CONNECTED HOME APPLIANCES: WHICH BENEFITS FOR FRENCH CONSUMERS? Key findings

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1 CONNECTED HOME APPLIANCES: WHICH BENEFITS FOR FRENCH CONSUMERS? Key findings February 12th 2015 Paris GIFAM - French association of manufacturers of household appliances - publishes a market research giving a more precise view on the level of interest consumers show for connected home appliances. Connected objects are certainly much highlighted in shows and articles about new trends, and prospective figures are impressive: depending on sources, they could represent 20, 30 or even 80 billion objects in the world in But how about the specific market of household appliances and above all, are consumers ready to adopt these new products? What are the benefits they perceive? Method To get the answers, Gifam conducted a survey amongst a representative sample of 1026 respondents. This online survey was reinforced with 10 in depth interviews with a variety of profiles (different ages, size of households, revenues, home surface, purchasing behaviors ).

2 Findings The first assessment is that people are already broadly connected and aware of innovations on the market: 70% say that they keep informed about new technologies, 53% of smartphone or tablet owners use them intensively (they navigate on applications every hour or many times a day) and finally, using these devices has become common habit: more than half of owners use them whatever the situation, in any room of the house. For connected home appliances, consumers directly give their conditions. The first message is clear: they are not keen on futuristic and extravagant propositions. On the contrary, they focus on the need for tangible services that relieve everyday life constraints. In a way, these are the expectations they were giving us 40 years ago! «It all depends on what you are talking about. Managing the light of my fridge with my mobile, no thanks, but better managing the consumption of my washing machine definitely yes, I have a direct financial impact.» (M, 30 yo, Paris) «We want to save time, and better manage devices and consumptions» (H, 44 yo, Tours)

3 Thus, consumers pragmatism appears through the concepts that obtained the best ratings: the first praised concept is a domestic device that can make a diagnostic on its own functioning, give advice on maintenance and detect failures (61% of respondents found it interesting). Final interest is very straightforward: people aim at extending the product s duration of life. They are also interested in solutions that will help to better manage everyday life and budget: a screen on the fridge giving information on products contained (expiry date, stock left) was also found interesting by 59%, and an application giving information on the number of washings done in a month and consumption of electricity was praised by 57%. Small devices are not forgotten, but manufacturers will probably address existing customers: connected food processors, helping throughout the recipe, are a bit lower in the final ranking, with still 50% of respondents interested in the idea. Successful objects & applications X% = Strong Benefit + likely benefit A large domestic device that can make a diagnostic on its' functioning, give advice on maintenance, and detect failures 61% MDA A screen on your fridge giving information on products contained (expiry date, stock left) and other general information (weather, cooking recipes,...) 59% MDA An application that will tell you how many times you have run your washing machine, dish washer, dryer and how much water and electricity you have consumed 57% MDA 4 A scale that monitors your weight, fat rate, diabetes rate, cholesterol... 54% SDA 5 An online customer account where all information on your appliances are saved and that helps you manage these appliances (date of purchase, guarantee period, maintenance to be done, useful contacts) 53% MDA / SDA 6 An application that lists the food left in the fridge and generates a recipe (informing on missing ingredients if needed) 53% MDA 7 A food processor assisting you when making recipes (recipe bank, ingrédients, saving your favorite recipes) that you can control from the appliance or from your phone / pad / computer 50% SDA 8 9 A connected food scale telling you the perfect cooking time for the weighed food, connected to a timer 48% SDA An application that is connected to your appliances and enables you to order food or common products (like washing powder) 45% MDA

4 In terms of targets, success or nonsuccess of concepts depends on key factors that find their origin in current habits and constraints. Several profile effects appear as frequent: - Current connectivity: the more people are connected today, the more benefits they see in the connected home appliances proposed. - Age: generally, the youngest are the more receptive, but even more when they have children and housekeeping constraints. - Number of occupants in the household: the more people in the household, the higher the constraint, the higher the interest for any solution that can help. - Time constraint amongst working and non-working: non-working people are less concerned with saving time. - Owner / tenant: a connected environment can appear as an investment that you will only make when you live in your own and final home. - Current purchasing behavior: more benefits noticed amongst «drive shoppers», people used to home delivery, online shoppers: they are already educated to new concepts. Finally, consumers give us a warning on what should not be done: inventing and proposing gadgets that are not crucial, preventing people from taking their own decisions, proposing complicated and user unfriendly products. One last important aspect: personal data protection must be guaranteed and people express the need for reassurance. Thus, one third perceive the need to create a customer account to use the object as a problem, and 46% only communicate personal information on websites of brands or institutions they confide in.

5 Conclusion With these results, conditions of success appear more clearly to manufacturers. Connected objects are a formidable opportunity to create new customer benefits and value, but manufacturers must remain realistic on speed of adoption amongst consumers: for large devices, it is most likely that the need for connected devices will only appear when the previous appliance has to be changed. For small devices, things might happen a bit quicker: «I will more likely start with buying small appliances, for pleasure; for larger appliances, we will see when needed.» A propos du GIFAM Organisation fédératrice de l industrie des appareils ménagers, le GIFAM (Groupement Interprofessionnel des Fabricants d Appareils d équipement Ménager) rassemble une cinquantaine d entreprises, grands groupes multinationaux et PME, qui accompagnent le consommateur au quotidien en proposant une offre complète et diversifiée sous des marques de grande notoriété. Contacts presse AGENCE RPpublics Alexandra RICHERT - Noémie BONCOURT Tel : noemie.boncourt@rppublics.com alexandra.richert@rppublics.com