How Research-based Innovations Helped D2C Brand The Sleep Company Carve A Niche For Itself

The Sleep Company is a digitally native comfort technology company that aims to transform the way people sleep and sit through its patented SmartGRID design and tech. 

The idea for the venture came about with the realization that while we spend an average of 26 years (or 2,27,760 hours) of our life on a mattress, there has been a critical dearth of innovation in this area. This was further reinforced by Priyanka Salot’s (Co-Founder, The Sleep Company) experience as a new mother. She found herself struggling to sleep at night and all too often it was the mattress that proved to be the problem. When looking for an alternative, she found that the last innovation in this area was back in the 1960s when memory foam mattresses were invented. 

“The experience kick-started my research in sleep science and the quest for a perfect mattress, one that provided comfort while taking care of my posture during rest. I traveled across the world to meet with scientists and technicians in the field of sleep science. After years of research and meetings with industry experts, we founded the company in November 2019 with the intention of addressing the lack of quality mattresses in the Indian market. Later, we entered into a collaboration with ex-DRDO material scientist Dr Tripathi who invented the Super Stretchy SmartGRID. Our years of investment in R&D have enabled us to offer a premium product. Based on our patented SmartGRID technology, these mattresses are at the cutting edge in sleep and material science,” states Priyanka Salot, Co-Founder, The Sleep Company.
 
The brand’s biggest USP is its product. Today, every brand in the industry uses memory foam, which last saw innovation about four decades back. In contrast, The Sleep Company offers a cutting-edge product that has been developed after years of research. 

“The patented SmartGRID design is based on sleep and material science. The super stretchy smart gel is the biggest disruption in the market today. The intelligent gel takes the shape of the body at smaller points like shoulders while staying firm at the bigger surface areas like the back. The result is a mattress that cushions your body in a comfortable cocoon while providing a firm base for the spine, thereby removing common backache problems. It also prevents heat buildup, adding to your comfort,” explains Salot.

“We are also the only mattress company that offers end-to-end comfort solutions, from manufacturing to final delivery at the customer’s doorstep. It has allowed us to be proactive in meeting consumer requirements and expectations,” she further adds.

The brand is so confident in its product that it has a 100-day free trial period. It is meant to reinforce customers’ confidence in the product and allows them to experience it under a trial period.

Betting Big on D2C Approach

The mattress industry is currently split between the organized and the unorganized sectors. While it is dominated by the unorganized sector, we are now seeing a shift towards the organized sector. It shows the evolution of a buyer who is more aware and willing to pay for top-notch quality. They are also digitally smart, using technology to meet all their needs. 

“At The Sleep Company, we were clear about a D2C approach from the very beginning. It not only ensured that our products were easily accessible, but it also allowed us to directly reach our customers, cutting out the middlemen. In the process, we have been able to remove supply chain inefficiencies and ensure cost-efficiency. The D2C approach also evolved as a natural consequence of our customer-centric business model where our prime intention was to improve the lives of our customers in a tangible manner,” shares Salot. 

“While we are primarily a digital-only company, we do intend to go omnichannel, leveraging both online and offline platforms to increase our reach. At the moment, we are using multiple means to communicate with our target consumers and drive a much-needed conversation on sleep science. We have recently launched an ad campaign with our brand ambassador Anil Kapoor. Social media has also been one of our most important tools to communicate with our target audience,” she further adds.

Marrying Technology with the Brand

Technology is the foundation on which The Sleep Company has been built. On the product side, it has years of intensive research and development behind its patented SmartGRID tech. On the marketing side, it has been successful in utilizing technology to directly reach out to its customers, creating a digital-only marketplace. 

“Through digital campaigns like #GoSmartGRIDwithAk, we have been highly successful in engaging a wide range of people on different aspects of sleep science. Social media has helped us to target and retarget users looking for mattresses, leveraging every relevant touchpoint. Today, it accounts for more than 30 percent of our leads,” asserts Salot.

“Technology is also a critical part of our evaluation process. We use different tools to assess our ad spending on digital ecosystems like social media and Google. By analyzing both quantitative and qualitative traffic to the website, we have been successful in gaining invaluable insight into consumer behavior,” she adds.

Future Plans 

The product strategy of the brand for the near future includes expanding its portfolio to include furnishings while also extending the application of the SmartGRID technology to go beyond just mattresses to include any and all sitting solutions, such as vehicle seats, gaming chairs, and so on. 

“Furthermore, it is our goal to be the first in Asia to introduce the exclusive patented SmartGRID technology based on sleep research, and we are planning to expand our operations to international markets within this quarter, initially entering into UAE and Japan. We have also filed for a patent in 20+ countries,” says Salot.

“Our recent festive season sale coupled with a slew of smart sleep accessories has pushed the company to achieve its projected run-rate for the year i.e. Rs 100 crore, putting us on track to meet the anticipated run rate of Rs 500 crore in the next 4-5 years,” she concludes.