25% of buyers for the most adopted smart home devices report acquiring via an online-only retailer such as Amazon

New research from Parks Associates shows for the first time, online retailers dominate as the top channel for the most widely adopted smart home devices, including smart garage door openers, smoke or CO detectors, thermostats, door locks, video doorbells, networked cameras, in-wall outlets/switches, light bulbs, and plugs. Overall, more than one-third of US broadband households own at least one smart home device, and one-fourth of households with the most widely adopted devices report they purchased through an online-only retailer like Amazon.

The firm’s Quantified Consumer:Smart Home: Consumer Purchases and Preferences, with data from a survey of 10,000 US broadband households, includes an analysis of COVID-19’s impact on the smart home markets and provides insight into identifiable purchasing behaviors, including product and feature preferences among consumers.

“The pandemic was finally the tipping point for online retailers, which had been trending toward the top channel position for years,” said Chris White, Sr. Analyst, Parks Associates. “Security dealers are an important secondary channel for smart safety and security devices, while HVAC contractors are an important channel for smart thermostats.”

Moreover, the Parks Associates’ research identifies and compares critical customer segments: Smart Home Power Users vs. Newbies, single-family vs. multifamily home residents, and innovators vs. laggards. Consumers who already owned smart home products drove a large part of the expansion in smart home product ownership.

In 2020, the average number of devices owned per household with at least one smart home device rose from 6.8 devices to 7.4 devices as buyers added products from new categories or bought additional units of their favorites. Purchasers used a wider variety of channels than ever before.

“Repeat buyers are still the top smart home customers, but at some point, this group will reach saturation,” White said. “The mainstream (volume) portion of the market is still playing ‘wait and see’ because they haven’t been sufficiently convinced of the smart home value proposition.”

In terms of smart home products, doorbells and light bulbs were favorites in 2020. Now at 13% adoption in US broadband households, video doorbells are one of the most versatile smart home products, providing home security, access control, secure package delivery, neighborhood monitoring, and tracking services.

For more information on Smart Home: Consumer Purchases and Preferences, contact sales@parksassociates.com. To schedule an interview with an analyst or request specific data, please contact Rosey Ulpino at rosey.ulpino@parksassociates.comor 972-490-1113.

About Parks Associates

Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com

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