Consumer durable companies are delivering more and more consumer experiences and services, and that figure is expected to grow significantly. That’s because consumers want appliances to do more, whether alerting them to poor air quality or washing clothes with a few taps of an app. Smart, connected products supported by cloud-enabled Internet of Things (IoT) technologies make these innovative, helpful experiences possible.
Haier Group, the world’s leader in major appliances, aims to make its washing, cooling, cooking, small appliance and air conditioning products smart and connected. Although its European arm already had an IoT platform, it was limited and hindered innovation. The heavily customized platform slowed down product changes, making it difficult to react quickly to the market or new consumer demands.
Haier Europe wanted to enhance speed and agility even further to get closer to customers and transform from a pure product manufacturer to a product and services company. Based on past experiences, Haier Europe knew how critical IoT and smart products are to growth.
To complete this journey, Haier Europe knew it needed to make its smart products even smarter to deliver relevant consumer experiences at scale and create a foundation for new service offerings and revenue streams. How could it overhaul its IoT platform and organization to improve products and deepen customer engagement and loyalty?
