1.1 Definition and scope of the study

A mattress is a piece of bedding: it is a long, wide, padded cushion that is usually laid on top of a bed frame. Innovation is a key factor in this market, with issues such as health and well-being at stake. Indeed, the importance of rest for psychophysical well-being is well established, and we spend more than a third of our lives in bed. Several types of mattresses are marketed in Italy, including

The traditional spring mattress;
The pocket spring mattress ;
The latex spring mattress;
The polyurethane foam mattress.

The global mattress market is doing very well. It is estimated to grow at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 4.2% between 2020 and 2027. Italy is making its way among the global mattress competitors due to its creativity, quality, and expertise. The Italian mattress market is on the rise and is showing significant growth rates. In fact, the sector has always been successful in Italy, although it is now facing competition from dynamic startups, especially foreign ones, that sell products directly online at lower prices. The market has been slightly boosted by the Covid-19 crisis, as Italians are more concerned about their comfort, spending most of 2020 at home. In addition, demand from the medical sector has increased slightly during this period.

1.2 The global market of mattresses

Mattresses are necessary house furnishing items, and as such their demand has experienced a steady growth across the years.

In fact, the global mattress market is in full bloom; between **** and **** it is expected to expand at a CAGR of *.**% to reach $** billion.

Several reasons contribute to this increase, amongst them ...

1.3 The Italian domestic market of mattresses

The Italian mattresses market size amounts to *** million euros. Although **** was a negative year in terms of growth, since then the market has been growing steadily, at a CAGR *.*%. Italy hosts *** mattresses manufacture enterprises which overall employ almost **** employees across the country.

Evolution of turnover of Italian mattresses businesses Italy, ****, in ...

1.4 Exports and imports of mattresses

In order to analyze exports and imports of mattresses, the UN Comtrade commodity codes ****** and ******, namely mattress of cellular rubber or plastics and mattresses of other materials have been taken into consideration with the related data.

Exports play a very important role in the Italian mattress market, as is shown by ...

1.5 Impact of COVID-19

The sector's performance is being profoundly influenced by the slowdown in national economic growth, which is dampening the propensity to consume.

In March ****, the Italian government announced the closure of all non-essential industries for * months. This had a big impact on the production of the specialized market of mattresses, as the ...

2.1 Mattress demand drivers

The mattress demand has been increasing steadily in recent years, consumers are more and more interested in the quality of bedding and are driving the market in its boost. The main drivers of this trend can be found in the rising numbers of housing units and in the growing sleep disorders ...

2.2 Italian's preferences on mattresses

One of the main mattress manufacturers in Italy, Eminflex, has conducted a survey to investigate the ideal mattress type among the Italian population. Results show that traditional mattresses are not sophisticated enough to respond to the changing needs of consumers, while technologically advanced and medical solutions seem to be increasingly preferred ...

2.3 Seasonal demand of mattresses

The graph above aims to shed light on the consumption patterns of consumers and highlights any cyclicality in the industry of mattresses based on key word research fluctuations. It represents the proportion of searches for a given term in a given region during a specified amount of time, compared to when ...

2.4 Online shopping habits

According to Economyup, **% of customers choose and buy only in physical stores; about **% look for the product online but then buy it in a physical store; less than **% buy online; the few that remain choose in-store and then buy online. A strong majority, about **%, still buy in-store, but shopping is increasingly ...

3.1 Organization and actors of the market

The distribution of bed bases and mattresses in Italy today is predominantly through physical points of sale, shared between different actors listed below: Large-scale distribution (***) Bedding specialists Traditional furniture Internet sales (***) Others The rise of e-commerce in the bedding industry, accounting for around **% of sales, was partly due to the democratization ...

3.2 Production

Steps in the production of a mattress

Someo specifies the main steps in the manufacturing of a mattress. This process differs according to the raw material used (***) but there is a permanence of the following steps:

Cutting plates and fabrics: foam plates or springs are cut into the mattress size, as ...

3.3 Structure of enterprises

Manufacturing enterprises can be anayzed in terms of structure and specialization. Businesses of this kind are organized into partnerships (***).

The Italian IRS has published a report which categorizes businesses according to their specialization:

Production of polyurethane and latex mattresses, Regeneration of wool mattresses, Production of spring mattresses and Multi specialized.

As ...

3.4 Distribution channels of the home decor industry

A research carried out by Federmobili analyzed the average characteristics of the shops selling furniture. The average surface area of the shops is about *,*** square metres, with *.* employees. The shops offer is quite varied: **% of the shops have a range of products that includes medium-economical lines plus high-end design brands; **% offer ...

4.1 Mattresses typologies and characteristics

In general, there are five primary types of mattresses:

Polyether mattresses: a cheap foam with poor ventilation and reduced durability. Recommended as an extra bed or for occasional sleeping. Memory foam mattresses: these are the most common mattresses in this selection because they are lightweight, easy to transport and have many ...

4.2 A wide spectrum of prices

The price of a mattress depends on its quality, its manufacturing method, and its trademark. According to maison-travaux a spring mattress costs on average between *** euros and more than *,*** euros. A foam mattress costs between *** euros and more than *** euros. A latex mattress costs between *** euros and over *,*** euros.

4.3 New trends and consumer preferences

In recent years, the Italian bedding sector, and in particular the mattress sector, has been going through a period of great transformation, with real revolutions that have seen new brands, in particular foreign ones enter the e-commerce market alone. Many leaders of the industry have decided to new themselves to keep ...