JANUARY - MARCH -20218 IN MY V EWINTERNET OF THINGS: UNRAVELING A NEW WAVE OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR HOME APPLIANCESBY JAI THAMPI, HEAD - IOT AND DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION, APAC & MEA, ELECTROLUX [EPA: CS]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 IoTToday'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 customersHistorically, 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.2. Leverage dataMultiple 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
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