According to the results of a Europe-wide survey into consumer bed buying habits,,the UK tops the league when it comes to lack of sleep – 45% of respondents claim not to get enough compared to an average of 35% across the rest of Europe.

Despite these figures, only 9% thought the quality of their bed or mattress disturbed their sleep, while twice as many (18%) of their counterparts in Europe have made a connection between good sleep and good beds.

One reason could be that Britons are more likely to buy mattresses online – where they cannot try them out first – rather than through traditional retail outlets. 16% of those questioned in the UK, compared to 12% in Europe, said they had bought online.

According to the study, British bed buyers are also more price sensitive than their European counterparts, with 52% saying price was important to their purchasing decision as opposed to 45% across the rest of Europe. Indeed, 41% of those questioned in the UK agreed that they would only buy a mattress if it was on sale – only 16% of those questioned across Europe said special discount offers were important. Indeed, 73% of Brits said they would not pay more than £750 for a double mattress.

Jessica Alexander, executive director of the NBF, believes there is a link between this perception of value and the trend for buying online: “Buying online certainly has a role to play in today’s world, and it’s not exclusively the domain of bargain beds – some very good mattresses can be bought on the internet too. But our advice to people would always be to try before you buy so that you can be sure the mattress you are buying is comfortable for you. It’s a very subjective purchase, and what’s right for one person doesn’t suit another.”

This focus on low prices could also explain the apparent dissatisfaction of many Brits with mattress purchases in the past few years. According to the research, 47% of the UK sample had replaced their mattress in less than five years, compared to only 30% of Europeans.

Says Jessica: “While we recommend that people should look to change a good mattress every seven years, the fact that so many people in this country are doing it in under fi ve would indicate they were not altogether happy with the mattress they had. Perhaps that’s not surprising if it was a really cheap one which they didn’t even try out.”

The growing shift to online sales could also account for Britain’s love of brands as a buying reassurance. Buying a well-known brand was deemed important by 16% of those questioned in the UK, but only by 11% of Europeans.

The UK survey was conducted by InSites Consulting, and commissioned by the European Bedding Industries’ Association (EBIA) to examine European consumers’ perceptions and expectations of mattresses. The research was conducted across 10 countries (Belgium, Holland, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK), and involved interviewing 500 consumers in each country, with a focus on those who had either bought a bed in the past year or who were intending to buy one in the next year.

(source: furniturenews)