David Perry
Failed Artic quest shows importance of following facts
August 29, 2016
What can a doomed Arctic expedition tell us about success in the mattress business? More than you might think.
That’s a point I made last week when I joined a lineup of bedding speakers at Mega Group USA’s Fall Convention, held in the happening, hopping city of Nashville. There is a lot to like there: Music, sports, great restaurants and more.
I also like Mega Group USA’s focus on mattresses, which is seen again and again at the group’s meetings. The retailers attending the mattress sessions are invariably good listeners, intent on picking up tips and strategies to grow their bedding business.
In my talk, I began with a look back at a failed Arctic expedition, one covered in exquisite detail in Hampton Sides’ engrossing book, “In the Kingdom of Ice.” The U.S. Arctic Expedition’s leaders followed the thinking of a famous German geographer, August Petermann, who believed that a vast open polar sea existed at the North Pole.
Petermann said it was a well-known fact that such a sea existed, but he was wrong. The North Pole is sheathed in ice, as the expedition discovered to its dismay – and worse. More than half of the crew members died in the Arctic.
My point was that in business as in exploration facts matter. The U.S. Arctic Expedition, with flawed facts, left on a fool’s mission. Bedding retailers who don’t have a firm grasp on the facts of their business are liable to lose their way.
I then focused on some of the facts surrounding four key trends in the mattress industry. Here’s a brief recap:
Next year we will document where the DTC channel stood at the end of this year, but there seems little doubt the figure will be higher. Some analysts say the DTC share is now more than 10%. What are you doing to grow your online mattress sales?
Facts matter. Do you know what is working in your mattress business these days?