blue ocean' with great potential in the Chinese market. Compared with other furniture, it is easier to change a mattress and it's demanded for periodic updates. As a product category easy to build up a strong brand, the brand concentration of mattresses is not high in China, which means mattress makers have huge opportunities in the vast Chinese market," said Zhu Jiagui, executive president of Red Star Macalline Home Furnishing Group.