Dear bedding retail executive:

Furniture/Today is conducting this survey to learn more about the mattress purchase process and about how the industry serves female consumers. Your candid answers to these questions will help us better understand how gender issues may affect the sales process.

We will be presenting the results at our upcoming Bedding Conference, set for May 5-7 at the Ritz-Carlton in Orlando, Fla., and within Furniture/Today. The conference theme: "Consumer Connections: It's all about her."

Thanks for your input. Your individual answers will be combined with those of other retailers. Your store's answers will not be revealed individually.

Best wishes to you,

David Perry

What percentage of MATTRESS purchases in your store are made by
Women %
Men %
Couples %
  100%

 

Who is the key decision maker in the MATTRESS purchase and why?
Female
Male
Why?

 

How many SALES ASSOCIATES do you employ?

 

How many of your sales associates are FEMALE?

 

Do you believe your female retail sales associates are more effective in selling to women than your male sales associates?
Yes
 If YES, why?
No
 If NO, why?

 

What are some of the attributes of your most effective female sales associates?
     

 

What, if anything, is preventing you from hiring more female sales associates?
     

 

Which of the following MATTRESS attributes are most important to your FEMALE CUSTOMERS? Please rate each on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is "not important at all" and 5 is "very important."
 

Not important at all

1

Not important

2
3

Important

4

Very important

5
Appearance
Brand
Comfort
Fabric/tick hand
Height from the floor
Price
Size
Support
Technology (coil, foam, air)
Warranty
Other, please specify below
         

 

How helpful are mattress point-of-purchase (POP) materials for your customers and retail sales associates? Please rate the helpfulness for each on a scale of 1 to 5 where 1 is "not helpful at all" and 5 is "extremely helpful."
Mattress POP materials are the following for:

Not helpful at all

1

Occasionally helpful

2
3

Helpful

4

Extremely helpful

5
Female customers
Male customers
Female retail sales associates
Male retail sales associates

 

Which of the following BEST describes your retail operation?
Full-line furniture store
Manufacturer-specific store
Bedding specialist
Department store
Warehouse club
Direct-to-consumer, i.e. online, TV, catalog, telephone
Discount department store
Other, please specify below
 

 

What percentage of your business is in bedding (mattress/boxsprings)? %

 

How many stores do you operate in each region?
Northeast
Midwest
South
West

 

Please indicate your total 2009 sales for ALL stores.
Less than $2 million
$2 million to $4.9 million
$5 million to $19.9 million
$20 million to $49.9 million
$50 million or more

 

Thanks for your help on this survey. To avoid duplicate responses, please provide your company name, location and contact information in the space below. This is for internal use only.
Company name
City and state
Contact name
Contact email