Parks Associates: For the First Time, Online Retailers Dominate as the Leading Channel for the Most Adopted Smart Home Devices

DALLAS, Aug. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- New research from Parks Associates shows for the first time, online retailers dominate as the top channel for the most widely adopted smart home devices, including smart garage door openers, smoke or CO detectors, thermostats, door locks, video doorbells, networked cameras, in-wall outlets/switches, light bulbs, and plugs. Overall, more than one-third of US broadband households own at least one smart home device, and one-fourth of households with the most widely adopted devices report they purchased through an online-only retailer like Amazon.

The firm's Quantified Consumer: Smart Home: Consumer Purchases and Preferences, with data from a survey of 10,000 US broadband households, includes an analysis of COVID-19's impact on the smart home markets and provides insight into identifiable purchasing behaviors, including product and feature preferences among consumers.

"The pandemic was finally the tipping point for online retailers, which had been trending toward the top channel position for years," said Chris White, Sr. Analyst, Parks Associates. "Security dealers are an important secondary channel for smart safety and security devices, while HVAC contractors are an important channel for smart thermostats."

Moreover, the Parks Associates' research identifies and compares critical customer segments: Smart Home Power Users vs. Newbies, single-family vs. multifamily home residents, and innovators vs. laggards. Consumers who already owned smart home products drove a large part of the expansion in smart home product ownership.

In 2020, the average number of devices owned per household with at least one smart home device rose from 6.8 devices to 7.4 devices as buyers added products from new categories or bought additional units of their favorites. Purchasers used a wider variety of channels than ever before.

"Repeat buyers are still the top smart home customers, but at some point, this group will reach saturation," White said. "The mainstream (volume) portion of the market is still playing 'wait and see' because they haven't been sufficiently convinced of the smart home value proposition."

In terms of smart home products, doorbells and light bulbs were favorites in 2020. Now at 13% adoption in US broadband households, video doorbells are one of the most versatile smart home products, providing home security, access control, secure package delivery, neighborhood monitoring, and tracking services.

For more information on Smart Home: Consumer Purchases and Preferences, contact [email protected]. To schedule an interview with an analyst or request specific data, please contact Rosey Ulpino at [email protected] or 972-490-1113.

About Parks Associates
Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates creates research capital through market reports, primary studies, consumer research, custom research, workshops, executive conferences, and annual service subscriptions.

The company's expertise includes IoT, digital media and platforms, entertainment and gaming, home networks, Internet and television services, digital health, mobile applications and services, support services, consumer apps, advanced advertising, consumer electronics, energy management, and home control systems and security.

Each year, Parks Associates hosts industry webinars, the CONNECTIONS™ Conference Series, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit: Engaging the Consumer, and Future of Video: OTT, Pay TV, and Digital Media. http://www.parksassociates.com 

Contact:
Rosey Ulpino
Parks Associates
972.490.1113
[email protected]

SOURCE Parks Associates

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