“Consumer interest in smart home has definitely evolved,” says Leana Salamah, vice president of marketing for the International Housewares Association (IHA). “These days, the ‘wow’ factor of a tech-enabled device isn’t enough. People are looking for smart home products that are easy to use, convenient, and most of all, they’ve got to address a problem or pain point in their daily lives.”
The Market
Global smart home market volume is expected to reach $223 billion (in U.S. dollars) by 2027, according to research firm Statista. That represents a 12.5% annual growth rate starting in 2022. Household penetration, which was 14.2% in 2022, is projected to reach 28.8% by 2027.
In the U.S., overall technology sales are expected to decline again in 2023. But The NPD Group’s Future of Technology forecast says sales of home automation products—which were also up in 2022—should continue to grow this year. That’s due to new models coming to market, as well as more products speaking the same language thanks to the new Matter smart home standard.
Solving Problems
Sure, that robot toy your kids can tell to clap and dance is fun and all, but does it help get dinner on the table? Respondents to IHA’s 2022 Market Watch survey were firmly in favor of smart home products that solve common problems or address pain points at home.
They rated products with an auto-cleaning feature most highly (50% said they’d be very or somewhat interested). Auto-cleaning was followed by products that might detect foods or suggest recipes (48%), coordinate meal elements (48%), detect expired or empty ingredients (47%), detect or order new parts (47%) and count calories or macros (45%).
Opportunities
According to the same survey, the top categories for smart home growth are meal prep, security, home environment, cleaning and health. Between 8-11% of respond ents said they intended to buy a smart home product from each of those categories in 2022.
Those findings seemed to echo pain points cited by respondents to IHA’s 2023 At-Home Entertaining Survey. Those consumers said clean-up and getting all the elements of a meal ready at the same time were their greatest challenges when it came to at-home entertaining.
New Products
Buyers looking for the latest in smart home innovation can find new products at The Inspired Home Show 2023 in the Smart Home Pavilion, as well as in individual exhibitor booths.
Just a few of the thousands of products new to the market or the Show include:
• GEFU Provido Food Storage Containers—smart containers that help you track and manage food in your refrigerator, freezer and cupboards.
• Milton Smart Hotpot and Tiffin—portable containers (ranging from an individual lunch size to a 10 cup/feed-a-crowd size) that allow you to heat food quickly via an app no matter how far away you are. Link to photo
• Lomi Smart Waste Appliance by Pela Earth—An automated countertop machine that takes the work out of composting. Link to photo
Learn more about opportunities for new product discovery and education at The 2023 Inspired Home Show.
