Retail is an important ally in selling items for the connected home

By Leda Cavalcanti and Neusa Japiassu

The search for safety, convenience and comfort has been stimulating the sale of devices for the connected home, which, until recently, were almost exclusive to the population with greater purchasing power. The more accessible prices, the result of greater acceptance of products, and easier installation, which often does not require the presence of specialists, have opened the market. Today, 80% of the Brazilian middle class want to have a smart home – therefore, safer.

Equipping a home with IoT items (Internet of Things) is cheaper than hiring specialized professionals and brings many advantages. “Among them, practicality, as it is not necessary to be at home to control the electronics; the savings in the electricity bill, because it is possible to predetermine the time for switching on and off the devices; safety and comfort. These are products that optimize time and facilitate routine”, says José Ricardo Tobias, responsible for Positivo Casa Inteligente, Positivo Tecnologia’s IoT solutions platform.

In the sale of these products, retail is an important ally, both specialized and general. “Physical retail sells more than online, but it is necessary to expose the products well, that is, present a house with doors, windows and the kit installed to show how it works. The country’s potential is huge in-home automation, it is a fertile market, and the Southeast still accounts for most of the sales”, says Luciano Barbosa, head of the Xiaomi Brazil Project.

World trend

The category has an extremely promising future, says Claudio Blatt, commercial director of Elsys. “Nowadays, smart devices come to the market with competitive values, which makes them accessible to the entire population. Based on Google Brazil research, by 2021 around 327 million homes in the world will have at least one device connected. Thus, we believe in an increase in the demand for intelligent products in a short period of time. The popularization of the term in the country contributes to this.”

The segment is a strong global trend and a great expectation for the Brazilian retail, highlights Bruno Gouvea, commercial director of security and energy at Multilaser. “Our expected turnover for this line in 2021 is around BRL 25 million, but, due to the reaction we had from the market in 2020, this will be exceeded earlier than expected.” The Grupo BedinSat also has good expectations. “We estimate sales growth of up to 20% for the period 2020/2021”, says the executive director, Lucas Bedin.

The connected home is already a reality, guarantees Marcelo Castro, CEO of I2GO, who cites consultancy Zion Market Research, for which investment in smart home technology will reach US$ 53.4 billion by 2022. “The products are accessible, so sales are being directed to all social classes. In 2020, our sales were much higher than expected and are expected to triple in 2021.”

Equipar uma casa com itens de IoT é mais barato do que contratar profissionais especializados em segurança e traz muitas vantagens.

A reflection of the increasing search for electronic security alternatives is in Verisure’s numbers in Brazil. “In the past three years, we have doubled the customer portfolio. Part of the demand comes from the feeling of insecurity common throughout Latin America, as shown by the TNT / Kantar survey in November 2019: six out of 10 people are very concerned about suffering an invasion”, says Mariana Maaze, the company’s marketing director.

The presence of more brands in the market, bringing plug and play devices, lowered prices, another important factor to increase sales, says Sérgio Miranda, product development manager at Geonav. “The arrival in Brazil of the two main assistants, Google Assistant by Google and Alexa, from Amazon, mainly, created new spaces and demands for smart home products.” See below the category news.

Bedinsat

One of its most recent releases is the 4K BS-9700s Smart Box receiver, with which the user can transform any TV into a smart TV. With the equipment, aimed at classes A, B and C, and a Wi-Fi connection, the user can also access the security cameras, in order to see, in real time, what is happening on their properties.

Another recent launch by BedinSat is the 4G BDF-14 rural table cell phone, which allows the user to make quality calls, send and receive SMS. It has voice and data connection. It can also be used as a Wi-Fi router and connect up to eight devices. “The biggest rise in sales is for rural 3G and 4G mobile phones with a Wi-Fi router,” says Lucas Bedin.

Geonav

Its Home Intelligence line, with plug and play devices, easily controlled by smartphone or voice command, has several items: smart lamps (E27 and dichroic), plug adapter, internal camera, infrared control center and five sensors (door and window), movement, gas, carbon monoxide and smoke). “Infrared lamps had an important sale as well as our infrared control center, in 2020. They are wildcard products, which encourage the consumer to look for smart devices for their daily lives”, says Sérgio Miranda.

This year, its highlight is the Pro line, composed by one and two channel relay modules, which transform traditional switches and sockets into intelligent ones, as well as others for motorized curtains and dimmers, which can be activated by the Hi by Geonav application and by controls voice with digital assistants. It also updated the lighting line with LED tape and brought cool white to the lamps. In 2021, it will launch another 10 products.

Infra red center control
Suggested price on 11/18/2020: BRL 169,00

Elsys

Launched integrated and easy-to-use solutions, such as the smart lamp. Enables the control of light by the exclusive application, with voice command through Google Assistant and Alexa, and the creation of various atmospheres due to more than 16 million colors available. It can be controlled through the Elsys Casa+ app, as well as the Wi-Fi lock, for residential access through biometric reading or passwords registered permanently or temporarily. It is managed by the application and, as it connects to the smart lamps, it turns on the lights automatically when you open the door.

Compatible with both products, the smart alarm, with Wi-Fi connection, has sensors that detect the presence of people in the environment through infrared or the opening of doors, windows and drawers. Soon, it will launch the smart handle, with Bluetooth connection, access via numeric password or tags and practical installation, as it does not require replacement of the lock, only the handle. It allows the user to program, from anywhere, temporary access for third parties. “The lamp and the lines of digital locks and smart cameras are consumers’ favorites,” says Claudio Blatt.

I2GO

It has five products aimed at the Internet of Things (IoT) and will launch five more in early 2021. Easy to install, they have APP from i2GO Home and compatibility with the main voice assistants, Alexa, Google, and Siri. Highlight for the RGB 10 W smart lamp, which makes it possible to control the light intensity, color and establish a connection time. It has the RGB option with millions of colors, in addition to the cold and hot, and a lifetime of 25 thousand hours. It is compatible with Google Assistant and Alexa.

Another highlight is the universal smart infrared control, which controls all equipment from up to seven meters away. It is compatible with air conditioning, stereos, television, lighting, decoders, and other products. It has Wi-Fi connection and 360° coverage.

“These are the two best-selling products and guarantee 24-hour control and monitoring wherever the user is,” says Marcelo Castro.

Smart Lamp
Suggested price on 11/12/2020 BRL 109.00

Multilaser

Its Multilaser Liv line of connected home has 14 products with Wi-Fi connection, for the security of residential and commercial environments. There are four product families: Monitoring, with cameras for indoor and outdoor environments; Security, with opening and presence sensors and alarm siren; Automation, consisting of lock, remote control, and socket; and Lighting, with lamp, trigger and switch.

“Currently, many people have migrated to the home office, which has increased the volume of housework, and this automation of the house came at a good time for the consumer,” says Bruno Gouvea.

All items are controlled by a single application, and almost the entire line is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant voice systems. Its differentials are the portable camera, with battery, installed without the need for wires, and the biometric lock, which also allows opening with the use of the proximity card and temporary passwords by the application. In case of emergency, it allows the use of a key.

Robot Camera
Suggested price on 11/11/2020: BRL 369.99.

Positivo Smart Home

It recently launched the Smart Wi-Fi RGB LED Tape and the Smart Wi-Fi Multitemperature LED Tape, both smart and functional, controlled by cell phone or by voice command, which highlight plaster furniture, frames, mirrors, niches and moldings, without dirt and with quick installation. The first, with three meters in length and power of 30 W, allows the user to select from 16 million colors.

The second has five meters and a luminous flux of 95 lumens per meter, allowing to set the color temperature from 3,000 K to 6,500 K, that is, it has the ability to emit warm, neutral and cold white light.

Also, recently, Positivo Casa Inteligente launched the smart Wi-Fi Retro lamp, which has gold and amber colored glass. It offers, with more style, everything in a smart lamp. It provides a warm and nostalgic atmosphere; it is vintage and makes references to traditional filament lamps.

“The whole category is a success, but intelligent lighting products have been especially prominent in our sales and those of our retail partners”, says José Ricardo Tobias.

Verisure

It recently launched the My Verisure application, which allows the user to control the alarm via mobile device. You can turn the device on and off, as well as request photos of the monitored location. “Among the advantages of a monitored alarm system, are the simple installation, without wires or works, and the performance of the monitoring center, with professionals 24 hours a day, throughout the year”, says Mariana Maaze.

The Verisure Kit consists of a central panel, a device connected via GPRS transmission with the company’s monitoring center and other components of its alarm system installed on site; photodetector with presence sensor, which records color images through a photographic camera and built-in flash for night recording, inclusive; magnetic sensor to detect impacts and/or openings of doors and windows; smart keys; key reader; and high-powered siren.

Xiaomi

It highlights its Smart Home 2 Kit, whose motion sensor is an ally for those who have children and pets and need to monitor the environments more carefully. It consists of a controller hub, three intelligent sensors and a switch. Connects and automates the locations chosen by the user and monitors everything through the Mi Home app, available for Android and iOS. “The automation area of ​​intelligent solutions is the fastest growing. The ecosystem represents more than half of our businesses”, says Luciano Barbosa.

The two door and window sensors, with clean design, are easy to install. Just fix them with the high-adhesion adhesive, located on the back. The battery lasts for more than three years and, whenever a door is opened, the alarm will sound, and the user will be notified on their smartphone through the Mi Home application, the same that triggers and monitors the work of the Mi Robot Vacuum-Mop, brand vacuum cleaner, which communicates to the user how many square meters it has cleaned.

CONECTIVIDADE COM A TV

The concept of a connected home also extends to televisions that, thanks to artificial intelligence, control devices compatible with Google and Alexa, as shown by LG Electronics do Brasil at the Janelas CasaCor 2020 exhibition in São Paulo, until December 18. Sponsor of the event, exhibits, among other products, the 65” 4K OLED GX Smart TV, with 8 million pixels that auto-illuminate to create deep, pure colors and more real image quality. It is incorporated into the decoration and looks like a painting on the wall.

Equipped with the exclusive LG ThinQ AI technology, it has Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa integrated. “With that, it controls the camera, locks and smart lamps by voice and distance command. It is its great differential, it dispenses with the use of the remote control”, says Pedro Valery, product manager at the company. By staying at home for longer, people are feeling the need for more tech devices. “It is a great product, and the new generations also need a television to match their modern video games”, adds the executive.

SEMP TCL also recently launched in Brazil its QLED TV category and a 4K Android TV line, with voice control. “When the consumer realizes that he can control devices remotely – whether by voice or cell phone, using the applications of the respective devices or integrating everything quickly into virtual assistants, such as an Amazon Echo device with Alexa or a Nest Mini with Google Assistant -, he has a connected home”, says João Paulo Rezende, the company’s product manager.

Among the brand’s products are the TCL QLED 8K X915 series, with a resolution of 33 million pixels. Its Local Dimming technology allows precise control of the backlight, which enhances the contrast, together with HDR 10+ and Dolby Vision® imaging technology, adopted by leading Hollywood studios and global streaming services. It has a built-in pop-up camera for video conferences and individual interactions. It uses artificial intelligence to offer personalized functions and control devices compatible with Google Home. It can also be integrated with Amazon Echo control.