UK

Last year, over a quarter of Brits (27%) said they owned three or more smart home devices, while a further 40% owned one or two.

The most popular products are smart TVs (almost half of all Brits), smart speakers (29%), and smart fitness or activity trackers (22%). After these, ownership drops to 10% or lower for items such as smart thermostats, detectors, lighting, plugs, and motion cameras, etc.

It’s when we look at the 4-year trend that the opportunities and challenges for different products really stand out. Claimed ownership of smart speakers has tripled in the last three years, with a regular, significant increase each year. In contrast, however, the claimed ownership for smart TVs shows much slower growth over the same period, while the popularity of smart fitness trackers fluctuates year by year, and smart detectors show a sizeable downward trend since a peak in popularity in 2018.

With the exception of smart speakers, it seems that British consumers are not yet convinced of the value of upgrading to the smart versions of these home products.

However, the uptick in smart speakers last year might be the golden opportunity needed to jump-start consumer appreciation of the convenience that smart offers and encourage a desire for more. It’s likely that the smart speaker purchases were boosted by the enforced isolation of lockdowns, with people looking for instant access to the latest news on COVID restrictions, as well as enjoying the experience of having something to talk to that talks back. The result is that smart speaker penetration in Britain has finally crossed the line towards mass-market figures.

Assuming the overall user experience continues to be positive, this lays the road for increased word of mouth, as well as purchases of other smart devices that can easily pair with, and be controlled via, the smart speaker.

There is, however, a key limiting factor in the UK, that could hold back the ‘knock on’ effect into purchasing other smart devices.

Many connected home products are not being used in tandem with smart speakers. Brits are mostly using their smart speakers for things like playing music, checking the news or weather and searching for information or instructions. Only 45% of owners say they are using their smart speaker to control other devices in their home.

The majority are using their smartphone, rather than their smart speaker, to control other smart products. Clearly, this seriously limits the opportunity for smart speakers to act as a gateway to purchases of other smart products within the home.

Let’s take a look at the specific products that Brits are using their smart speaker to control as part of a proper ‘home hub’ – and what can we learn from this, in terms of potential to expand purchases of other smart products?

The most popular pairing is to control the TV, with nearly a fifth (18%) of Britain’s smart speaker owners doing this. That is followed by 14% using it to control lighting, and 13% to control plugs. What they are not using their smart speakers for are things like doorbells, security cameras and monitors, fitness trackers etc.

The difference lies in the fact that many of these connected devices are optimized for interaction via a visual display (viewing data from fitness sessions or accessing the camera view on doorbells and motion detectors), as well as for situations when the user is away from the home (smart alarms, security systems, recording a run on a fitness tracker).

Manufacturers and retailers therefore need to develop and position smart products with a clear understanding of whether the user is going to use their smart speaker or their smartphone as the control hub for that particular device.

Growth opportunities in UK:

By plotting claimed ownership of smart devices against the categories that people are most interested in buying, we see clear potential for further growth in areas including smart detectors, motion cameras, lighting, doorbells and thermostats.

However, there are barriers:

Almost 6 in 10 feel the cost of products within smart lighting and smart security is still too high
Half have concerns over their personal privacy if they bought from these categories.
4 in 10 have concerns about the technology within these categories and the impact on security in their home

Register now for UK Smart Home Study 2021 results
(available mid July)