10.5.21 – SSI – Ian Bryant
Worth an estimated $1.5 trillion, it’s time for integrators to take advantage of opportunities in the wellness market.
As I approach almost 20 years in this industry, I’ve been thinking about the trends and massive changes I’ve seen over the course of my career – displays have gotten thinner and yet more realistic than ever as we push past 8K; content has gone almost completely digital; automation platforms have become easier to deploy; and in this last year, the home office has seen a transformation that blows past the promise of what we saw in the Michael J. Fox classic, “Back to the Future.”
In an industry packed with early-adopters and technophiles, I’ve been surprised that integrators have not yet flocked to the wellness category in greater droves. According to a recent McKinsey Survey, the global wellness market represents more than $1.5 trillion dollars. And yes, wellness is broadly defined in this survey, but the potential market for integrators is still massive.
According to the report, consumers expect to increase their purchases of both wellness products and services over the next year, and McKinsey expects a greater shift toward services – this is a huge opportunity for the home technology market to provide wellness services to consumers.
We’re seeing a gap in our market between consumer appetite and implementation and sales of wellness solutions.
According to CE Pro’s Wellness Deep Dive survey published in July of this year, integrators admit that just 8% of their projects over the past 12 months actually included wellness technologies, whether that be human-centric lighting (HCL), indoor air quality (IAQ), water quality management, natural soundscaping, motorized shades tied to an astronomic clock, smart sleep tech, digital art, immersive fitness solutions and more.
CE Pro also notes that integrators are optimistic about the potential opportunities, with respondents reporting that they expect the percentage of their wellness-tech installations to nearly double over the next 12 months to 15.5% of all jobs.
How Do Integrators Take Advantage of Growing Wellness Market?
So where do we go from here? There is clear interest, but the starting point is often less obvious. And if it is not clear to technology experts where to start, imagine how homeowners feel as they try to figure out which tech products can actually improve their lives.
Let’s look at one more data point – The American Institute of Architects Home Design Trends Survey found this year, the demand for home-based fitness and yoga spaces has jumped from 23 to 39%. This may be the easiest entry point for integrators of all: helping a homeowner set up their home gym with fantastic audio and the ability to watch their favorite program while they run on the treadmill. And yet, this is not something I often hear integrators talk about when it comes to projects.
The appetite for solutions is there and it’s high time our industry grabbed our slice of the wellness pie. To that end, CEDIA is gathering the best SMEs in wellness to present WellCon, a virtual well-tech conference with content specifically curated for the integrator community.
The first day of WellCon will focus on the technology and the second day will dive into how integrators can incorporate it into their business. We thought these parts were equally important to cover for the space.
As the data shows, the interest in wellness tech is there and I am sure many companies are doing their research on which manufacturers to partner with. Still, understanding how this type of project plays into your overall business model is an important consideration. Maybe it’s a seed for growing your roster of clients and projects, or perhaps it’s an opportunity to reach out to your current clients with something new.
CEDIA’s WellCon is free to attend and will be hosted virtually November 16 -17. Registration is open now.
Ian Bryant is the senior director of strategic partnerships at CEDIA. This article first appeared on SSI sister publication CE Pro.