This page is for retailers, e-commerce brands and bedding companies. Healthcare shops and professionals are supplied with our Pillowise brand only.
Why does a "side sleeper" label not solve the fit problem?
The label narrows the choice, but it does not fit the person. Sleeping position is only one input. Shoulders, neck, head and mattress firmness together decide which pillow works. A standard pillow fits nobody exactly, and side sleepers are no exception.
We would not ask your customers to pick a height and hope. The fit has to be determined, either by measuring or by a short test that turns a few answers into a size. How firmness plays into a range is covered in Firm pillow: what firmness means for your pillow range.
A labelled standard pillow is easy to source and easy to explain. It also looks the same as every other labelled standard pillow on the shelf, and your customer still has to guess. For a seasonal filler that can be enough. For a range you want to be known for, it is not.
Which fitting method suits your channel?
The principle is the same everywhere. The method differs per channel, and so do the trade-offs.
| Concept | Channel | How it fits | What it asks of you |
|---|---|---|---|
| Professional fitting | Specialty retail, sleep specialists | A trained person takes three body measurements and determines the size on the spot. Includes size range, fitting tools, training and POS materials | Staff time and training |
| Mobile scan (PillowScan™) | E-commerce, apps, omnichannel | A smartphone scan of shoulders, neck and head in about 30 seconds, no app required. The algorithm combines it with sleeping position and mattress firmness into a personal pillow code | An online flow that your customers complete themselves |
| Adjustable at home | Online and mass retail | One adjustable pillow. A short online test (height, weight, sleeping position, mattress firmness) tells the customer how much filling to remove | The customer does the adjusting |
Choose the method that your channel can actually deliver. A fitting counter without trained staff will not work, and a scan flow that customers abandon will not either. The concepts can be combined, for example a scan online and professional fitting in your stores. You can read how each one works on our custom fit pillow page.
Side sleeping is not a separate product in these concepts. It is one of the inputs. In the scan and in the home test, sleeping position is combined with body measurements and mattress firmness, so a side sleeper and a back sleeper do not end up with the same pillow by default.
What can you specify in your own range?
These are the decisions we work through with you. We do not publish a fixed height list here, because heights and sizes follow from the concept and the fitting method you choose.
| Decision | What is available |
|---|---|
| Filling | Premium European memory foam with an open cell structure, or our own Symbio® memory foam, which responds to body warmth and pressure |
| Cover | Washable, OEKO-TEX® certified covers |
| Size and height | Set by the fitting method: a size range for professional fitting, a personal pillow code for the mobile scan, a filling level for the adjustable pillow |
| Brand and packaging | Delivered white label, in your design, packaging and language |
| Minimum order | 2,500 pillows for private label concepts |
| Logistics | Shipped worldwide from Zevenbergen |
For the wider range of ergonomic and memory foam models, see wholesale pillows. If you are not sure which concept matches your shop or webshop, the pillow finder helps you narrow it down.
What if you need a product on the shelf first?
Our existing pillow ranges, including ergonomic and memory foam pillows, are available as private label in your packaging. That is a fast way to add a proven product while a custom fit concept is developed. It is not custom fit, and we will not pretend otherwise. If you want to compete on fit, this is a starting point, not the destination. We agree volumes for the existing range when we discuss your plans.
If you want to see how the term fits into a range, read Orthopaedic pillow: what it means for your range.
Who has done this before?
Custom fit began with us in 2013. Pillowise was the first pillow sized on three body measurements, developed together with a physiotherapist. We have been developing and producing ergonomic pillows since 1990, and we still develop the concepts and technology in-house with a team of physiotherapists, product designers and engineers.
Each fitting method also exists as one of our own brands: Pillowise for professional fitting, YOUP for the mobile scan and Yourzzz for the adjustable pillow. We know from running them where each method works and where it needs support. You can see them on our brands. Your brand would be separate and in your name, and the concepts and the technology behind it are ones we have already built and run. More on that is on our technology page.
How do we handle it?
Design, development and production sit under one roof, in our own 4,000 m² facility in Zevenbergen. That makes us one partner from concept to delivery. The private label process has five steps:
- Concept. Positioning, channel, price point and fitting method, with a proposal for range and packaging direction and a cost indication.
- Design. Pillow shapes, sizes and covers, with visuals and material samples.
- Development. Prototypes and samples for you to review, plus the measuring method or the PillowScan™ integration.
- Production. Cut, sewn and packed in Zevenbergen, with quality control.
- Delivery and beyond. Worldwide shipping and continued improvement after launch.
You review prototypes and samples before anything goes into production. If you want to see how we work first, a factory tour in Zevenbergen is possible by appointment. For the bigger picture, see pillow manufacturer in the Netherlands.
So, is a side sleeper pillow the right move for your brand?
If you want a quick seasonal filler, a labelled standard pillow will do, but it will not set you apart. If you want a range that answers the fit question properly, a custom fit concept is the better move. It asks more of you at the start, in channel choice and in the fitting flow. If you cannot commit to a fitting method yet, start with the existing range and wait with the custom fit concept until you can.
Discuss your concept with us. We send a first proposal within two working days.
Thijs van der Hilst, physiotherapist, co-founder of UCI