How Purple aims to keep the momentum going for its showrooms
When Purple rolled out its new Rejuvenate 2.0 luxury mattress line across 57 stores this spring, the brand went all-in on an elevated showroom experience. That included DJs, giveaways and sparkling drinks — plus bold new window graphics, and luxe in-store touches like velvet and cashmere accessories.
The events marked the first fleetwide activations for Purple, which launched in 2015 off a Kickstarter and became a DTC darling before going public in 2018. But trying something new paid off, with sales surpassing expectations that weekend.
Cindy Speters, senior director of retail environments at Purple, said that in the first three months of the line’s launch, Purple sold about 1,300 units through its direct channels at an average price of $6,000, with 80% of sales coming from showrooms.
“The inception is one thing, and in-home testing tells you some things. But the truth plays out when you see whether or not the customer is really ready to open their wallet,” Speters said. “I’ve been in retail all my life and seen a zillion and one launches, and it’s remarkable what happened. Our team was very easily able to sell them.”
The relative success of the Rejuvenation 2.0 launch comes at a crucial time for Purple, a company that’s seen sales dip in a competitive, high-ticket category. The company has seen sales drop across all channels this year, but it’s particularly struggled to retain online dominance as customers become more discerning about buying mattresses in person — the company estimates 80% of customers want to try it before they buy it. Showrooms, in turn, are its most effective channel and are expected to become profitable this year, per the company’s latest earnings report.
But it’s still a challenging environment as the category is also struggling more broadly: The International Sleep Products Association, a trade group that collects industry sales data, reported a 5.7% decline in mattress sales in the first quarter of the year, according to Furniture Today.
Purple’s growth plans
Purple, for its part, reported second-quarter earnings in late July that showed a 12.6% revenue drop to $105.1 million. Looking ahead, the full-year outlook is projected to be $465 million to $485 million, with an adjusted EBITDA ranging from flat to $10 million. CEO Rob Demartini said third-quarter revenue-to-date is up in the mid-single digits range compared to last year, according to a press release.
Showrooms, in particular, are a bright spot, with underlying sales orders for showrooms that are a year or older growing at 5.5% over the second quarter last year. “This encouraging demand signal again drives confidence in our path to a premium sleep strategy,” Demartini said, according to a press release.
Speters said the showroom arm is aiming to retain the momentum by continuing some of the high-touch sales strategies it used during the Rejuvenate activations. Associates are now better trained on the technical details of the mattress’s grid system, and they use a series of pre-determined questions to help guide the customer toward the product that will best suit their needs. There’s also more follow-up from the associate directly to customers if they are still considering purchasing.
“They went through a vast amount of training, so that they were ready to sell at the highest level when this product hit. As a company, that’s a big investment that has really paid off in a serious way,” Speters said.
Luxe and splashy activations
One of the biggest lessons Purple learned during the Rejuvenate 2.0 launch was finding ways to drive foot traffic. Patrick Jammet, partner at experiential marketing firm Promobile Marketing, said that having flashy signs and music is one thing, but giveaways tend to be most effective at getting people into stores.
Sydney Ford, Purple’s senior manager of retail marketing and activations, said one of the most novel parts of getting people into Purple’s showrooms was a “spin the wheel”-style giveaway played on iPads at the front of the store. Shoppers could win a gift like a discount, a free pillow or a chance to win a new mattress. Beyond getting people in the store who wanted to try to win, it generated email capture.
Mattress stores that are looking to acquire new customers but are positioned in malls or shopping plazas often have the challenge of trying to catch people’s eyes when they may be making an ordinary unrelated shopping trip.
“You can’t just wait for people to wander in, and you have to capture the traffic that’s already there,” Jammet said. “[To do so, you need to offer] an experience that’s unique to that moment, creates a sense of urgency and makes people feel like they’re part of something they couldn’t get anywhere else.”
Overall, Ford called the events “a huge moment” for Purple stores, especially given its DTC history. “To have such a strong showing was a real point of pride for the showrooms. [We were like] the little engine that could,” she said.