Not everyone wakes up with purpose these days. As the clock ticks relentlessly toward another expanse of (for many) open hours, more people are seeking wellness coping mechanisms. And more are finding them in tech-enabled, retail goods.<\/p>\n
According to American Psychological Association<\/a>, 47% of Americans are feeling anxiety, 44% are feeling sadness and 39%, anger. It’s not surprising that the digital therapeutics market, estimated to be worth nearly $2 billion in 2017, will reach a projected $14.5 billion by 2027<\/a>.<\/p>\n Retailers can play a bigger role in aligning these technologies with their products and services, looking beyond the obvious to those smaller moments. This takes walking through the customers’ days with them, from sun up to sun down, in expected – and unexpected – places.<\/p>\n Finding Purpose In The Morning<\/strong><\/p>\n Structure was among the first casualties of the virus, and it begins at daybreak. Research shows that from the onset of the pandemic (March 2020) to April 15, 2020, Americans were sleeping 20% longer<\/a>.<\/p>\n One cause for sleeping in is hopelessness. In 2020, the number of people who sought depression screenings rose by 62%<\/a> over 2019, according to the nonprofit group Mental Health America.\n<\/p>\n Retailers and brands can help replace feelings of gloom and mundanity with new experiences one would look forward to – think small sensory treats that stimulate the brain and body to move<\/em>.<\/p>\n Room And Bored: How Retailers Can Reinvent Routine <\/strong><\/p>\n Many call it “pandemic fatigue,” but a simpler description of what many are experiencing is boredom.<\/strong> The regular coffee stops we made, those lunches with friends – these small events were exclamation points in our everyday narratives, injecting meaning.<\/p>\n Boredom, for many, is worse than pain. In one experiment, 67% of men and 25% of women<\/a> chose to give themselves small electric shocks rather than spend 15 minutes alone with their thoughts.<\/p>\n Retailers can help out by presenting both essential and non-essential goods as tools that inspire goals.<\/p>\n Dreaming Up New Ideas In Sleep Tech <\/strong><\/p>\n A purposeful day should lead to a better night’s sleep, and retailers should not overlook the king-sized opportunities. Nearly 60%<\/a> of people are struggling with sleep, inspiring the phrase “coronasomnia.”<\/p>\n Of the smart retail categories geared toward mental wellness, sleep-related goods may be the most developed. Sales of smart mattresses rose an estimated 9.2% in 2020, and that annual growth is expected to rise to 11%<\/a>. Where there is a mattress, there are complementary opportunities.<\/p>\n Which brings us full circle. If the products shoppers buy can make their mornings a little easier, and gentler, they may feel inspired to do more. And if retailers support these trends, they will be better positioned to further understand what their customers will want to do, and buy, tomorrow.<\/p>\n This article originally appeared in <\/em>Forbes<\/em><\/span><\/a>. Follow me on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/span><\/a> and <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/span><\/a> for more on retail, loyalty and the customer experience.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Not everyone wakes up with purpose these days. As the clock ticks relentlessly toward another expanse of (for many) open hours, more people are seeking wellness coping mechanisms. And more are finding them in tech-enabled, retail goods. According to American Psychological Association, 47% of Americans are feeling anxiety, 44% are feeling sadness and 39%, anger. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7274,"featured_media":884718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[128,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986832"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=986832"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987745,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986832\/revisions\/987745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=986832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=986832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=986832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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![expected to rise to 11%<\/a>. Where there is a mattress, there are complementary opportunities.<\/p>\n\nMattress PhDzzzz. <\/strong>Tech and retail are natural bed partners, so Mattress Firm and SleepScore Labs, maker of sleep-tracking apps, are teaming up<\/a>. Store employees use the app data to determine the best mattress for customers and then to monitor their sleep experiences.<\/li>\nGoodnight, sleeping blues<\/strong>. Retailers can find opportunities in what customers do right before sleeping, as well. The blue light emitted from smart digital devices interferes with sleep<\/a>, so eyeglasses are made with technology specifically to block blue light. Smart-mattress maker (and sleep tracker) Sleep Number also sells blue light-blocking glasses<\/a>.<\/li>\nSmart bedding<\/strong>. For those who cannot afford a smart mattress, there are Wi-Fi-connected heated blankets and smart pillows, the latter of which can track sleep, play audio and\/or stop snoring. The global smart pillows market<\/a>, valued at $624 million in 2018, is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 31.6% by 2025. One entrepreneur is raising money for “smart bedding<\/a>.” It doesn’t connect with a device, but it can save time making the bed in the morning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\nWhich brings us full circle. If the products shoppers buy can make their mornings a little easier, and gentler, they may feel inspired to do more. And if retailers support these trends, they will be better positioned to further understand what their customers will want to do, and buy, tomorrow.<\/p>\nThis article originally appeared in <\/em>Forbes<\/em><\/span><\/a>. Follow me on <\/em>Facebook<\/em><\/span><\/a> and <\/em>Twitter<\/em><\/span><\/a> for more on retail, loyalty and the customer experience.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Not everyone wakes up with purpose these days. As the clock ticks relentlessly toward another expanse of (for many) open hours, more people are seeking wellness coping mechanisms. And more are finding them in tech-enabled, retail goods. According to American Psychological Association, 47% of Americans are feeling anxiety, 44% are feeling sadness and 39%, anger. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7274,"featured_media":884718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[128,9],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986832"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7274"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=986832"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986832\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":987745,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/986832\/revisions\/987745"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/884718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=986832"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=986832"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/customerthink.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=986832"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}](\"https:\/\/mms.businesswire.com\/media\/20200602005776\/en\/795500\/5\/IRTNTR40013.jpg?download=1\"){kind=link}