Entrepreneur Uses Digital Tools to Build “Bedder Bedding”
Denver, CO
Colin McIntosh has always had an entrepreneurial spirit. After losing his first job because he didn’t quite fit in at a hedge fund, he found his way into tech startups that better fit his casual personality. It wasn’t long before he had an idea for a new business: He could shake up the bedding industry by focusing on eco-friendly products with a memorable brand. In 2018, Colin founded Sheets & Giggles (S&G), which makes sheets, pillowcases, blankets, and mattresses from renewable plant-based materials like eucalyptus lyocell, a sustainable fabric that’s both cooler and softer than cotton.
But Colin’s innovative bedding isn’t the only reason for his success: He’s also embraced digital tools. For example, by training 24/7 artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots for customer service on SheetsGiggles.com, Colin has reduced customer care tickets by over 30 percent, saving his team from answering lower-urgency customer questions. He also recently automated returns, allowing any unsatisfied S&G customer to return their S&G bedding through a portal without speaking to a customer care agent.
“Over our first four years in business, we grew by anywhere from 200 to 400 percent year-over-year,” Colin said. “Continually implementing new digital tools has played a huge part in that growth because it frees up a ton of our time to focus on bigger ticket items.”
Colin also started selling on Amazon in 2019. The platform’s data-powered ads help him market his products to folks looking for a good night’s sleep. Before potential customers click “buy now,” they can use Amazon’s AI-generated review highlights to see what previous shoppers thought about their purchases. And when Colin makes a sale through Amazon, he can rest easy: its Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service automatically manages S&G’s inventory and ships orders to customers nationwide.
As an entrepreneur, Colin is sensitive to anything that could impact his business, including the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC’s) lawsuit targeting Amazon’s integrated services. If the FTC successfully breaks apart Amazon’s services, S&G and small businesses like it will lose the advertising and logistics tools that help fuel their success.
“If this lawsuit successfully breaks up Amazon, it will almost certainly harm small businesses that rely on Amazon for a huge chunk of their overall sales. The end result will be to give larger corporations an even greater advantage to sell their products over their smaller competitors that phase out – or that would have never even existed if it hadn’t been for Amazon,” Colin said.
Learn more about Sheets & Giggles at SheetsGiggles.com, and follow Colin on X at @ColinDMcIntosh.
