Smart IoT leads to major upsell: How HP, Filtrete, and Disney do it
There is more to IoT than just creating connected products that customers love. The Internet of Things also unlocks tremendous upsell potential. Here are three examples of how companies can create and drive new revenue opportunities through connectivity.
Monitoring and Notifications: the HP Smart App
HP leverages connected printers to not only create convenience but also to drive a revenue engine around their ink products.
HP printers will monitor ink levels and send notifications to the HP Smart App, which links to HP’s e-commerce engine. From there, customers can immediately order more ink cartridges directly from HP. But that’s not all.
The company also offers an ink and toner subscription business model called HP Instant Ink. Using data collected from the printer, HP can recommend a subscription level based on the number of pages that are printed per month. This way, HP can recommend the right program and take the guesswork out of the customer’s hands. The result is added convenience for the customer, plus an upsell revenue stream for HP. It is a win-win for everyone.
Easy replacement: Filtrete Smart Filter
The air filter company, Filtrete, has developed a “smart filter” product that uses a disposable Bluetooth sensor to monitor airflow and usage. This “disposable” product shows the potential of connecting non-electronic consumer products. Once the Bluetooth sensor is connected to the Filtrete Smart app, the customer will receive notifications on when the air filter needs to be replaced. The upsell here comes from pushing customers towards replacing their filter. How many of us have just neglected that simple household chore because an air filter is “out of sight, out of mind”? The ultimate goal of Filtrete is to increase the average number of filters purchased annually by each customer.
Big Data: Disney Magic Bands / MagicMobile
Disney Magic Bands are one of the earliest revolutionary IoT implementations, introduced to the market in 2013. The Magic Band is a wrist wearable with an embedded radio frequency chip and has multiple applications. With a swipe of the band, it facilitates park entrance, ride scheduling, food/merchandise purchasing, and hotel room access. Through park sensors, it also provides Disney information on park flow and congestion.
Customer experience aside, how does this translate to upsell opportunities?
The answer: data, data, data.
Disney collects data from each customer as to their purchasing habits, interests, and visitation history and uses that to fuel a powerful 1:1 marketing strategy. For example, Disney might look at the ride or dinner reservations for a current park attendee and notice they are non-existent. That attendant may be going off-site for the day. They may send them a quick discount for a meal at an on-site restaurant near their park hotel in order to convince them to cancel off-site plans and spend their money at Disney.
In summary, upsell opportunities hinge on three key categories: data, notifications, and convenience. If you find ways to maximize these features using connected products, you should unlock revenue growth in ways never before possible.
