Nighty-night, competitors: Exceptional products, pricing and service prove irresistible to Canadians

Founded in 2017 by entrepreneurs Anna Heyd, Oana Papuc and Vivian McCormick, Flax Sleep sells 100% European linen bedding directly to Canadians.

Anna Heyd will be the first to tell you that Flax Sleep has it rather good compared to many businesses navigating the challenges of a pandemic.

“Sales are down, but fortunately we’re almost 100% e-commerce and not dependent on a physical retail channel. It also helps that quality bedding is custom made for consumers nesting at home during a lockdown.”

Seizing an opportunity

The inspiration for this growing e-commerce company was the three founders’ personal online shopping experiences.

“We saw a gap in the Canadian marketplace when it came to buying simple bedding online at accessible prices. We felt there was an opportunity to fill that void,” says Anna Heyd.

From the beginning, being everything to everyone was never part of the plan.

Before launching, the three co-founders took plenty of time to create a compelling brand mission and core values. Wisely, trying to be everything to everyone was never part of the plan.

Without a big media budget, Flax Sleep had to be smart with marketing dollars.

“To amplify messaging beyond what we were capable of doing on our own,” says Oana Papuc, “we concentrated on a select combination of channels and strategies.”

These included social media, digital marketing, SEO, public relations and media, pop-up stores and community building among their customers and fellow entrepreneurs — female in particular.

Says McCormick, “We developed and utilized relationships with our direct community of ideal customers first to create evangelists for our products and amplify our messaging.”

The combination of a highly customer-focused approach and a reliable partnership with Canada Post has created a great number of repeat buyers in our first year.

Anna Heyd

Flax Sleep

Flax Sleep’s customer experience strategy has included high benchmarks for timely order fulfillment and responding to customer inquiries. “Executing our shipping and logistics processes effectively has continued to change, especially as our purchase volumes increase,” says Ms. Heyd. “The combination of a highly customer-focused approach and a reliable partnership with Canada Post has created a great number of repeat buyers in our first year.”

In response to Covid-19, Flax Sleep introduced well-timed tactics to help with sales. “We offered free shipping to motivate fence-sitters,” explains Ms. McCormick. “We also decided the overnight delivery of luxury bedding isn’t exactly a priority during a pandemic, so we extended our shipping windows. Customers are extremely understanding.”

Smart thinking, great products and awesome customer service experiences all add up to one success story you just don’t want to sleep on.