According to a survey conducted online in 12 European countries on behalf of BSH by the YouGov market research institute, for 34% of participants it is important that their next large home appliance is connectable. Around four in ten (44%) of those questioned are even prepared to pay a higher price for a smart home appliance. The survey shows that smart home appliances play an increasingly important role in consumers’ everyday lives. Poland and Slovenia stand out in particular, where two-thirds of respondents in both countries already own at least one smart home appliance. The comparable figure in Germany is only one-third of those surveyed. The most widespread appliance is the connectable washing machine: around one in five (22%) of the respondents across all countries owns one. This is followed, some distance behind, by a smart oven (17%), a refrigerator and/or freezer (16%), a dishwasher (15%) and a cooktop (14%). Three quarters of the smart home appliance users surveyed say they are satisfied with the functions of their appliances: 50 percent say they are quite satisfied, and another 25 percent are completely satisfied. Satisfaction is highest in Spain, where the total is 87 percent.
Sustainability is another key theme: when deciding on a new large home appliance, respondents in all countries pay attention to factors such as energy and water consumption, service life, and sustainable production and materials. Optimizing resource consumption is popular with owners of smart dishwashers, especially in Italy, Spain, and Poland. Around two thirds of users in each of these three countries use this function. The comparable figure in Germany is currently only 43%. However, six out of ten respondents in Germany without a smart dishwasher say they would use this function if it was available to them.
In addition to sustainability, the need for convenience has particularly high priority among consumers. For four out of ten owners of smart home appliances, convenience was a decisive factor when purchasing the appliance. Personalizable use is especially popular: seven out of ten respondents say that individually customized setting options are important to them when buying a new home appliance. For example, although smart ovens are not yet particularly widespread in European homes, three quarters of respondents without this function would like to use the automatic oven switch-off as soon as the dish is ready.
