They are really just cloth bags, stuffed with soft materials such as down, cotton, or plastic fibre. But Zhang Jing, a native of East China`s Shandong Province, believes there are huge opportunities in pillows.
"You spend one-third of your life asleep," Zhang says. "That little thing that cushions your head can determine whether you get a good night`s sleep."
Her vision has served her well, too. Zhang has made this idea work by turning it into a multimillion-yuan business. Since she opened China`s first specialized pillow boutique in 2001, Zhang has opened more than 200 outlets in more than 20 major Chinese cities.
Zhang says the secret lies in her extensive selection of pillows, which come in a diverse range of materials and sizes to cater to different customer needs, according to China Daily.
"As long as you go deep into it and diversify your offerings, there are lots of opportunities in businesses related to people`s daily lives eating, drinking, sleeping, and even going to the toilet," says Zhang, general manger of Qingdao Suitable Bedding Co.
Besides common pillow fillings, Suitable Bedding offers pillows filled with more than 10 kinds of herbal mixes, each in five different sizes. There are even pillows designed for special purposes, such as horseshoe-shaped travel pillows and little cushions for use in cars. The company also offers products for babies and children and even pillows shaped like a man`s arm for lonely single women.
Zhang admits that China`s pillow industry is still "underdeveloped and backward" compared with markets in Japan and the United States, where people care more about the quality of bedding products. There are a number of large brands in those countries specializing in this sector. These companies tend to be much more experienced in marketing, management and new product development.
"Many Chinese consumers would prefer to spend thousands of yuan on fancy mobile phones rather than 100 yuan (US$12) on a new pillow," Zhang says.
"But I believe more people are starting to pay attention to their health and the quality of life as they begin earning more money. They are willing to accept anything new, so it`s just a matter of how you educate the market."
Zhang is not the only businessperson in China with foresight; she has started to see similar pillow boutiques opening around her in recent years. But she says competition is not always a bad thing.
"As more people jump into the industry, more customers will be aware of our existence," Zhang says.
Zhang stumbled onto the novel idea of opening a pillow boutique in 2001 when she was working in the logistics industry. Her company was teetering on the verge of bankruptcy, and she was having a hard time getting to sleep at night.
"I was worried about losing my job, but I also had a slight (degenerative spinal condition known as) cervical spondylosis," Zhang recalls.
A friend noted that her pillow was too high and was possibly worsening her neck problems, but Zhang was unable to find a satisfactory pillow after searching almost every shopping centre in Qingdao.
"They were either too high or too low, too soft or too firm," Zhang says. She finally ended up making her own pillow with the help of her mother.
She stuffed it with buckwheat hulls, which many Asian health specialists believe provide complete support for spinal alignment. These pillows can soothe muscle tension, offer relief from tightness of the shoulders and neck, and prevent headaches. Buckwheat hull pillows do not flatten throughout the night. They also provide greater comfort by adjusting to the individual form and weight of one`s head, while providing continued support throughout the night.
As she gradually recovered from her chronic neck pain, she came up with the idea of opening a boutique specializing in pillows. After researching the market, she found that local people were either buying low-quality pillows from small grocery stores, or better products at large shopping centres.
"But even in the big malls, there wasn`t a lot of choice. Most of the pillows I saw were just filled with polyester or cotton," Zhang says.
She decided to start by making pillows filled with more natural materials, including different herbal mixes offering varied health benefits.
"Older Chinese people believe pillows filled with natural materials, such as buckwheat hulls, tea leaves, silkworm excrement, cassia seed and chamomile, are good for the health. But the older traditions are now virtually unknown to younger Chinese," Zhang says.
She surfed the Internet and found six factories that could supply pillows tailored to her requirements, and rented a booth at a shopping centre in Qingdao in 2001. Customers soon began flocking to Zhang`s wide range of pillows, and many were impressed by the health benefits of the different fillings. Zhang was soon selling more than 30 pillows a day. In less than half a year, she earned more than 200,000 yuan (US$24,845).
But as her business prospered, some of her suppliers wanted to raise the prices of their pillows by more than 20 per cent. She ended these partnerships and realized she had to produce her own products in order to expand further.
With the help of a professor specializing in traditional Chinese medicine, Zhang developed more than 10 types of pillows filled with herbal mixes. She also set up a small factory and opened an outlet on a popular shopping street in 2002.
With monthly sales of about 500,000 yuan, Zhang continues to diversify her product lines.
"This is not a high-tech industry. Many people can do it, so you have to bring in new ideas almost every day, either in marketing or product development," Zhang says. At a typical Suitable bedding store, customers are even invited to lie down and try the pillows before they buy them.
Zhang says her next goal is to co-operate with leading hotels throughout the country.(SD News)
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