Thanks for reading Furniture World Magazine Diane. Let me first start off by saying that as the editor here, I've never actually sold bedding. I get my information by speaking to mattress manufacturers and component supplers, so my expertise is second hand.
First, are you the buyer/owner as well as in sales? Also, do you find this problem across all price points? I checked out the store's website and only saw one mattress manufacturer mentioned. Your store seems like it sells promotional to mid-price, so I'm assuming that the mattress you are selling are not in the premium price points. Is that correct?
I'm also assuming that you sell lots of innerspring mattresses with pillow tops and it is foam over the springs that is losing resiliency, causing body impressions.
Before the advent of pilow tops, as you mention, mattresses were reversible they had much less cushioning above the springs which don't lose much resiliency over time. There are still reversible mattresses out there from a number of suppliers and not all at high price points if you think this would help to solve your problem.
My "impression" (pun intended) is that in general, the higher priced the mattress, the better the materials used and the lower the incidence of body impressions. Good quality materials are expensive. All things being equal, latex holds up better in this regard than polyurethane foam and the new hybrid beds with tiny coils in individual pockets are being touted as reducing body impressions, so you might look into hybrids.
So offhand, if the store is having trouble with body impressions due to problems with promotional bedding, my suggestion would be for the store to put better (higher price point) bedding on the floor and be truthful with customers about the problems some customers are having with more promotional products. Step them up so you don't create unhappy customers. Even if your suppliers cover the cost under warranty, you are still incurring sales/ service costs and lost future business.
If your customers don't like memory foam, they will probably like latex, though it is more expensive. And maybe, speak with some other suppliers and see what expertise they can bring to your problem.
If you are not already doing so, I would track body impression problems by manufacturer and by model. You may find that the percentage of problems are not the same across manufacturers and price points.
I have no data to support this, but perhaps older folks and heavier people have more problems in this regard. Perhaps older people move less and their hips are always in the same place... so it would be interesting to track age and body type as well.... or maybe we can find someone who has already done this research.
Knowing this could help you to lead your 80 year old 300 pound customers away from a $499 queen.
That's all I have for now. But let me know if I can post it and perhaps we will get some better answers and research.
Regards,
Russell
Russell Bienenstock
Editor-in-Chief
Furniture World Magazine
New Rochelle, NY