Majority of mattress retailers say election won’t impact October sales

NEW YORK – A majority of retailers responding to a mattress retail survey say they don’t expect the upcoming presidential election to have any impact on their October sales trends.

Piper Sandler’s September Mattress Retailer Survey found that 64% of the retailers said the election would have no impact on October sales, while 27% said it would have a “modest impact,” and 9% said it would have a “significant impact.”

The survey also found that 55% of retailers said they are making no change in their advertising strategies near term as a result of the election, while 27% said they are increasing advertising and promotions, and 18% said they are decreasing advertising spending.

The survey found that retailers are looking for double-digit sales gains in the fourth quarter. The retailers expect sales growth of 13% on a mean and median basis.

And it found retailers doing well in the third quarter, reporting a mean total sales growth increase of 14%, the strongest quarter in survey history.

The retailers reported their September sales were up by a mean of 10.5%, likely benefiting from a late Labor Day holiday, Piper Sandler said.

That was a sharp acceleration from total dollar sales in August, which were up by a mean of just 1.9%.