Selfridges starting to connect to IoT product line
Selfridges starting to connect to IoT product line
London’s high-end department chain Selfridges will begin experimenting with an Internet of Things zone at its flagship Oxford Street store.
Electronic products distributor Bullboat will be in charge of stocking the zone, which is located on the ground floor of the famous store. It intends to make the zone an “experience” for shoppers, teaching them the advantages of IoT products in the home.
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To start, Bullboat will stock ten devices in the Smartech zone, which include:
- Bluesmart One – A smart suitcase that locks itself and can be tracked on a smartphone.
- Drop – A smart kitchen scale that comes with a recipe app.
- Micro Drone 3.0 – a miniature quadcopter that can record video.
- Moov Now – A fitness tracker that coaches you through a mobile app.
- Misfit – Another simplistic tracker that monitors fitness and sleep. No mention what devices will be on display.
- Netatmo Welcome – an indoor surveillance camera with facial recognition and video recording capabilities.
- Nomad – iPhone, Apple Watch, and iPad case manufacturer.
- Prynt – A mini-printer that attaches to your smartphone for pocket sized prints.
- Ring Video Doorbell – a doorbell that tracks audio and livestreams the outside of your house when someone calls.
- TrackR Bravo – A tracker that shows you where lost keys, smartphone, or other items are hiding.
Smart home devices may be even more popular in brick and mortar stores than online, due to the complexity of the device and the unknown factor of the smart functionality. Consumers may look to retailers to show the device’s advantages and set up process in better detail.
Already competition down the street
John Lewis has already jumped on the bandwagon at its rival Oxford Street department store, launching a Smart Home zone earlier this year.
Plenty of smart home devices are priced at over the usual, non-smart rate, so places like Selfridges could be the perfect place to market their value and sell them at a premium.
That said, the lack of “big names” is noticeable. Amazon’s Echo is an obvious no show, but Nest, August, SmartThings, Philips Hue, and GreenIQ are all missing for Selfridges’ opener, a bit disappointing for smart home enthusiasts that want to test out the best devices.
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