Market Entry Strategy for Home Automation Segment

Objective

The client is a provider of end-to-end systems integration and fiber optic solutions for set top-boxes. They wanted to enter into Home Automation market and hence wanted to understand the demand & supply side of it. Channelplay conducted Consumer, Competition, Retailer, Distributors as well as institutional research (builders, architects). The sub-objectives of the study included:

• Mapping the current size of the market, past & projected growth
• Key growth drivers, challenges, entry & exit barriers
• Consumer Research – Product awareness, adoption, brand preference, buying considerations
• Retail research – Brand preference, most selling brands, pricing, service terms, trade terms
• Distributor research – Evaluating distributors in terms of market reach & sales trend
• Builders/Architect research – Brand preference, purchase considerations

 Approach

• A thorough secondary research was conducted to adopt a segment understanding both in terms of product’s usage occasions, market penetration & selling channels. Looking at the diversity of the market, we bifurcated the market into 2 segments - security/surveillance-positioned products (CCTV cameras, Video door bells etc.) and convenience-positioned products (smart door lock, lighting controls etc.)
• Competition was identified both in terms of Domestic/Indian Brands, Exclusive Home Automation MNC’s and Multi-Segment Diversified MNC’s which have a portfolio of products across different segments.
• Consumer research was conducted for consumers who have shifted to new homes in the last 18 months.
• Institutional research was also conducted based on the size of the builders/architects deploying such product solutions.

Outcome

The research assessed the current lifecycle stage of the products in the home automation segment and their potential to evolve in future. The study provided strategic insights around:

• Market sizing
• Target positioning for the client for both security-positioned as well as convenience-positioned products
• Selling Channels’ strategy
• Pricing strategy
• Branding & promotion
• Psychographic segmentation of target consumer group
• City-level roll out plan