Advancements in the Internet of Things (IoT) have allowed retailers to personalize the in-store experience like never before. These solutions not only significantly improve the experience for customers but also for the retailer’s staff as well.
Appliance retailer Sub-Zero & Wolf offers a variety of home appliances with hefty price tags, so the brand turned to Your Smart Home, a technology integration firm, to design and install an integrated A/V infrastructure inside its London-based showroom, to upgrade from previous systems that had proven unreliable, while also offering customers a high-end shopping experience.
“It’s essential to create an environment that’s as sophisticated and upscale as the products we sell,” said Ricky Davies, Operations Manager at Sub-Zero & Wolf in an interview with Retail TouchPoints. “The home automation system installed had to be reliable, since we’ve worked with finicky and disappointing systems in the past. It’s crucial that our team could rely on the system to function impeccably in the presence of clients. We also wanted a system that offered a level of sophistication, but was extremely easy to use.”
When discussing options with Your Smart Home, the firm suggested implementing the ELAN Entertainment & Control System, paired with a Niles Auriel Multi-Room Audio System to design the entire A/V system, including home automation, multi-room audio and video, extensive security and lighting control.
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The end result featured rooms with unique themes, such as a Winston Churchill Cigar Room that plays his speeches on a loop, all within the showroom’s “demo home” layout. The staff is able to control the demo home’s lighting, audio, video and climate on their smartphones. They can also pre-set room themes and program them to turn on and off at the start and end of each day. All of these enhancements helped save the team a lot of time, Davies said.
“The ELAN ‘theme’ function eliminates a tedious and time-consuming process of turning on the music in each room and adjusting the lighting each day,” he added.
A Common Target: Affluent Homeowners
Aside from providing a unique customer and staff experience, the partnership between Sub Zero & Wolf and Your Smart Home turned out better than expected.
“Because Your Smart Home and Sub-Zero & Wolf share a target clientele — affluent homeowners in the process of renovations and remodeling — we’re able to introduce our customers to the Sub-Zero & Wolf team and vice versa,” said William Hopkins, Managing Director at Your Smart Home in a statement. “It’s a mutually beneficial relationship, which also adds an element of convenience and trust for our clients.”
The showroom also hosts monthly cooking events led by celebrity chefs, such as Aldo Zilli and James Martin. These events enable Sub Zero & Wolf to thoroughly showcase how their appliances work, and the retailer is now able to do the same for the ELAN system.
“When clientele watch a member of my staff adjust the kitchen’s lighting, HVAC, A/V from their smartphone, it certainly grabs their attention and starts a conversation about smart home control,” said Davies.
An Even Better Future
Following the showroom’s renovation, Sub Zero & Wolf thoroughly embraced IoT and home automation as a means to control kitchen appliances. “After our experience with an A/V upgrade, we understand that our customers turn to home automation systems like ELAN because they deliver the most comprehensive ‘whole-home’ control experience,” added Davies.
The retailer is currently working with Your Smart Home to integrate its appliances into ELAN’s control capabilities through a driver developed by Core Programming.
“In the immediate future, from any ELAN interface, our customers will be able to monitor and control refrigerator and wine cooler temperatures; receive notifications if refrigerator doors are left ajar, or when ovens reach a certain temperature; and create a ‘Party Theme’ that increases the production of ice and reduces the temperature of the refrigerator and freezer,” said Davies. “We’re very excited to integrate with ELAN and become apart of the ‘whole home control’ IoT experience.”
