Retailers Should Pitch Voice as Smart Home Control Feature, Says NPD

Voice-activated speakers, operating as interfaces to smart home services or as digital assistants, will deliver an incremental $1.6 billion to the U.S. technology industry through 2019, reported NPD. Home automation devices will add an additional $1.7 billion to the industry through 2019, as 19 percent of consumers are planning to buy a device in the next 12 months, it said. With growing consumer interest in controlling smart home products by voice, demand for smart speakers is projected to rise accordingly, creating a $2.7 billion category next year, said the researcher Tuesday. The best opportunity for retail could be pitching the installed smart home base to make incremental device purchases "and to then provide services to help consumers fully leverage the technology in their smart home,” said analyst Stephen Baker. Another area ripe for retail sales is networking gear, said Baker. "As the number of connected devices on the home network increase[s], consumers will come to the realization that they need better equipment to support those devices.” Mesh technology is driving a sharp sales uptick, Baker said, with mesh network sales forecast to jump 88 percent from 2017-2019.