Recent Parks Associates research found that 51% of smart-home device owners in US experienced a recent problem with one or more of their devices, with the majority of problems related to wireless connectivity, contributing to recent high return-rates for these devices.
Commenting on the results, Parks Associates President, Elizabeth Parks said: “Between 2-4% of US internet households returned at least one smart-home device in the past 12 months, which are high return-rates when you consider the purchase and adoption rates are still in single or low double-digits.
“A poor early experience impacts future consumer attitudes, as 13% of consumers report they are not likely to purchase a new product from the same brand if they return a product from that brand.”
“Smart-home devices often get returned for reasons that have nothing to do with the device itself,” added Jason Moore, CEO, RouteThis. “Aside from the expense these returns create, they can also have a significant impact on customer loyalty. In reality, over half of the issues these devices experience are directly related to the consumer’s home Wi-Fi. So, when it comes to building brand loyalty, smart-home brands first need to consider what they can do to better resolve and assist customers with these issues.”
Consumers report the main reason for smart home returns were “the product did not work as advertised” and they had “difficulty with the physical installation”, indicating more work needs to be done to improve consumer education, setup and installation processes, and product connectivity.