Celebrity-backed US mattress firm Casper eyes entry point into UK market

Constantin Eis, the company’s co-founder and managing director, told the Press Association the move is part of plans to tap the UK’s £1 billion mattress market.

He said: “We are in discussions with UK retailers for a partnership that would see our mattresses and products sold in shops.

“We want to be the dominant player in the online world, there’s a £1 billion market in the UK and online is 10% of that, but there is still a large part of business that takes place offline.”

Mr Eis did not disclose the names of the retailers, but the revelation comes after the firm struck a similar deal with US retail giant Target to sell its mattresses, pillows, sheets in its stores.

The company, which began life as an online-only operation and launched in the UK last year, wants to take “significant” market share from the main players in Britain.

But Casper faces stiff competition as the mattress market hots up, with other start-ups such as recently listed Eve and rival Simba making up an increasingly crowded space.

Nevertheless, Mr Eis described Casper’s UK trading as “amazing”, without giving details on sales figures.

He added that Brexit has not dented the group’s appetite for the UK, saying that regardless of the political situation the same problem from consumers persists when buying a mattress from a traditional high street outlet.

“You have a neon light flooded sales room and you are then told to lay down,” he said, echoing others who have launched online mattress operations.

Launched in 2014, Casper booked £154 million in global revenue last year, up from the £77 million it reported in 2015.