Internet of Things: Unraveling A New Wave Of Opportunities For Home Appliances

By Jai Thampi, Head - IoT and Digital Transformation, APAC & MEA, Electrolux

Jai Thampi, Head - IoT and Digital Transformation, APAC & MEA, Electrolux

The Internet of Things (IoT) is all about linking digital and physical worlds. A McKinsey global analysis estimated that IoT could uncover economic impact of trillions of dollars by 2025, as the number of connected ‘things’ will reach many tens of billions. A lion’s share of this comes from Industrial IoT (IIoT) delivering productivity gains in business-to-business applications. But what about consumer applications? What can IoT do for us in our day-to-day lives at home?

The estimated value of time spent annually on domestic chores is more than USD 20 trillion by 2025, according to McKinsey. Even a 10 percent efficiency in household activities like cooking, cleaning, washing, etc. could save society hundreds of billions. As IoT-enabled smart products simplify people’s lives, this opens up incredible opportunities for home appliance manufacturers. A leader in this space, Electrolux has been shaping living for the better by creating better experiences and innovating sustainably, and it is no surprise that IoT is becoming a key enabler in our digital transformation journey.

Uncovering opportunities with IoT

Today’s consumers are mobile-first, and the next generation will probably be mobile-only. Shared economies and Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) have been re-shaping their perceptions and expectations about the brands they interact with every day. For traditional consumer product manufacturers to remain relevant in this ‘new’ digital world, connecting with these consumers by leveraging IoT will become non-negotiable. To reshape connected business models, three areas have been found the most important:

1. Stay in touch with customers

Historically, home appliance registration rates fell between 10-30 percent, depending on market and product. An IoT-enabled product digitizes, and therefore simplifies, the registration process, making it easier for the brand to touch more of its customers. This also allows for enhanced product ownership experiences such as providing tips to get the most out of the appliance, or how to save electricity or water by using the product optimally. If the ‘always-on’ appliance is showing unusual behavior, predictive maintenance could kick-in and consumer service agents could reach out to the users and, with their permission, fix the problem. This makes it a proactive delightful experience, rather than a reactive painful ordeal.

IoT will no doubt revolutionize the industry, but the true winners will be brands that meaningfully leverage IoT to deliver simply outstanding consumer experiences

2. Leverage data

Multiple built-in sensors, coupled with edge computing power in the appliance, will deliver unprecedented amounts of data to the cloud that can be analyzed for predicting product issues or triggering reminders for the replenishment of parts such as filters for a refrigerator or air purifier. Data lakes and big data analytics will provide invaluable insights to product managers enabling them to better design their future products, and also opens up new revenue streams to the manufacturer.

3. Rewrite business boundaries

IoT and big data are redefining industry boundaries by triggering new meaningful cross-industry ecosystems. Imagine a washing machine that analyses your typical wash loads and cycles, and recommends the best detergent that will care for your clothes while saving water. Automatically re-ordering that detergent now creates a new partnership ecosystem between the appliance manufacturer, the cloud provider, the detergent maker, and a delivery service.

Key considerations for IoT deployment

For successful deployment and consumer adoption of IoT and connected appliances, we must get the following three aspects right.

1. Interoperability

Like any new technology domain, connectivity also faces standardization challenges. Interoperability between brands and products is a make-or-break issue, and standardization initiatives like OCF (Open Connectivity Foundation) and IFTTT are slowly making progress.

Another notable aspect here is internet infrastructure in emerging markets. Home appliances typically sit far away from the home router, so relying entirely on WiFi to get a robust IoT home may not always deliver a delightful consumer experience.

2. Security and data

In a 2017 PwC survey respondents chose “data encryption” as the number 1 asset for a smart home, reflecting that concerns about data privacy, hacking, malware etc. are at an all-time high today. IoT appliances could become weak and easy targets if not designed well, so manufacturers must put security ahead of cost in their design priorities.

3. Consumer awareness

The average consumer is still not convinced of the benefits IoT can bring to her household. Brands must take extra measures to dispel this skepticism while making the products cost-effective. UX/ UI design takes paramount significance too as poorly designed products never get connected, nipping all new business model potentials in the bud.

As more tech savvy consumers are accepting IoT-enabled products as part of their daily lives, we can expect this category to cross the chasm and reach mass-market adoption in the coming years. IoT will no doubt revolutionize the industry, but the true winners will be brands that meaningfully leverage IoT to deliver simply outstanding consumer experiences while protecting user data and privacy, and not the ones who will fall into the shiny new object syndrome.