Mattress sales awakened by need to feel cozy and comfortable at home during coronavirus
Sales of Casper and Purple beds soared amid the coronavirus pandemic. Yahoo Finance's Brian Sozzi had the chance to speak to Casper co-founder and CEO Philip Krim, in addition to Purple CEO Joe Megibow. He shares what he learned on Yahoo Finance's The First Trade.
Video Transcript
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Welcome back to "The First Trade." It looks like bed sales are waking up during the COVID-19 pandemic, mostly because our daily lives have been totally upended. And that has translated into a lot of big news for mattress companies Casper and Purple. And Brian, I know over the weekend, even though it was a holiday weekend, you got to track these two CEOs down and talk to them about their businesses. What kinds of trends are they seeing right now? What are sales like there?
BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, burning the midnight oil, Alexis. Bedding sales have been hot. Purple and Casper-- they are fresh off their most recent earnings reports. And you saw April sales for Casper up 15%. Over at Purple, sales up over-- and I'm just going to look at the number-- Purple sales up over 170% in April year-over-year. Those are mind-blowing gains.
And what you're seeing-- I talked to Casper's CEO. I talked to Purple's CEO. Bottom line is, people are investing in their homes. I think a lot of people are using the bed as their command post right now for the job. I'm not doing this interview on my bed, but I have done interviews off my bed. And they're realizing that their 10-year-old mattresses suck. It's time for a new mattress. It's an expensive purchase, but it's time for a new mattress.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Yeah, I've definitely had some meetings where I've still been in bed. Video has not been on-- true confessions. But yes, I hear you. What about how they're selling them? Is it-- because they can't go to the brick-and-mortar stores. So I guess all that buying has shifted to online, Brian?
BRIAN SOZZI: No, what's amazing, Alexis, is that these sales are being-- these strong sales are being done online. Both of these-- Casper and Purple-- have primarily been online-focused retailers from the start. And that debunks the notion you need to go to a mattress firm, and you need to try out a mattress.
You can buy these things online. They will deliver them to your house without a problem. And they continue to see strong sales. And they're likely to continue to see it for the next couple months because it's clear that we're not returning to work anytime soon, at least to the office.
ALEXIS CHRISTOFOROUS: Yeah, I guess we're seeing the same with auto sales, right? I mean, auto sales are gaining some traction even though people aren't being able to go out and test drive the car. So a new way we're buying, Brian.
