Smart home adoption is growing, with more and more homeowners outfitting their homes with smart devices. According to Statista’s 2018 UK Smart Home Market report, control, connectivity, comfort, and lighting devices are the most popular elements of a smart home, and that revenue is expected to grow by 19.9% annually between 2018 and 2022.
Homeowners who have yet to take the plunge into smart home technology might be held back by a lack of knowledge for what a smart home can truly offer, as there are few places for them to experience one in person. There are near infinite possibilities of smart home features that add comfort, convenience, security, and overall enjoyment to any home, but many homeowners don’t even know where to begin.
Some may gravitate towards “DIY” devices for their first foray into smart home tech, but singular devices don’t comprise a true smart home solution, and can be difficult to expand later on. While DIY devices contribute to smart home awareness, these products can be detrimental to a homeowner’s perception of the technology, as they often operate on an island of their own and don’t “play well” with other devices. The experience is generally not elegant, and setup can be cumbersome.
DIY products are limited both in compatibility as part of a larger system, as well as the interface: they rarely work together in a single app or have other control methods. With DIY, it’s not yet possible to achieve the sophistication and simple operation that a professional installation delivers.
When purchasing any other appliance, renovating the kitchen or bathroom, or buying a TV, homeowners attend a local retail location to test the device and examine features. Dealers have long understood this challenge in working with homeowners on the design of their smart home, but there has not yet been a way for homeowners to truly experience it. For the smart home, other than buying devices online or visiting a product shelf at a local large retailer – with no one knowledgeable about the devices or how to set them up – there’s no equivalent, standardised experience for home technology.
Control4 has created a new smart home buying experience: the
Control4 Certified Showroom programme with over 140 locations available in 25 markets in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, China, and beyond. The showrooms allow homeowners, builders, architects, and others interested in smart home to be able to experience a Control4 Smart Home, and features including one-room entertainment; smart lighting; multi-room audio; security (peace of mind); comfort; voice control; networking.
At these showrooms, homeowners can see the difference between adding a few smart light bulbs to their home versus incorporating smart lighting that sets a mood with one tap of a button or turns off the entire house with a simple voice command. With Control4, homeowners have the ability to control their scenes and devices using their voice with Amazon Alexa, which has become a universal entry or selling point for the smart home. By visiting a showroom, homeowners will see how different scenes such as “Cooking”, “Welcome”, “Movie Night”, and “Good Night” would work in their own home and experience the ease of issuing voice commands to control dozens of devices at once. With almost 12,000 compatible devices, this level of smart home experience is only available with a Control4 system.
Aside from serving as a venue for dealers to showcase their expertise to new potential customers, Control4 Certified Showrooms also provide an opportunity to foster relationships among builders, architects, designers, and others involved in home design and improvement, with whom dealers can collaborate with on projects.
Control4 Certified Showrooms revolutionise how people shop for, learn about, and interact with smart home products, mirroring other home purchasing experiences by providing a nearby location where homeowners can engage with and select the smart home experiences they want in their homes.
The showrooms are now open, and the locations worldwide continue to grow. On May 31, Control4 Certified Showrooms worldwide will celebrate #C4Yourself Day open house events and Control4 welcomes anyone to visit and experience the Control4 Smart Home first hand. Get more information and RSVP to your local event by searching for the nearest Certified Showroom
here.
Brad Hintze is senior director of product marketing at Control4