The emergence of smart home products and solutions, grounded by platforms such as Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, has created an entirely new market vertical in the residential water management space. This opportunity is driven both by the value of greater smart home integration and the benefits of greater control and information of water management products. Demand, however, is being opened up primarily by manufacturers, rather than a strong organic demand from the consumer end. With the larger demand and growth in connected homes, manufacturers of residential water treatment products want to ensure that they are ready to capitalize on the expected future growth.

Furthermore, market leadership in digital connectivity can help shape the market to a participant’s advantages and strengths. Participants enter the market in a number of ways. The organizations may take existing products and make them connected solutions, or they may use their expertise in the industry to create distinct devices that tackle broader home water management issues, while other participants may focus on digital cloud platforms to create a business-to-business (B2B) offering. Whole house leak detection, moisture sensors, flow monitoring, filtration and softening, and fixtures look for digital and connected solutions to enhance home control and optimization. Benefits range from lower energy bills, prevention of bursts, leak remediation, optimized ordering of softening salts and filter replacements, remote and automatic water flow shut-off, and routine diagnostics, and performance evaluation. The ability, however, for each market participant to understand when is the best time to enter the market and how, or how an organization can best generate consumer traction, is critical in this type of growth market. Each market participant needs to engage in careful planning, and execute a strategy to position themselves for growth and allow for flexibility in evolution to cater to demand as it matures.

This research service investigates the North American market for connected home water management. With an evaluation of the growth environment and market revenues and forecast, the study delivers visioning scenarios and a growth pipeline, which identifies opportunities in vision and strategy and in brand and demand, along with a Growth Opportunities Matrix developed by Frost & Sullivan that participants can use to determine/evaluate their growth zones. Leading stakeholders in the market, including key equipment manufacturers, regulators, and customers, have contributed to this research. Data and primary research inputs have been aggregated and analyzed to determine key market opportunities over the forecast period (2019–2023).

Anaiyst: Seth Cutler