The Coronavirus pandemic may be waning, but supply chain cost constraints and hybrid work culture along other such macro trends continue to influence consumer technology and durables. Since the pandemic, a new work culture has risen in several global economies, resulting in new use cases for consumer electronics and durables both inside and outside the house, as well as boosting categories like laptops, tablets, and wearables.
A new champion appears
In the last year, there has been a surge in demand for connected, multipurpose gadgets that empower users by saving time, increasing value, and delivering deeper insights into their performance and productivity. With two major strands: wearable health and multifunctionality, this holds huge potential for brands and retailers. In this unprecedented time, most individuals consider staying in good mental and physical fitness to be “very vital”.
Wearable technology has become a requirement and consumers are now accustomed to consciously measuring their pulse rates, heart rates, and daily step count, as well as continuing to challenge themselves to get fitter.
This has resulted in a high demand for tech-enabled gadgets that provide users with information on a variety of health-related parameters, ranging from sleep quality and steps taken to blood sugar levels and calories burnt.
With monitors that evaluate sleep, blood pressure, and blood-oxygen levels, health trackers and personal diagnostics, which were already on the rise before Covid-19, have witnessed tremendous expansion as a result of this heightened interest.
How marketers can maintain their edge
Tap into the growing demand for devices that reflect newly connected consumers. Create wearables that integrate into the Internet of Things or appliances delivering multiple functions at once. The key is to add value by empowering end consumers with brand-new use cases.
Technology companies have effectively grabbed market share by detecting this trend. As a result, leadership teams should strive to capitalize on increased demand. Connected gadgets, for example, are a new area of interest that allow consumers to connect to the Internet of Things through wearables that are connected to a variety of other household products. It might provide an opportunity for companies that span many platforms to increase shopping baskets by cross-selling linked products. Some companies are already implementing this approach. It also allows merchants to upsell and cross-sell, show various technologies as part of the same ecosystem, and even position linked gadgets as promotional packages.
Securing first mover advantage in wearables
Globally, comparing sales of Smartphones with Wearables we can see that there is still a lot of space to grow before each smartphone is connected to a Smartwatch or Health and Fitness tracker. However, this lower baseline coupled with rapidly rising consumer interest shows ample opportunities for significant gains in the year ahead.
Consumers wishing to upgrade after their original purchase in a category, must be considered by brands. Consumers may have purchased their first item as an exploring buy, revealing a poor willingness to spend a high price in many circumstances. They’re looking to trade up now that they’ve been convinced of the use case, with an increasing number of customers upgrading and exchanging a functioning product rather than exchanging a broken one. Wearables, dishwashers, and vacuum cleaners are examples of such categories.
— Nikhil Mathur, Managing Director India & Head Data Partnership & Innovation-APAC, GfK
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