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Talking With: Kevin Meagher, IoT innovator, on IoT in the retail experience
One of the biggest buzzwords of 2016 is the Internet of Things. Kevin Meagher, former VP and general manager of Lowe’s IoT Smart Home initiative, talks about where IoT is today, the challenges and where it's headed in the retail customer experience realm.
July 6, 2016 by Judy Mottl — Editor, RetailCustomerExperience.com & DigitalSignageToday.com
One of the biggest buzzwords of 2016 within the retail customer experience realm has been the steadfast advancement of Internet of Things technology, with IoT increasingly a focus of topic at conference and summits.
To get some insight on where IoT is today and where it may be in the future retail customer experience Retail Customer Experience reached out to Kevin Meagher, former VP and general manager of Lowe's IoT Smart Home initiative. He led the program, including the development and deployment of connected products and services through stores. He also founded Intamac Systems, a U.K. company, providing a cloud platform delivering smart home solutions.
Meagher has lectured on business management and published papers at national and international conferences, and is the recipient of numerous awards including Ruban d’Honneur as European Entrepreneur of the Year, and his company won the European Best Business Innovation Award. He has three patents and has also served as a Group Captain in the Royal Air Force. He is a chartered engineer in aeronautics and holds an MBA from the Open University.
Meagher is currently senior VP of business development at ROC-Connect. While IoT has steadily moved forward, some initiatives, such as Nest, one of the earlier and most hyped smart home devices, has hit major hurdles. But despite Nest's shortcomings, retailers need to convince consumers that the smart home fad isn’t dead, according to Meagher, and selling smart home devices that integrate into one ecosystem is imperative for appealing to a wide customer base.
"Retailers have the opportunity to create repeat and long term customers by selling smart home devices that can integrate with other devices — something Nest didn’t do," he told RCE in an email interview.
Learn what else Meagher shared in the interview:
Retail Customer Experience: Given your extensive background what's your view of retail and connectivity today – are they completely joined at the hip in terms of providing technology consumers expect or technology that retailers need to connect with customers?
Kevin Meagher: There are numerous ways that the IoT and connectivity will reshape the retail relationship both in store and in the home. The smart home is going to drive the biggest change because it has the potential to deliver the most benefit to the consumer. However, it's an early market and consequently, there is some confusion over the technology and the best strategies.
I believe few retailers really see the profound impact it will have on long term plans. In particular, home improvement retailers will become service providers, as consumers focus more on the new capabilities that connectivity enables rather than the number of buttons and features presets out of the factory gate.
Different retailers face different challenges as they adapt to address new connectivity. For example, Best Buy and the consumer electronics businesses will find it easier than home improvement retailers to understand, support and present smart products to consumers. However, the big home improvement chains are the ones with the most to gain.
All the major retailers have now committed to the market in some way, but they split into two camps when it comes to strategy. Companies like Lowe's, Amazon, Sears and Target have taken some big first steps and made investments to preset smart home devices in a way that helps educate consumers on the benefits. They are actively using the data from the devices they sell to develop and deploy new services that allow engagement with customers in new ways. Others are simply reselling the latest connected devices for margin and leaving the manufacturers to manage the consumer.
Adding to this confusion, manufacturers are trying to exploit connectivity to develop a more direct relationship with its consumers. Given that, I would say no one is joined at the hip.
Indeed, I would accuse manufacturers of trying to rip the legs off retail. Manufacturers are trying to use connectivity to disenfranchise retailers by taking control of the customer relationship. This strategy is creating confusion with consumers and it is ultimately doomed. Consumers want smart homes not a collection of smart devices. Manufacturers cannot meet that need because they are simply competing against each other for sales instead of competing to create a cohesive smart home. However, retailers are perfectly placed to make sure all the devices they sell work together to create a smart home.
The reason this market is so exciting right now is that connected devices are actually simple, affordable and scalable. The benefits for consumers are significant in terms of making homes safer, more energy efficient and easier to manage. Most analysts now believe ' as consumer awareness increases and the business model issues are resolved, the floodgates will open and there will be rapid growth. Like any market, there will be winners and losers — I believe retailers that have focused on securing data to develop new services will win big.
RCE: Can you provide insight for the retailer which hasn't done little or anything in terms of IoT-related strategies, such as a 'no-no' or a common misstep that retailers take in approaching 'smart' technologies?
Meagher: Everyone has done something; even Walmart is offering smart devices. As explained earlier, there are two distinctly different approaches. There are those for which it's business as usual and they are simply reselling smart products for margin and trying to shift volume. There are others that see the addition of connectivity is anything but business and usual. They see manufacturers are trying to disenfranchise them from their customers and they are working to give consumers more joined up thinking.
If there is a retailer that has surprised me, it is Best Buy. They have done nothing innovative in the space, despite the fact that they have the ideal setting, good sales people, and the most to gain from data from the devices they sell. They have simply adopted a reseller strategy and have failed to exploit services; contrast that with Amazon who has developed a sophisticated platform supporting Echo with the aim of using it to support everything from resupply of dishwasher tablets to appliance maintenance.
RCE: Where is the 'smart home' at this point? Coming out of infancy, hitting mid-stream, etc. and what will be needed to drive it deep in the consumer segment?
Meagher: It's still early but beginning to move from early adopters into mass consumer. The issues currently holding back growth are lack of consumer awareness and effective business models.
RCE: Does today's retail shopper expect more than ever in terms of a retail experience, or as some have said, is it still just all about good service and satisfaction?
Meagher: Good services and high customer satisfaction will always be critical for success in any retail business. Connectivity will change how retailers can achieve this. For example, home improvement retailers will be able to use data from devices in the home and be proactive and reach out to customers at home instead of having them travel to the store.
The IoT and connectivity are going to be a game-changer.
About Judy Mottl
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