BusinessDay 05 Apr 2018
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22<br />
BUSINESS DAY C002D5556 Thursday <strong>05</strong> <strong>Apr</strong>il <strong>2018</strong><br />
Luxury Malls Companies Deals Spending Trends<br />
Affordability, durability key drivers<br />
of consumer choice for mattress<br />
Stories by DAVID IBEMERE<br />
Now more than ever,<br />
Nigerians are demanding<br />
high-quality,<br />
affordable mattress<br />
for their sleep<br />
opening a battle ground for who<br />
takes the large chunk of the market.<br />
With a rising population of close<br />
to 180 million that needs sleep, Nigeria<br />
remains Africa largest market.<br />
Global Mattress Market research<br />
<strong>2018</strong>, expects Nigeria market to<br />
grow at a compound annual growth<br />
rate (CAGR) of 6.16 percent during<br />
the period <strong>2018</strong>-2022.<br />
Although, there are various<br />
players in daily competition for<br />
market pre-eminence, the two key<br />
players in this battle which span for<br />
many years are two giants Moaka<br />
foam and Vitafoam.<br />
Air mattress-an inflatable mattress/sleeping<br />
pad mainly for recreation<br />
in recent times is gradually<br />
gaining the attention of Nigerian<br />
homes, as also help intensify the<br />
battle.<br />
The competition between the<br />
two top players, Moaka and Vitafoam<br />
is so close, that it is almost<br />
impossible to decide which one<br />
is superior to the other, leaving<br />
consumers most times with tough<br />
buying decision.<br />
While both companies have<br />
successfully leveraged on promotions,<br />
activations and strong advertising<br />
campaigns to increase market<br />
share, marketers of air mattress are<br />
promising convenience.<br />
Moaka foam rocks the market<br />
with various advertisement showing<br />
strength and durability, Vitafoam<br />
rides on comfort campaign<br />
to drive sales. However, market<br />
survey carried by <strong>BusinessDay</strong><br />
show most Nigeria buying decision<br />
is largely hinged on affordability<br />
and durability.<br />
For Titilayo Olalope a trader<br />
she said if given the two options,<br />
she will rather go for the one that<br />
promises long-life.<br />
For years Olalope said she has<br />
been using Moaka foam because<br />
of its durability but the price of the<br />
products has forced her to look for<br />
unbranded or private label ones.<br />
A check by <strong>BusinessDay</strong> on various<br />
mattress stores in Lagos shows<br />
the both products offered no much<br />
of a difference in price.<br />
Vitafoam pegged prices for his<br />
products between N21, 000 and<br />
N50, 000 for medium sized mattresses<br />
and the large sizes prices<br />
ranging from N80, 000, N103, 000,<br />
and N234, 000, similar to the price<br />
ranges offered by Mouka Foam –<br />
N41, 856, N103, 000 and N220, 000.<br />
Ajimobi Laide, said that she<br />
and her family use Mouka Foam<br />
at home because the brand is very<br />
durable.<br />
I have been using my Vitafoam<br />
mattress for almost 7years now<br />
and I still enjoy it, “Honestly, both<br />
brands are good. I decided to use<br />
Vitafoam because of the comfort,<br />
anytime any day I will go for comfort,<br />
I love my sleep.<br />
Despite the use of Airbed gaining<br />
traction especially in small<br />
sized rooms for singles, Nigerians<br />
remained reserve on the options<br />
it offers. They blamed the epileptic<br />
power supply in the country as the<br />
reasons why they will rather go for<br />
the regular mattress.<br />
However, Emeka Obi a distributer<br />
at Yaba told <strong>BusinessDay</strong><br />
that sales has increased especially<br />
in the last six months from<br />
millennials<br />
“I get more young people asking<br />
for the brand, in few years’ it will be<br />
one of the most used bed, as more<br />
effort is being done to improve on<br />
the existing brands,” he said.<br />
“If not for power the airbed<br />
works for me, I have on several occasions<br />
sleep on the bare floor because<br />
of no power to inflate it, aside<br />
power problem I think it makes a lot<br />
of sense getting one especially for<br />
small rooms occupants.”<br />
Jide Alabi a physiotherapist calls<br />
on Nigerians to ensure they take<br />
their sleep very important.<br />
“Daily I get patients who walk<br />
through my door asking me about<br />
mattresses “It’s critically important<br />
to have quality sleep, it is a performance<br />
tool.”<br />
“It is not enough to get a mattress<br />
you can lie your head on,<br />
investing in better mattresses and<br />
spending time to get a mattress<br />
that’s right will go a longway to<br />
improve performance, hence<br />
consumers should think about replacing<br />
their mattress every five to<br />
seven years,” Alabi advised.<br />
37 of Africa’s 100 biggest markets in Nigeria<br />
Nigerian cities dominate<br />
the top 100 Africa biggest<br />
markets with capital,<br />
consumer size and<br />
connectivity, ahead of Egypt and<br />
South Africa in the Fraym Urban<br />
Markets index.<br />
37 cities in Nigeria made it into<br />
the top 100, with Lagos, Abuja,<br />
Kano, Ibadan and Port Harcourt<br />
ranked in the top 25 at 3rd, 17th,<br />
18th, 19th and 22nd respectively<br />
ahead of South Africa 9 and Morocco<br />
8.<br />
However, top of the list overall<br />
was Eqypt’s capital city Cairo,<br />
followed by Johannesburg<br />
(South Africa), Lagos(Nigeria),<br />
Luanda(Angola) and surprisingly<br />
number five Democratic Republic<br />
of Congo’s Kinshasha.<br />
Egypt Cairo ranked first both<br />
in Consumer, Connectivity, and<br />
Capital, Nigeria Lagos unsurprisingly<br />
came in second on consumer<br />
level followed by Congo Kinshasa<br />
with South Africa fourth.<br />
South Africa also had four cities<br />
including Durban at number 13,<br />
Vereeniging, a city in Gauteng province,<br />
South Africa,which closed the<br />
list in top 35 cities and Cape Town<br />
at position seven as Egypt had also<br />
apart from Cairo, Alexandria, the<br />
Mediterranean port city in Egypt<br />
came at position nine.<br />
Interestingly, the metropolis<br />
of Lagos has roughly the samesized<br />
urban consumer class (12.2<br />
million) as all thirteen large cities<br />
in the East African Community<br />
(12.5 million in Burundi, Kenya,<br />
Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda). The<br />
consumer class in Nigeria’s 37 cities<br />
is 41.6 million<br />
Nairobi Kenya was ranked 19th<br />
on capital, 13 on consumers and<br />
6th on connectivity, occupying<br />
the 10th position overall in Africa.<br />
However, the city is still considered<br />
well-connected commerce and<br />
transportation hub.<br />
“Nairobi has successfully positioned<br />
itself as a hyper-connected<br />
hub, both within East Africa and<br />
across the continent. This gives the<br />
city an outsized influence despite<br />
having a smaller GDP than many<br />
other African cities,” said Fraym<br />
CEO Ben Leo.<br />
“Surprise cities were Kinshasa<br />
and Khartoum. Interestingly, Nigeria<br />
had the most cities (5) in the<br />
top 25 with 37 cities in the top 100<br />
biggest markets in Africa. South<br />
Africa came in second with nine<br />
cities in the top 100.”<br />
“Outside of the top three, each<br />
African city has a unique profile.<br />
Some, like Khartoum and Alexandria,<br />
are very large markets with<br />
many millions of emerging consumers.<br />
Others, like Nairobi and<br />
Casablanca, are highly connected<br />
gateways to their sub-regions and<br />
beyond. This reflects the diversity<br />
of the continent and the need to<br />
examine each city market as a<br />
distinct entity,” said Fraym CEO<br />
Ben Leo.
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