Research Shows that DIY is Giving Way to DIFM

The Smart Home market is right now dominated by do-it-yourselfers (DIY), early adopters and, to put it plainly, nerds like me. But, that won’t be true for long, if new research from Icontrol Networks, a connected home platform developer, is to be believed.

The report returned that “do-it-for-me” (DIFM) folks are increasingly happy with easier to use Smart Home products. Icontrols DIFM Smart Home Survey respondents said that they are “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their systems. Beyond satisfaction, those with professionally-installed solutions feel the cost is justified: about 96 percent said they would purchase their systems again and 98 percent would want professional installations again.

“These survey findings validate the importance of the do-it-for-me market in smart home adoption overall, with incredible customer satisfaction rates from decision to purchase through use,” said Bob Hagerty, CEO, Icontrol Networks. “This data should be an eye-opener for what we can expect in the future of smart home adoption. No one size fits all when it comes to the smart home and consumers want the option to choose what fits their lifestyles and needs.”

While 98 percent of respondents said their systems were easy to learn and use, most are still using their systems for single-device control instead of whole home automation where devices work together. When asked about difficulty of usage, most reported setting alerts, schedules and automation rules as the most difficult features of the system to use.

While security and data concerns continue to be the most buzzed-about smart home topics, these proved to be less of a concern for DIFM customers. Of the total respondents, 97.4 percent agree or strongly agree that their systems will not be accessed illegally and nearly 91 percent agree or strongly agree that their data will not be used for marketing purposes.

The findings of this study were based on data collected by a third-party research firm from 552 respondents across seven branded smart home solutions. Participants were required to be at least 25 years old, a homeowner and own a security system with home automation.