Online speciality mattress start-up, Flo Mattress is now planning to enter offline business with experiential showrooms. It is also going to expand its product-line with pillows, blankets, bed-sheets and mattress protectors.
“We are planning to go offline, however, the plan is at an initial stage. The brand plans to launch differentiated products in the good sleep space, and introduce the Indian market to an innovative line of pillows, blankets, bed-sheets and protectors,” said Kshitij Rihal, chief operating officer, Flo Mattress.
The company provides packaging, 10-year warranty and 100 nights of free trial among other things to its customers. Gaurav Zatakia, co-founder, Flo Mattress spent two years, and tested over 130 different combinations of foams to arrive at one perfect mattress for all — The Flo Mattress. Flo Mattress was founded with a mission to make good quality mattresses that will help customers get the best sleep possible, he said. Currently, the brand sells two variants – the Ortho which is firmer, does not contain any memory foam and is designed for those over 60 years of age or anyone with back issues and need extra back support.
"The other is Ergo, which is more comfortable variant featuring a top layer of pressure-relieving memory foam that we recommend for everyone. The price range starts from `10,000 for a single bed 6 inch and the 8 inch mattress costs `15,000, while a king-sized bed would cost `19,500," he further said.
Both the variants come with a Cashmere fabric cover that pulls the heat away from the body. Zatakia said that he started working on the brand in the year 2016. His inspiration was his family legacy and the wave of direct to consumer (D2C) in western countries, which opened up an opportunity for him to reach his customers directly in India. Rihal, initially helped Zatakia to launch the brand. But later, they got along well and realised they had a lot of complementary skill sets to offer, as a result Rihal came on board as a co-founder of the start-up based in Mumbai.
According to the company, the mattresses are made of different types of foam, all of which are manufactured in India using different properties. The compress packing technology for mattresses that Flo uses is not currently available in India and hence the machine is imported from overseas. “Leveraging the power of internet and cheap data that brought hundreds of millions of Indian consumers online, brands like Flo can reach customers in any part of India at a fraction of what it would traditionally cost to reach these consumers,” said Rihal.
The mattress market in India is around $1.7 billion in 2018 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10 percent to reach $2.5 billion by 2022, according to Redseer.