1. Introduction
One of the first questions seriously asked by incoming tourists is the standard of accommodation and what size the bed mattress is in the bedroom. Travelers who are contemplating making hotel reservations have acquired their expectations of the bed mattress by the classification of 7 different room rates from the brochure of hotel facilities. The size of the hotel room has given them some indication of the mattress size provided by the facility. The physical condition of the mattresses in the hotel rooms dictates the desire to accept its state of tidiness. It is, however, important that all the mattress sizes in the hotel industry should resort to the design of the aussie size mattress in singapore. The australia double mattress in singapore must correspond to none other than five types of mattress relationships provided by the MBS crib standard. Australia king mattress in singapore, alongside recommended standards for hotels, are frequently mentioned with polite reminders from repeated and faithful tourists who love coming back for a Singapore holiday. This document is our second article on Singapore mattress size research.
Singapore is a business-oriented economy famed for its high GDP per capita. This has allowed household consumption power to exceed that of many other countries. The lifestyle of the inhabitants has changed rapidly towards Western preferences. With the increasing number of air passengers worldwide, Singapore is continuously promoted as an international tourist attraction. Therefore, hotel rooms and holiday apartments are plentiful in numbers. The writers have observed that from 1989 to 1995, 670,000 class hotel rooms have doubled in number to reach over 10,600. The number of hotel rooms in Singapore reached a total of 33,000 last year. Singapore currently has some 50 budget hotel chains in business that offer approximately 2,800 rooms. Approximately 14,000 hotel rooms are currently operated by Service & Comfort Hotel and Lanson Place. It is believed that the number of hotels and such facilities will continue to increase. This means that the hotel sector is able to generate a lot of revenue and employment opportunities for the Singapore service industry.
1.1. Background of the Mattress Industry
In Singapore, EU length mattresses are 190 cm length, 139 cm width, and 26 cm thickness. The Australian long mattress size was 24 cm, so it would not have been possible to sell high-quality Australian mattresses in Singapore. The Australian standard was allocated to the 203 cm length, 153 cm width, and 29 cm thickness based on the assumption that the standard for sizing beds in the Australian room could satisfy all customers from adults to children. On the other hand, in recent years, many Australian quality mattresses can also be customized to uniform 26 to 27 centimeters for storage of personal sizes to store retail mattresses to make them better.
The mattress retail market in Singapore has been in existence for many years. However, for a long time, 70% of the mattresses in Singapore were kept and sold by sofa fabricators. The mattress retail and trading businesses in Singapore started in the big display business with carpets, curtains, and other fabric products. Selling with the mattress is safe, so many retailers who have been rotated in various industries, its products are low in the sense of consumption, including mattresses. Over the years, retailers have been able to make personal sales for a long time, grow, expand big exhibition halls or regular shops, and the recognition of the consumption of mattresses also anticipated from the feeling of wanting to sleep well. And, in 2016, retail sales doubled, as Singaporean’s recognition of sleep turned into consumption. It is said that the high-quality mattress is mainly imported from American and European brands for recognition. However, the mattress in the East Asia region is different from that of Europe or America. The first product is a mattress with an Australian standard.
1.2. Purpose and Scope of the Study
The study set out to investigate the impact of introducing the Australian standard size of 203 cm long king and super king size mattresses for the Singapore market. When Australia had attempted to introduce the King and Super King sizes in the past, it was met with limited success. The earlier attempts had been rushed without proper understanding of the Singapore market. The size of mattresses available in Singapore, at that time, was a mix of the European single, king and super king. The smaller of the two sizes that is available in the market today is 189 cm long. This is a special size to cater to apartment living. It was created to fit a particular type of apartment and therefore limited in its potential. With the increasing awareness of the health and leisure benefits associated with larger beds, Australians offer two standard sizes to accommodate larger furniture, i.e. the Queen and King size beds. However, tourists and expatriates who travel to Singapore are shocked to discover that the super king size bed that they use at home is not available in Singapore. Small children use their search for unfamiliar bed sizes as a riveting story. As a result, the 5-star hotels tend to use the largest beds they can fit into a hotel room, when they cater to families. This limits the number of families they can accommodate and reduces the amount of revenue that can be generated.
2. Understanding Australian Mattress Sizes
Twin: The stock model of sizing in Australia is identical to the equivalent size sold in America as either a Twin or Single. Dimensions are 39″ x 75″ with larger variations sitting around dimensions of 42″ x 83″ or smaller at 36″ x 75″. People find the Queen and King sizes, excluding the Euro variant, more comfortable than a Twin or Single. Twin size works in smaller bedrooms where Twin XL and larger sizes fit in guest and shared bedrooms.
Mattresses sit within the bed frame measured 12 inches from the floor. Mattresses taller than 12 inches increase the overall height of the mattress. Low profile box springs are a method of reducing the overall height.
Dimensions cited are for informational purposes only. Key dimensions are mattress length, mattress width, and maximum mattress thickness. A bed frame will add about 12-15 inches on both ends. For example, a queen size mattress sitting on a queen size bed frame will measure approximately 60 inches wide by 80 inches long, with bed frames generally adding 15 inches to the lengths and widths of the mattress.
Australian Mattress Sizes
2.1. Common Australian Mattress Sizes
2.1. Common Australian Mattress Sizes Australian mattress sizes do not differ significantly from the standard United States mattress sizes and are in no way comparable to the British standard. The most commonly found mattress sizes customers of the company will be concerned with are the following six sizes: – Single Long – King Single – Full Double – Queen Size – King Size – Super King Size
Australian mattress sizes generally measure different dimensions compared to the standard Singapore mattress sizes. This is significant in the context of the local retail landscape, as mattress retailers are used to carrying sizes that cater to the measurement of locals. However, Australians still make up a significant percentage of the country’s population and foreigners involved in expatriation and exchange programs also purchase mattresses during their stay.
2.2. Key Differences with Singaporean Mattress Sizes
Where the sizes continue to be used by some European locations, the Singapore mattress sizes move a bit further apart in several instances, offering a single ‘king’ size as well as the regular queen and king sizes. Should the online search results prove typical, common Singapore mattress sizes will include: King – 190cm X 183cm, Queen – 190cm X 152cm, and Single – 190cm X 91cm. To this commentator, the ‘single’ is indeed single, where most of the world refers to the four different single sizes that Australian standards offer.
It is important to highlight some characteristics unique to Australia when talking about beds. Perhaps one of the most significant has to do with the natural environment: specifically, the biodiversity of animal species, which led to the evolution of certain mammal, marsupial, and bird life. These species and the abundance and variety of marsupials meant that these animals were common rights for the people living in Australia and Tasmania used the pelts and skins for clothing and bedding. Though only a select few companies still use Australian skinned materials, wool processing and manufacturing has allowed the bedding industry to take great steps in the quality of the products it makes. To this day, Australian businesses are made aware of the potential to buy and develop better quality bedding. Not so long ago, people suffering from issues with their bed were forced to sleep on the ground, as they were unable to afford a quality perimeter of wool with which to set them on.
3. Market Demand for Australian Mattress Sizes in Singapore
The larger mattress for the average Singaporean will provide a more comfortable sleep but crucially, will also ensure that space within the bedroom is better utilized. The space under the bed can be used as additional storage space or as a play area for the children. This paper therefore seeks to analyze the importance of the Singaporean market to the Australian bed manufacturer as well as the impact of the production of beds which are compatible with Australian mattress sizes. The paper is divided into the following sections. Section 3 discusses the importance of the Singaporean market for the production of the Australian mattress. Has an increase in the number of Australian tourists in Singapore influenced the demand for Australian bed sizes by the Singaporean? The demand for Australian bed sizes in the Singapore export market by tourists and the Australian expatriates residing in Singapore will be discussed in this section.
Singapore is home to some of the smallest apartments in the world; it is therefore crucial for space within the household to be maximized. A common solution to maximizing space in Singaporean homes is to utilize items which serve more than one purpose. Items which are only used occasionally are usually adapted so that they can be both stored and used when needed. These items must be small and convenient when stored. Furniture is usually bulky. As a result, the furniture in the average Singaporean bedroom is limited to the bed and a television set. In contrast, a study of the average Australian bedroom could reveal the presence of a bed, television set, computer, study table and a number of other pieces of furniture. Space is never an issue because the average Australian bedroom is very large in comparison to a bedroom in Singapore. Mattresses stored under the bed are a testament to the bed being idolized and therefore taking up space unnecessarily when not in use. The demand for a larger bed by the Singaporean consumer is important to the production of the bed.
3.1. Consumer Preferences and Trends
Luxury items are no longer purchased only by the wealthy. Rather, they have become affordable and therefore part of the standard lifestyle. The same can be said for luxurious bed experiences. A standard bed size may be considered a price illustration that could be exploited by overzealous sales personnel. Specialty chains have introduced larger mattresses and beds that cater to changing size preferences. The introduction and marketing of a large range of bed linen products for these larger beds and mattresses innovatively take us forward. However, there may be constraints at hand that require us to revisit the current bed size preferences.
Consumer preferences change over time, usually influenced by trends and new concepts. One example is the varied size preferences for beds and mattresses. Once upon a time, a standard queen-sized bed was considered a luxurious space that allowed for a comfortable night’s rest for both sitters. Over time, our lifestyle and living space preferences have evolved. The allocation of more space within a house is befitting larger bedrooms and larger, more numerous rooms. A larger bed offers more space, which provides additional comfort during the night. A desire for additional living space has emerged as a trend, and accordingly, bed size preferences have shifted from standard to wider. Australian bed size preferences are wider, and due to global trade, these bed size preferences have been transported to many Asian countries.
3.2. Competitive Landscape
As the companies supplying bed bases are large in scale, they normally offer a wide range of product selections, relying on standardized production to ensure pricing competitiveness. Accommodating potential demand associated with newly resized mattresses may increase financial burden more than simplify sales related operations, prompting companies to resist changes introduced by mattress manufacturers. Consequently, the success of re-introducing resized mattresses will, to a certain extent, depend on the success of promoting complementing beds that overcome the concerns whereby the market faces critical resistance.
Through interviewing a handful of potential clients, the generally accepted reasons for failing to alleviate customers’ pressure included the confusion over the intended bed bases, the lack of accessories, and customers’ dissatisfaction rather than an undersupplied foundation. Among three interviewees, two intended bed base manufacturers and one was the top brand in the market. Although one of the three companies was open to the proposal of offering optional bed bases for the mattress to fit, it preferred to direct the unsatisfied consumers elsewhere.
The commercial mattresses used in Singapore are primarily manufactured in Australia and other countries with stringent fire-retardant and safety standards. The variety of Australian products is diverse, with employment of relatively rigid measurement standards. This is unlike the US, where the assignment of nominal mattress sizes follows less stringent criteria. Despite tight measurement regulations, some Australian companies have attempted to introduce proprietary resized mattresses; however, their market was limited.
4. Challenges and Opportunities for Australian Mattress Brands in Singapore
Singapore mattress consumers still have limited opportunities to understand or appreciate the sleep benefits provided by Australian high-end luxury mattresses. The collected observations show that mattress sellers, who tend to speak to clients or market specialists, possess limited sleep benefits knowledge. Sleep medication is the main medical remedy, while sleep doctors are few. People are unable to query many locally for their sleeping emphasized beds or over the main messages available to them describe the sleep benefits of the high-end mattresses. Singapore sellers have a superficial understanding of Australian high-end luxury consumers and their sleep benefits. They rely on mattress suppliers for brochures, posters, and sleep demonstration videos. Australian mattress sellers should exploit this communication void in the region and reach out to regional sellers and customers who can furnish critical information to aid local sales efforts.
Regional marketing and communication
The Singapore mattress industry skillfully and transparently displays all its component parts indoors and makes them easily available in different laminated mattress parts. Traditionally, the supply markets are located in very close proximity in the immediate region. When they decide to expand their product universe to a complete finished product such as a mattress, the manufacturing skills are significantly there. Producers of high-end and specialized mattress components in Australia have greater exposure opportunities in Singapore due to AIMA trade and promotion activities. Education about the promotional role of component innovation in end product enhancement is essential to produce Australian high-end mattresses, especially when made by Singapore producers. The transparency for qualities and innovation leads to new supplies in high-end mattresses. Producers of high-end mattresses based in Australia must be in Singapore to articulate the features and know-how of their mattress components and alert Singapore producers.
Supply chain knowledge and proximity
The booming housing market in Singapore has made bedroom suites an important showcase in every home. Homeowners value high-quality and expensive beds as prestigious status symbols and indicators of wealth. The market for luxury mattresses is growing. Producers of Australian luxury mattresses, such as A.H. Beard, can position themselves as high-end suppliers of safe and healthy sleep quality products. However, Australian mattress suppliers need to implement local marketing strategies to expose and maintain their establishment in local high-end mattress categories and to communicate significant differences between luxury and mainstream products. Such brand positioning requires innovation, fostered by proprietary Australian technology. Technology collaborations between firms can underpin such innovations.
Reputation
4.1. Regulatory Hurdles
A number of size specifications need to be met according to Singapore requirements. For example, references like US Standard Bedding Sizes, whether it be Australia, America, or funny bedrooms worldwide, seem to ignore the importance of the King, Queen, Double, King Single, and Single sizes as standard product dimensions when it comes to the fire test specifications of these specific mattresses. The two mentioned mattress size references are important to the Australian consumer who is well-accepted and familiar with these comfortable sleeping sizes and have minimum flame retardancy according to the fire test regulations and standards. This subtle difference did not strike the awareness of the Australian standards body, producers, manufacturers, or buyers of mattresses for the Singapore consumer size market. But, this seemingly minor lack of fire test compliance caused expensive testing challenges in the determination of compliance status prior to actually testing before shipment. And it was a laboratory setting up to fire test mattress sizes according to some popularly accepted sizes used by international sellers, due to the high international shipping charges.
Mattresses, like other sets of household items, are packed together in the same box for easy handling. The dimensional and weight considerations for the packed mattress are crucial to ensure the efficient handling of the packed mattresses in terms of storage and transportation.
Technical barriers to trade, also known as regulatory hurdles, are regulations and standards that concern the methods that products must meet before they can enter a market. They are often designed to ensure the health and safety of the people. Importers or exporters who are not familiar with export markets or the countries of destination, or unable to contact well-established local business partners, usually conduct business activities through intermediaries. In many business transaction cases, it is hard to trust business partners without formal contracts because of the dilemma of debt.
4.2. Marketing Strategies
The advertising program will aim to build customer awareness. The aim of advertising is to bring to the attention of the customer that there is a better value option to be had by visiting the BYO Bed Shop. Each advertisement will provoke an expression of feeling “I want that!” The advertising program is not primarily designed to inform the customer. During a broadcast period, advertisements of all types will regularly appear to avoid advertising fatigue. There will be a regular period of repetition to build familiarity. In the first advertisement, the BYO Bed Shop will be referred to as “the cheapest shop in town.” Subsequent advertisements will change this concept to relate to a slogan that has received much attention during the survey, e.g., “we promise, you save.”
To operate successfully in the Singapore market, a marketing plan aimed at attracting customers’ attention and stimulating them to use the products will be carried out. Initially, a market survey will be conducted among the target customer group. A simple two-sided questionnaire will be used to cover interests and several information sources to which the sample relates. Do you read magazines? What type of TV programs do you watch? Are you a member of any associations or clubs? The frequency of visits, who the customers are shopping with, the main reason for visiting, and the frequency of visits to the nine comparison shops will also be measured.
5. Conclusion and Recommendations
When the RIRDC research was completed, the results were received with interest by both the furniture manufacturing and the bed industry. However, action on this international trade possibility did not develop, for a number of reasons, until further discussions with the furniture manufacturing industry and the Singapore Trade Office (funded by the Australian and Singapore governments) led to an offer of financial support for a study visit to Singapore in 2000. A statewide project was applied for and funded by the Tasmania Department of State Growth and the furniture (mattress) making manufacturing industry. The overall cost of the project was AUS 89,500. In order to maximize the project’s potential for the wider Tasmanian furniture manufacturing industry, an invitation to participate in the study was also extended to two manufacturers of furniture.
Until the 1990s, the recommended mattress size for a couple in Australia was the Standard Double (135 × 190 cm). This was the only mattress size available. Currently, due to demographic changes and an increase in real income, the majority of Australian couple households consume a larger Queen or King size mattress. Although the tourist industry at that time was significant, little consideration was given to the fact that couples used a Double size bed on holiday, but slept in a larger bed at home. It was necessary to investigate why Australians sleep in a smaller bed on holiday than is usual at home and to recognize the potential opportunities for Australian bed suppliers as a result of the findings from this research. It was postulated that by exporting custom-made mattresses to the tourist-rich countries where household sleeping patterns differed from their home market, a niche market for Australian mattresses would be found.
5.1. Summary of Key Findings
V. The adoption of mandatory mattress size legislation is rather arbitrary and based on the judgment of the cooperating mattress industry actors. Recommendations for mattress size draft standards have not been carried out in Singapore. An interesting future research could be to evaluate the consumer welfare implications in terms of mattress standard configurations such as width, height, bedstead, and floor space needed between bedsteads or walls.
IV. Our test results are hypotheses based on an empirical study of a single consumer product in Singapore. Therefore, this study encourages the replication of similar studies on other localities and other consumer products, showcasing how these attributes may influence the choice of bedding products in other living places across the world.
III. The strongest effects on the size of mattress choices generally come from family size (STM8), followed by workweek (STM11), and age (STM14). Parents are likely to be the most potential conscious customers when purchasing a mattress because they can easily recognize that the reality of bed and mattress size demanded by their children.
II. Our estimated coefficients could not be interpreted in absolute terms by fixing other subsets of consumer choices with unknown demand preferences (which have not been included in our research). They, however, demonstrated the extent to which changes in demographic, income, lifestyle, and age led to changes in mattress sizes choices.
I. This research has shown that there is a statistically significant relationship between demographic, income, lifestyle, and age nature of Singaporean consumers and the choice of a particular mattress size. This implies that when regulating mattress size standards, regulators should not only consider the physical size of consumers but also the underlying demographic and lifestyle patterns driving the choice.
5.2. Strategic Recommendations for Australian Mattress Brands
Position products through technically advanced ‘hybrid’ models that partner well with modern slat configurations. Given the common use of fixed or articulating slat bases in the Singapore market and potentially other SE Asian markets, it is recommended that Australian brands that are normally associated with vertically-constructed technologies convert certain lines to hybrid models or foam-innerspring hybrids in order to capitalize on the growing market. There are currently no evidence-based marketing campaigns that use slat configuration information gathered from these markets to strengthen existing branding and sales activities. This could be used as a platform to promote the safety and sleep health advantages of expertly-matched systems and gives these companies a competitive advantage.
Provide an extensive service that applies “Australian Sleep Science” as a point of difference in the market. Alongside Australia’s strong position and international reputation in sleep research and technology development, Australian companies could use this position as the basis of a strong IP branding campaign to build awareness of the Australian value around sleep systems in SE Asia and Australia. We have seen successful campaigns to associate Australian technology, researchers and resources with consumer brands in China and the Middle East in the dairy and fitness sectors. This same approach could be equally effective promoting Australia’s strong sleep research offering together with the best-of-breed mattress brands. And it is likely that encouraging the increased connection between Australian industry and research will reinforce some of the competitive advantages being derived elsewhere on sleep health.