Page 48 - HW October 2019

global eyes
Smart home: just a
bunch of disparate devices?
EUROPEANS WILL SPEND some €64 billion this year on smart appliances like visual cameras, air treatment, TVs, audio home systems, robotic vacuum cleaners and Smart LED TVs.
That’s around 26% of the total technical consumer goods market, according to
the researchers at GfK who forecast that the market for smart devices (excluding smartphones and smart watches), will grow by 9% globally this year.
“Smart” is gaining share in various product categories with Smart TVs accounting in the first half of 2019 for 80% of TVs purchased in Germany, the
UK, France, Italy, and Spain, while sales of robot vacuum cleaners represented as much as 12% of the total floorcare market.
GfK Consumer research indicates that 53% of respondents would like “smart home” to bring optimised energy usage, 48% want remote home monitoring
and 41% want their home appliances to communicate with each other.
Says GfK; “Consumers are prepared to pay a premium for solutions that simplify their lives and cater for their needs. They expect that smart and connected solutions will turn their homes to a more secure,
healthier, efficient and automated place.” GfK Consumer Life research indicates that 24% of young family respondents (in contrast to just 6% of older respondents)
like the idea of technology that “knows” them and can make recommendations and take actions based on their preferences.
Further developing the smart home market, says GfK will be all about easy integration and adopting common ecosystems and removing barriers to uptake by consumers other than first adopters.
www.gfk.com
Amazon cohabiting with the Home Depot?
THE WSJ HAS reported that Amazon’s latest DC is an existing three-storey facility in Seattle and that it will be shared with The Home Depot.
Amazon will lease 500,000ft2 and the Home Depot 100,000ft2, says the WSJ, as both target more rapid delivery times, the latter in particular aiming to “reach 90%
of its shoppers with same-day and next- day delivery”.
The first of its kind in the US, the “vertical” facility is situated in a tighter urban context than is usual for a major DC and will be kitted out with freight elevators to move forklifts up and down and ramps that let trucks pull up to second-floor loading docks.
The Home Depot’s latest move is just one of several major initiatives already in train in and around the US hardware channel that are designed to enhance deliveries: True Value for one is in the third year of a five-year supply chain program.
www.wsj.com
46 NZHJ | OCTOBER 2019
MORE AT www.hardwarejournal.co.nz