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co-founder of ChefSteps, a food and technology company that developed Joule Sous Vide; Carley Knobloch, technology and digital lifestyle expert and host of HGTV's Smart Home; and Nathan Smith, founder and chief technology officer of Wink, maker of a smart home technology platform that allows you to use multiple apps in one place. The smart home trend is moving from the early market to a state of greater maturation according to Wolf, who stated, "Connected products so far have experienced varying degrees of success." The focus now is on creating sustainable business models, eliminating fragmentation around technology and platforms, and creating compelling user experiences that provide real solutions and answer specific pain points. The panel agreed one of the most important issues going forward is creating products that solve problems, and not using technology because it might seem like what people want. "I don't think anyone wakes up in the morning and says, 'Oh, I want to get a smart home.' The terminology itself is somewhat scary," said Smith. "[If you're a connected product manufacturer], just saying something is smart doesn't cut it. But saying, 'Hey, did you know you could do this with this product? Did you know you never have to come home to a dark house again? ' Now, that's something." "I'm looking for a compelling solution to a problem," said Knobloch, wearing both her consumer hat and that of a digital lifestyle expert. "I'm looking for a company that has empathy for me. I don't want connectivity for connectivity's sake." Paying attention to consumers' pain points is important, as is helping alleviate any concerns about usability and security, said Knobloch. "Security is a major pain point, and energy efficiency is right up there." Panelists agreed that story-telling is key when communicating the value of a connected product over a traditional product, or when the product represents a brand-new concept. "The advice I always give to companies [which are looking to produce a connected product] is to become a content company first," said Wolf. "They can't just put a product in a box and say, 'Here it is.' " There are significant opportunities for retail stores to tell the story of how a connected product can help solve consumers' problems, but not many are doing so yet. "Retail is always a challenge with any new technology," said Smith, who later added, "The retail brands that are going to survive are going to create partnerships [to market and sell]." According to Wolf, the number one issue in the smart home category is fragmentation. That is to say, when different products have different apps or platforms that don't interact, it can make it difficult for the user to manage. Even though the Joule Sous Vide currently operates via an app, "Apps today in many ways are like VCR and TV remotes of the 1980s," said Young. "They had lots of features but we didn't always know what they did. Lots of clutter and lots of heft can be very intimidating." On the plus side, technology costs for connected products have decreased significantly just in the last few years, according to Smith. The ability to build a community and improve the product in real time also adds to the investment. "Back in the day, when a product walked out of your store, that was it," said Smith. Young added, "We get feedback in the form of data all the time as to how people are using the product; what's working and what isn't." That allows them to make improvements like adjusting how directions are given, or adding new content that people are searching for (as was the case recently when they realized many people were trying to find out how to cook bacon sous vide). So what does the future hold? The group agreed that systems with voice recognition such as Amazon's Echo may be the wave of the future. "I don't think even Amazon predicted the success of Alexa and Echo," said Wolf. Knobloch added, "There's a delight that comes with using it," who compared the system to the home automation product Nest and the Apple brand in general. "The design has an intangible pull to it, and we've been liberated from our phones. It feels like a little less of a burden." Smith also feels facial recognition technology shows some possibilities. As for robots who literally do the work for people, the group was less optimistic due to cost and consumer acceptance. At the end of the day, "It's a wonderful thing when technology can improve our lives," said Knobloch. "But that also can be challenging to actually do." A recording of the program will be posted on IHA's website at w w w.houseware s .org / educ ation / pre sentations-webinar s . Please visit www.housewares.org for more information about the International Home + Housewares Show. RO JUNE 2017 RETAILOBSERVER.COM 33