Home, but not alone

DALLAS — It may not have been a stellar year for new builds, but the residential market continues to see growth in the smart home products and services market as homeowners seek a modern and connected lifestyle, according to research by Parks Associates. 

Customer loyalty in flux 

In a webcast titled “The Next Ten Million Customers: Unlocking Value in Security,” President and CMO Elizabeth Parks walked through the research, including this key data point for dealers: 

78% of people would switch platform providers if the provider could control everything in one place, support a broader range of devices, and/or offer better data security and privacy. 

“There's not a lot of loyalty right now around that platform,” she said. “There's a lot of opportunity to be that platform provider of choice.” 

Desire for connection and lifestyle 

So, what’s the path to gaining those 10 million customers? Parks described an up-and-coming market of people currently buying security systems as homeowners who desire to be part of a connected home environment and the lifestyle provided by that ecosystem. 

“The No. 1 reason why people are buying security systems is because they want the smart home devices,” she said. “So, this very strong smart home device market continues to push the security systems market, along with other reasons why people buy security systems, which have to do with starting a family or having incidences in their home that create that desire to get security and safety solutions at home.” 

AI as smart home driver 

Parks also addressed the prevalence of artificial intelligence (AI) in the market, and how its integration into hardware, software and applications is driving a desire for an integrated central hub. 

“So, when we look at the growth in the connected home markets, we're seeing smart home product adoption continue to grow,” said Parks. “We're seeing home security solutions continue to be valued by consumers, by small businesses and by multifamily markets. We're seeing a really big lean into networking services and Wi-Fi and the role of all connected devices in the home.”