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Staples? expanded smart home platform connects with mobile users

Mobile?s already important role for Staples? smart home and office platform called Connect is growing with the recent integration of wearable technology.

 

The Staples Connect service consists of a mobile and desktop application that links to a hub, enabling users to communicate with enabled appliances and electronics no matter where they are. The smart home and office platform launched late last year, with Staples reporting that the native iPad app is the most downloaded Connect app.


?Mobile will be continue to be important for Staples Connect as it is critical to ensure our customers can access the hub's capabilities from whichever device is most convenient for them,? said Mark Cautela, senior public relations manager at Staples, Framingham, MA.


?Staples Connect currently offers the widest array of app platforms currently on the market, which include native apps for iPad, iPhone, Android, and Windows 8, as well as access on web browsers via HTML5, and on Samsung Smart TV's in the near future,? he said.


Remote management

Staples is deepening connections with on-the-go consumers and small business owners by making it easy for them to remotely manage their smart homes or business environments from their smartphones.

Results from the initial pilot include that customers have interacted with the software an average of eight times per day over the last three months. The average hub has seven devices, and two UI?s, and this is increasing month to month.


The average customer spends one minute and 40 seconds in the app every time they open it. 


Going forward, as wearable adoption grows, such devices will play a bigger role for Connect.


Staples claims to be the major retailer to offer integration with wearable tech via Jawbone and the Connect platform.

 

Mobile expansion

The platform has also recently been rolled out to 500 stores following an initial trial in 30 locations.


The platform is now up to 38 brand partners ? up from an initial 15 ? with Microsoft and Samsung among the most recent additions.


Staples also recently lowered the price of its Linksys hub from $99.99 to $49.99 and now offers a hub from D-Link for $79.99 with more radios and protocols. 


?When it comes to mobile, we're not just talking smartphones and tablets,? Mr. Cautela said.


?We recently added enhanced wearable technology to the Staples Connect platform, and now and in the future customers will be able to control the system from select wearables like the UP24 by Jawbone,? he said.


?Since we're always exploring new devices to add to the platform and new channels through which to control the experience, we'll continue to add new versions and iterations of mobile platforms as they gain traction.?


Final Take

Chantal Tode is senior editor on Mobile Marketer, New York