Elizabeth Parks, president and chief marketing officer at market research firm Parks Associates, says that consumers expect Uber-like experiences where technology is built in the experience and works.
“Younger generations in a college environment are the most high tech,” she said. “They need internet to do schoolwork, so student housing has good connectivity with safety features built in. Then, when students leave and look to rent an apartment or build a house, they expect technology to be built in.”
Right now, Parks Associates research shows that 50% of apartment residents have WiFi issues, and there are more demands than ever for better connectivity, from streaming and gaming to working from home. Big investments are being made in in-unit automation and convenience, door locks and access control, maintenance solutions, cameras and security solutions, smart parking spaces, energy management analytics and control.
With sustainability metrics and otherwise, the future is all about the infusion of technology everywhere, enabling a host of new services and creating a massive marketplace. Parks calculates that U.S. annual spending across home phone, internet, mobile, security, and video services is $340 billion.
“It could be Amazon delivering groceries to your refrigerator, it could be people letting themselves into your apartment,” Parks said regarding this big opportunity. “Broadband will be the fuel for the revenue on the other side because of the service driven market we are in. That’s why all the big players want to own the whole thing – it is all the information that they can collect about you and then use it for product development and promotion strategies.”
From the article, "Housing 3.0: Where Technology Drives Construction, Operations, UX, And Revenue Opportunities" by Jennifer Castenson
