How Casper Takes the Mundane Out of Mattress Shopping

Mattress stores are everywhere in the U.S., often located on opposite corners of the same intersection. Nearly 80% of the market share is dominated by four brands. Despite the deep resources of the top brands, the mattress-buying process is tedious, relies on barebones showrooms and is overseen by sales staff who make vague descriptions about what makes one mattress different from another.

The market changed in 2014, when Casper entered the market, using nearly every marketing tactic available to capture the minds and money of mattress buyers. Casper uses key differentiators across its marketing, buying process and delivery:

• Casper takes the pain out of differentiating between mattresses by offering three choices. It offers them on a website that has a soothing color palette, so there are no bright lights or bored salespeople to contend with.
• Click and buy — Casper’s primary sales channel is online, with 15 showrooms in key markets if you want to try the product before buying.
• Free, speedy delivery, right to your door, with optional set-up service.

Casper has everyone talking about mattresses with its humorous ads, soothing images and consistent message about quality and design, all backed by a distinctive guarantee.

In its ads, Casper promotes awards, including the Time Award for 2015 Best Inventions and distinction as a 2017 Most Innovative Company, named by Fast Company. Casper reaches its audience with digital and print marketing on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, out of home, YouTube videos and a Casper podcast (the latter is humor and information, and they admit, a commercial for their products).

Casper is going even further with two buzz-worthy innovations. First, Casper opened 15 stores in key markets, which Fast Company describes as looking like “art installations.” This is a very different look from other mattress retailers. These stores are designed to draw an audience, and Casper has said it will change the look every couple of months, ensuring consumers will drop in to see what is new.

Casper has also struck a partnership with American Airlines, for whom it developed the “8-point in-flight sleep ecosystem” with bed linens and pillows designed to meet the dimensions of the sleeper compartments on American Airlines planes. Architectural Digest describes this as “logical” and this partnership provides another way for a shopper to try out Casper before making a decision.

Like most marketers, you are now wondering if this makes a difference to the bottom line, and according to Crunchbase, Casper hit $1 million in revenue in the first 28 days in business and earned more than $600 million in revenue in 2017. While these figures represent only a small percentage of the total mattress market, Casper uses almost every marketing resource available to upend the mattress market and take a leadership position in the “bed-in-a-box” category.

Casper stays fresh using humor in ads that go viral and generate buzz. The Casper growth curve has been steep in the past four years, but if it can maintain a streamlined buying process, with savvy marketing it should be able to continue to grow its market share.

About the Author | Marcie Wiehagen

Marcie is a senior marketing consultant with more than 20 years experience in brand, acquisition, and retention marketing. She is based outside of New York City where her focus is on the UHNW (Ultra Hight Net Worth) segment as well as businesses. She is currently engaged in a data driven CRM project and deep in numbers that describe the UHNW segment.