The perfect mattress for a restful repose

Manjula Ramakrishnan

Shopping for most items today is through the mobile phone or the ubiquitous laptop. Staying relevant to the tech-savvy customer, mattress retailing too has enveloped technology and offers a rich buying experience from the comfort of their homes through online shopping.

Responding to major shifts driven by technology, the company Whisper speaks about great sleep at your fingertips and has since become a pioneer in the UAE in the mattress-in-a box business model.

Dominik Zunkovic, founder of Whisper, says: “Our core focus is to help people wake up refreshed and recharged.  However, we wanted to go further and provide more value to customers.

“Recognising the tremendous opportunities in the UAE e-commerce sector, we saw that the local mattress industry was ripe for distribution and thus, Whisper came into being, to shake up the traditional bed and mattress business.”

Dominik Zunkovic, founder of Whisper.

Isn’t buying a mattress still considered a touch and feel experience?

While it is true that mattresses are high-touch products that consumers want to experience before buying, we at Whisper never saw it as a challenge for an online business model.  Because many people don’t really know how to shop for a mattress, we created our e-shopping platform to be centred on education. Agents are available online to help customers on information about how they can help them sleep better.  It’s like giving them an interactive experience similar to shopping in a physical store.

What was the research done to opt for e-commerce to promote good sleep?

According to the global business consulting firm Bain & Company, e-commerce is now a $2.2 trillion (Dhs9trn) market and is growing annually at 24 per cent. In the MENA region, the e-commerce market has grown slightly more of the global average. The UAE is the most advanced online retail market in the region, thus convincing us that online shopping should not be confined to fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) alone.

How can one sleep cool with the advances in technology?

Unlike traditional memory foam, when open cell adaptive foam is used like in Whisper, it allows the heat and sweat to escape. Also built in to the foam is an air channel ventilation system that helps keep you dry and cozy so, you can have a restful sleep. It is equipped with temperature control through the fabric that uses thermo regulation. It cools you down when it’s hot and retains heat when its cold, allowing your body maintain its core internal temperature. The fabric and foam are completely breathable, ensuring that there is enough ventilation through the night.

How can a mattress fit into the contours of the body?

The mattress is designed to offer targeted support to the points of your body that need it, for instance hips and shoulders and less where you don’t, keeping your spine aligned. The highly sensitive and responsive quantum foam layer improves your blood circulation, and cradles your pressure points to offer the best relief. The DNA core in the mattress offers the option of both soft and firm, offering you adjustable comfort so you can choose what fits one best. Additionally, Whisper offers a mattress that comes with a dual comfort feature for couples. It is made of two separate DNA cores so partners can adjust their own side independently of one another.

How does technology keep bedbugs at bay?

Our mattresses are anti-bacterial, with an assurance that it is free of bacteria and dust mites, preventing signs of allergies, and congestion. The fabric is woven with silver yarn, which naturally ionises – producing a scent that repels bacteria and dust mites. The mattresses have no glue composition, ensuring that dust mites cannot find a home in your bed. For further protection, it comes with a removable and washable cover. Just unzip the fabric, and pop into your machine for a quick wash.

When it comes to sleeping with our mobile phones next to the bed, how safe are we?

Electronics next to your bed such as TVs, phones, and computers emit harmful electromagnetic (EMF) waves that interfere with your brain waves and prevent you from getting deep restful sleep. This is why we introduced a special feature, the Silver Shield. Included with the mattress is a grounding cable that can be attached to the mattress and plugged into any outlet next to your bed to create an invisible shield above that prevents any EMF waves from entering your sleeping area. This is truly contemporary technology.