By Alexis Scott

The mission of businesses, no matter the product being sold, is to supply the demand of the people with a product that is reliable and suitable to their needs. An industry that tackles this challenge each day is the pillow market.

According to Statista, the pillow market size is growing exponentially. As of 2017, the market size was only 10.9 million dollars, but as of this year it has already grown to 12 million dollars. Predictions report that by 2023 the market size will be up to approximately 14.7 million dollars.

As much as running a business relies on the revenue stream flowing in, businesses rely on the demand and satisfaction of the customer. Unfortunately, most people buying pillows are uninformed about how influential the right pillow can be. 65% of people claim they only receive restful sleep 3 nights or possibly less per week according to the National Sleep Survey. Why is this? The majority of people report not sleeping well because they wake up with neck or back pain. Contour Living states, “Ordinary pillows don’t properly support your head and neck, forcing your neck into unnatural, potentially harmful positions.”

Losing sleep is extremely harmful to a person’s health. Harvard Health reports that sleep deprivation does not just mean feeling drowsy the next day, but it also includes less time for muscle growth and tissue repair, an increased chance of developing high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as negatively affecting mood, thinking, and appetite.

Using the right pillow has been shown to increase the quantity but more importantly the quality of sleep which can reduce the chance of these negative outcomes. In addition to these, the benefits of choosing the correct pillow for the consumer are endless; one of these benefits includes proper support for both necks and backs based on sleep position. Proper support is important because the correct pillow allows correct alignment of the spine and can lower stiffness.

Customers of Contour products report their satisfaction when switching to the proper pillow for them:

• “I purchased a contour pillow about 20 years ago. I loved it then and I love it now”.
• “Tried quite a few pillows due to a bad neck. No other pillow is like this one. It’s great... finally sleeping well and waking up without neck ache or sweaty neck”!
• “I used to have horrible neck pain when I would wake up after sleeping on my regular store-bought pillow. Now I feel like I was sleeping on a cloud. Love it.”

 How do you show the consumer what they need in a pillow?

In order to determine how to sell the correct pillow, it is important to be informed of the types of sleepers. There are four types of sleepers, a side sleeper, a back sleeper, a stomach sleeper, and a mixed position sleeper. Each sleeper requires a specific type of pillow to support their necks, backs, and allow for high-quality sleep. For example, a side sleeper would see better results using a thicker pillow because it will hold the neck in alignment with the spine. A back sleeper would see greater results using a medium loft pillow and stomach sleepers benefit from a low loft. 

Advertising the pillow type is extremely important because of how individualized pillows are. Suggest the wrong one and a person will not be receiving high-quality sleep and you might lose their business. The goal is to satisfy customers' wants, but also their needs - if they sleep better, they live better.