Dive Brief:
- Support.com conducted research into smart home devices and systems and found 23% of respondents have smart devices in their home connected through Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or another wireless network and controlled by a mobile device or computer.
- The two most popular types of smart devices included entertainment (74%) and home safety and security (46%).
- The range of smart devices in the survey included products and devices such as lighting, heating, security systems, appliances and/or entertainment systems (excluding tablets, PCs/laptops).
Dive Insight:
The penetration of smart home devices should be of interest of marketers as those products can be a source of valuable user data. Research last year by 2nd Watch found 60% of business executives leveraging Internet-of-Things data for digital marketing. At the same time, two-thirds of those executives acknowledged that data is still in its earliest stages. As more people adopt smart home devices, marketers will have an entirely new area of first-party data to track and parse through.
The report found that cost and complexity remains an issue with smart home adoption.
“Both owners and potential buyers agree on the issue of price, with 42% of Smart Home owners saying that the Smart Home cost is the most frustrating aspect of owning connected systems or devices. Two out of three (67%) potential buyers say the cost to buy, set-up and maintain a Smart Home system is the number one barrier to purchasing Smart Home devices or systems,” the report said.