Dormeo Bedding Case Study

We spend nearly one-third of our lives in bed. By now the benefits of a quality night's sleep are heavily chronicled - sleep supports some of the most important functions of the human body. Modern living, however, often keeps us up at night. The habits that contribute to good sleep are reinforced again and again, like avoiding bright screens and caffeine after a certain time. But most importantly? Having high-quality bedding.

Best known for their commitment to quality and constant innovation, Dormeo was founded in 2002, quickly becoming one of the most competitive companies in the bedding industry. In its 20+ years of operation, Dormeo has spearheaded innovation in the market by engineering new technologies to give shoppers the best sleep of their life.

Their premium mattress topper is designed with ergonomic support for maximum comfort and pain relief.

It’s undeniable that the eCommerce bedding industry is in a unique position. The benefits are obvious: the convenience of getting your order delivered straight to your door, a larger selection at your disposal, and checking out with the click of a button. While the industry has gained popularity in the last 10 or so years, people also wonder - how can you find the perfect bedding online?

After all, traditional eCommerce neglects one of the most important parts of shopping: the ability to test the bedding before buying. Considering the average mattress topper costs between $200-$500and is expected to last 3-5 years, it’s a relatively high consideration purchase. Which means shoppers are expected to put down hundreds of dollars upfront before even having the chance to try it out; blindly trying to assess their ideal combination of quality, comfort, and longevity.

Constantly putting innovation at the forefront of their business, Dormeo sought to fix this industry problem by empowering shoppers with a new way to buy their mattress topper online.

The inability to test the mattress toppers was ultimately leading to profit loss due to lower conversions and sales. Shoppers experience high amounts of friction at checkout when faced with their order total, as the realization sets in that they’re committing to bedding for the next several years without even trying it out. This risk and uncertainty led to an average abandoned cart rate of nearly 80% in the bedding industry - one of the highest in all of eCommerce.

As a result, Dormeo partnered with Blackcart to integrate Try Before You Buy (TBYB) on their website. TBYB replicates the in-store experience by allowing shoppers to try out Dormeo products at home, with no upfront commitment required. A purchase decision is only made after the products have been put to the test. By allowing visitors to try their mattress topper free for 30 days, the company was able to drive profitability by significantly increasing checkout conversions and driving new customer growth.

Select “Try Before You Buy” when adding mattress topper to cart

Complete checkout with just a refundable deposit of $20

Try mattress topper in the comfort of your bedroom for 30 days

Not fully satisfied?You can request a return on your order.

Changes in the eCommerce landscape in the last several years have brought on increased focus on Dormeo’s profits and cash flow. Consequently, the company was specifically interested in Blackcart’s impact on metrics related to their bottom line. Since integrating Try Before You Buy, Dormeo has seen tremendous growth company-wide, while keeping return rates consistent. TBYB has had a positive impact on many key areas of their business.

Profit Contribution

Driven by rising business costs, lower shopper discretionary spend, and overall changes to market dynamics, cash flow is more of a priority than ever in 2023. Maximizing profits in whatever capacity possible is key to staying successful and maintaining margins; in many cases, this involves implementing new tools that will help reach these goals. This is what Dormeo sought to do with Try Before You Buy.

With the help of TBYB, Dormeo was able to increase checkouts, enable upsell opportunities, and create an environment where they were the preferred choice among mattress competitors. As a result, the company experienced a lift in key metrics including AOV after returns, conversion rates, and overall profits.

Ultimately, Blackcart was able to drive incremental net sales of $346k/month, as well as increase net AOV by 30%, helping every purchase count more towards the company’s bottom line.

+$4.2M

Incremental Net
Sales Impact

Checkout conversions

The eCommerce bedding market has notoriously high abandoned cart rates across the industry. The nature of high-consideration purchases like mattresses causes shoppers to experience increased uncertainty when checking out. More often than not, this leads to lost checkouts. By integrating TBYB, Dormeo was able to convert more shoppers who would have otherwise abandoned their cart due to the risk.

To definitively assess the impact of TBYB on purchase conversions, Dormeo conducted an A/B test, where a portion of their traffic was provided a TBYB option alongside pay upfront, and the remaining portion was provided the existing pay upfront option only.

The TBYB variant drove a 39% increase in purchase conversions compared to the pay upfront only variant.

Additionally, Blackcart asked a question on the post-checkout page, "Was Try Before You Buy a deciding factor in your purchase today?", to which 88% of the respondents answered "Yes" (sample size of 430 respondents). Ultimately, by allowing shoppers to checkout without requiring an upfront commitment, TBYB was able to solve issues around cart abandonment and uncertainty.

88%

TBYB Attribution

New Customer Acquisition

Shoppers have a lot of options in the market when it comes to buying new bedding. To make a purchase decision, they’ll often rely on a few different factors based on which mattress meets their criteria while being cost-effective. How do companies differentiate within an industry that has so many options to choose from? Dormeo was able to leverage Try Before You Buy to attract shoppers and increase new customer acquisition.

+39%

Purchase
Conversion

+74%

Lift in First Time
Customers

The company’s first-time customer (FTC) rate increased by 74% after integrating Blackcart. Naturally, first-time customers who may be unfamiliar with the brand carry lower risk-tolerance; needing a bigger push to make the several-hundred-dollar purchase. A Try Before You Buy offer is more attractive and stands out against pay-upfront competitors, making it a profitable customer acquisition tool.

A ‘spring’ in their step

By The Numbers

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