In the Smart Home, Whoever Owns the Hub May Own Retail Too #realestate #homeownership

Source:  Forbes

Beyond the convenience of seeing who is knocking at your door, many of the potential uses of the smart home lead back to retail.  Your refrigerator will tell you when you need more milk.  Your smart lamp might predict or warn you when your light bulb is about to die.  Your fitness tracker will make meal recommendations for how to change your diet to meet your fitness goals - meals it will undoubtedly want to help you plan and buy.

And right now there are three main companies capable of carrying on a conversation with such smart devices:  Apple, Google, and Amazon.  If you're using Amazon's Alexa, where do you think it's going to be easiest to buy that milk your refrigerator says you need?  You might not even consciously approve the order - when milk gets this low, Alexa will order it, and Amazon Pantry will deliver.

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