India's Furniture Economy
The Mattress Market
How India's mattress market shifted from cotton mattresses to foam and spring ones, and how direct-to-consumer brands like Wakefit grew online.
Indians are buying new kinds of mattresses.
Traditional
Cotton-filled gaddas made by local makers.
Modern
Foam, spring and memory foam mattresses.
Brands
- Sleepwell, Kurl-on (bought by Sheela Foam in 2023).
- Wakefit (2016), a direct-to-consumer brand.
D2C model
Selling online with compressed mattresses and trial periods.
Sleep marketing
Brands market sleep health; Wakefit even offered a “sleep internship”.
The trial period
A buyer tries a mattress for 100 nights and can return it if unhappy.
Thinking mattresses are a boring market
D2C brands grew fast with clever marketing.
Key takeaways
- Cotton gaddas are giving way to foam.
- Sleepwell and Kurl-on lead.
- Wakefit grew as a D2C brand.
- Trial periods reduce risk.
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