The Smart Home is All about the User Experience

This is an excerpt from a white paper, Turmoil in the Smart Home: Impact on the User Experience,  published by Parks Associates in partnership with Asurion.

Customer support starts at the point of purchase by helping buyers receive the information they need to make the best product selections for their needs. Parks Associates’ data finds 1-2% of broadband households return each type of smart home devices purchased over the past 12 months. These returns are from purchase rates of 2-5%. Manufacturers must help consumers better understand and set up the devices they are buying.

A significant portion of smart home purchases (25-50%) are returned.        

Manufacturers will benefit from minute details of the sales information provided to potential customers. Product information must be clear, simple to read/watch, and accurate, explaining how device features work and how to enable these features. This quality of information will better set buyer expectations and reduce returns.

In addition, companies can offer proactive, hands-on onboarding and setup for consumers. Buyers have moderate levels of difficulty with the leading categories of smart home products.

21-23% of households buying video doorbells, smart thermostats, networked cameras, or smart light bulbs report installation is “very” difficult.          

Building Trust and Loyalty Requires Awareness

Support builds loyalty and trust, helps reduce return rates, and can help with engagement strategies, but traditionally support experiences are underwhelming and frustrating. Traditionally OEM support is limited to only the products they’ve developed. There are also missed opportunities in not providing ongoing or additional benefits outside of technical support.

Reviews and word of mouth are important for brand loyalty and the consumer buyer journey.  In the smart home in particular, the purchase journey is dependent on consumer awareness of products through their family and friends. Word-of-mouth referrals and strategic marketing are key drivers; this can help take interest to a sale just through advertising and sharing the benefits and value of the product. Consumers have gaps in their daily activities where technology can help provide convenience, context, and valuable information through these devices. Marketers need to focus on the value proposition more.

Underwhelming support experiences and lack of integration among products lead to low repurchase rates and customer loyalty.        

Building the Unified Experience for Consumers

Consumers want a unified experience, but achieving this level of integration is not easy. Consumers are often relegated to using the individual apps for each product, rather than using one control point in a whole-home experience. Currently only 40% of smart home device owners have at least one multidevice integration or routine established, which means most device owners are unable or unwilling to tap into the full value of their products.

A unified support program can help consumers navigate the complexity of the smart home. Bringing all the devices together can be cumbersome and can raise privacy concerns as well as complicate the interface. Support services can help both sides overcome the barriers to centralized control and interaction, simplifying the process of adding multiple devices and opening avenues for consumers to realize the full value proposition of their devices.

Return Rates Impact Revenue

Return rates continue to grow. For example, 2% or 2.5M US households buy and return a video doorbell each year; of those households, 6% never bought a different device, and 35% report purchasing a replacement device from a different brand. At an average purchase price of $93, that’s ~$13.5 million lost for the category per year and ~$79 million per year moving to a competitor.

This is an excerpt from a white paper, Turmoil in the Smart Home: Impact on the User Experience,  published by Parks Associates in partnership with Asurion. This white paper identifies the issues that consumers face when seeking support for technical issues, including the resolution process and support experience. As the complexity and competition in the smart home market grows, companies can differentiate through the support services, and the overall experience.