Earlier this year, URC surveyed its dealers to find out how they viewed business opportunities for 2022, comparing those results to a similar survey in 2019. The company received 136 responses from February 19 to March 15, and the results were generally indicated optimism about potential growth in the market.
URC’s dedication to residential and commercial analysis, the company says, is intended to help its dealer companies prepare for the future of the market.
URC offers the residential tech community with these helpful insights on what the market is becoming and what it is evolving away from.
URC Dealer Business Outlook
The core of their URC dealer survey results showed that optimism is high for a residential market recovery in 2021. They are forecasting a whopping 78-percent growth and an extra 22 points compared with 2019. They do see slower growth forecasted in the light commercial markets in 2021 with “only” a 51-percent forecasted growth. URC dealer optimism for light commercial markets seems to be leaning more toward 2022 when, perhaps, more businesses re-open and offices go back to higher capacity, post-pandemic.
Growth Drivers for URC Dealers
URC dealers seem to be cautious about growth in other areas for 2022. There has been some erosion of their optimism since 2019. It would be safe to assume that that is due to COVID-19’s impact on our lives in 2020. Dealers were also asked what they consider to be growth drivers, and most of them consider system upgrades and networking to be the highest drivers.
Dealers indicate that they are focusing their marketing efforts on referrals to their website and their social media. These initiatives may activate more interaction between consumers and dealers and ultimately helps with distribution and traffic to the website.
When asked about drives loyalty toward brands, the survey found that technical support training, innovative products like hardware and software, and territory exclusivity are ranked the highest.
Smart Home Automation and Control
For now, smart home automation headwinds are being led by DIY products and consumer education and awareness. In the 2019 URC dealer survey and the 2021 survey, those top two drivers had stayed the same, but the third driver had changed to “ease of installation” from “value proposition.” In 2021, value proposition has dropped to being ranked fifth, with “driver development” having surpassed it.
