The smart home market continues to grow, with Parks Associates announcing at CES that 42% of U.S. internet households now have one or more smart home devices. Retailers can benefit from the smart home’s steady march toward greater mainstream adoption through thoughtful exploration of new and continuing trends like generative artificial intelligence (AI), product bundles and a strong focus on the fundamentals.
Smarter voice assistants
Nothing defines the modern smart home era more than smart speakers with voice assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. For nearly a decade, people have asked digital assistants to turn off lights, check weather forecasts and set timers in the kitchen.
Despite this convenience, it’s not uncommon for a voice assistant to say it doesn’t know the answer to a question or activate upon hearing every word in a TV show that remotely sounds like “Alexa” or “Hey, Google.” However, recent developments with generative AI mean more tech players are teaching their voice assistants new tricks in 2024 and beyond.
Last fall, Google and Amazon separately announced initiatives to improve their respective assistants with more natural voices, contextual responses and better productivity tools. While it’s too soon to predict how AI will drive future smart home demand, keep an eye on the horizon to help guide your customers through these changes.
Bundle to meet customer needs
Interoperability occupies a unique niche in the smart home pantheon. It’s simultaneously the greatest strength and worst weakness of every system. For a time, it looked like the industry would finally solve this issue with the Matter standard. Unfortunately, its slow and rocky rollout shows we’re still far away from a plug-and-play utopia where customers can buy products without fearing incompatibility.
Even so, consumers prefer buying multiple devices at once. In a December 2023 press release, market research firm Parks Associates noted that “72% of recent smart home buyers purchased two or more devices in the past 12 months,” making bundles a worthwhile investment for smart home companies, homebuilders and security services.
Resist the temptation to toss products on an endcap, sell sheet, or compatibility page and leave the rest to the consumer. Instead, create bundles with various combinations of lights, plugs, locks, cameras and other smart devices – including from your product partners. The work of the bundle doesn’t stop with physical products.
DIY products should empower customers with robust support resources and tutorials for maximizing integrations. Show off your brand’s expertise with a step-by-step guide to creating routines that use specific, actionable examples.
Professional integrators and home security companies aren’t new to the bundling game, but you can also improve the customer experience. Highlight core features with clear instructions and provide self-service troubleshooting guides to reduce the number of in-person service calls. Your customers and technicians will thank you.
The fundamentals haven’t changed
While the magnetism of the next big thing is a surefire way to draw in customers, it doesn’t replace the rock-solid foundation that every smart home needs. Consumers will always want better lighting, smart thermostats, security cameras and home entertainment devices. The demand for core smart devices makes helpful tutorials and reliable support more essential than ever.
Whether you sell budget or luxury products, frustrating onboarding and post-purchase experiences can prevent customers from returning to your business for their next upgrade. Regularly assess the effectiveness of your support processes and materials – even when an older product takes a backseat to your latest marketing push. Ongoing support is an opportunity to highlight how every smart device in your portfolio works together.
About the Author
John Carlsen has covered smart home, home security and consumer technology since 2013. In addition to his freelance work, he’s written articles and reviews on staff for SafeWise, ASecureLife and Top Ten Reviews.
