From Ikea to Amazon, retailers and technology companies are making big bets in the Internet-of-Things space as smart home technologies gain traction among consumers. To analyze what is happening, Fluent, a performance marketing company, recently conducted a study around the IoT phenomenon.
The survey finds that 32 percent of consumers say they trust Amazon and Samsung the most for smart home technology products, reflecting the growing market dominance of these companies. With this growing dominance, smart home devices are becoming more common with 40 percent of consumers stating they have at least one smart technology product in their home. Many consumers have more, with the average number of smart technology categories purchased/ installed in home (among category buyers) being 3.2 devices.
Not only are people commonly having a smart device, many of these devices have recently been fitted. The survey finds that 30 percent of consumers indicate they have purchased or installed a home-related smart technology product within the past year . There is also a demographic difference, with consumers 18 to 34 being 140 percent more likely to have some form of home automation or virtual assistants in their home compared with those 35 years of age or older. Many of the younger generation – 29 percent – identify as ‘Early Adopters’, claiming they are the first, or among the first, to try a new product or technology.
In terms of the types of smart home technology, the research finds that 43 percent of consumers say they own a smart television; while 22 percent indicate they own technologies like smart alarms, cameras, and security systems. As to why people are considering smart technologies, convenience is the main factor influencing smart technology purchase decisions, followed by a product’s ease of use.
All told, there are already at least 7 billion connected IoT devices on the market today and this is set to grow. The Swedish research firm, Berg Insight, predicts that 63 million U.S. homes will qualify as “smart”, in some shape of form, by 2022.
