Covering the cat’s “eat, drink, shit, sleep” is the pet smart home a gimmick or a windfall?

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The sensor detects when your pet is in the automatic cat toilet and flushes it automatically.

File photo

During the May Day holiday this year, Xiaosu left her two cats at home in Beijing. “The house is monitored by a ‘pet camera’ in real time, as well as an automatic feeder and water dispenser. I won’t worry if the cats ‘stay’ for a few days.” In recent years, the rapid growth of China’s pet-owning population has boosted the pet economy, and the smart home industry has developed rapidly. Smart products with different functions cover all aspects of a pet’s “eating, drinking, sleeping, lugging, sleeping” and save time and effort. As cool as it sounds and as beautiful as it looks, are smart home products for pets a fad or a gimmick?

Cats “eat, drink, shit and sleep” are covered.

According to the 2018 China Pet Industry White Paper, the size of China’s pet consumption market reached 170.8 billion yuan, an increase of 27% from 2017. By 2020, the consumer market is likely to reach 200 billion yuan. The number of pet owners in China’s cities and towns reached 73.55 million in 2018, with the post-80s and post-90s accounting for 75 percent of the total.

Around the pet fever, a series of production, sales and service business activities to support the market size of more than 100 billion yuan. Pet food, pet supplies and pet medical care are driving the pet economy. Among them, consumer demand for pet household products has created new opportunities for the smart home industry.

This is the first time I’ve seen a smart home for pets, and I’ve seen a lot of products with the name “Smart Home for Pets”.

For example, in terms of pet food and drink, there is a wide range of smart feeding and water products. Smart feeders can store dry food for pets, and owners can remotely use their cell phones to feed their pets “meals”; smart water dispensers have features such as running water, insulation, and filtration, which can provide clean water for pets in a timely manner. Even if the owner leaves home, he or she can still “serve” the pet. In addition, smart cameras allow owners to monitor every move of their pets, and many of them have additional functions such as aromatherapy, wake up, dialogue, and play, in order to solve the owner’s “lovesickness”.

Whether at home or out, smart homes and devices have the opportunity to shine. For example, there are smart temperature-controlled kennels that can provide a comfortable temperature for your beloved pet, and there are many owners who wear smart collars for their dogs, which are similar to human smart bracelets with built-in GPS (Global Positioning System) that can track your pet’s activities and health data, reducing the possibility of your pet getting lost.

The most expensive, I’m afraid, is the intelligent cat toilet. It’s a product that can instantly and automatically clean up cat feces, as well as deodorize and clean it, greatly reducing the work of the “shovelers”. However, the cost of saving energy for pet owners is also quite high. The price of a domestic intelligent cat toilet is about 2000 yuan, and the price of imported products is even more than 5000 yuan. However, many pet owners are still scrambling to get their hands on it. According to statistics, last year’s “Double 11”, Tmall alone sold 400 imported intelligent cat toilet in one day.

It is important to “feed” and also “feed well”.

Behind the popularity of smart homes for pets is the rapid development of China’s pet economy and pet consumption. Some industry insiders have pointed out that the rising income level, the growing number of singles and the aging of the population have all contributed to the development of the “it economy,” and that keeping cats and dogs is becoming a new consumer and lifestyle habit, as well as an “accessory” for the owner. “to “companion”.

As the role of pets has changed, the needs of pet owners have also become richer. In addition to basic pet consumption, more and more young people want to not only “keep” their pets alive, but also “keep them well”. Therefore, smart devices that are both practical and aesthetically pleasing and can “liberate” their owners are in high demand.

Tmall International recently released a set of data showing that from 2016 to 2018, the number of Tmall International pet product purchases increased 3 times and the transaction amount increased 10 times. Among them, pet smart home equipment is becoming the new mainstream of pet consumption.

It’s not just in China, but also in Europe and the United States, where businesses are “worried” about the demand for pets. The first part of this year, the U.S. electric car company Tesla launched a “dog mode” that can automatically adjust the temperature of the car. The car’s intelligent system can automatically adjust the air conditioning to maintain the temperature in the car in a comfortable state and ensure the safety of the pet’s life in hot weather.

Businesses can’t just make a quick buck

Although the pet smart home looks to be in the wind, but the face of many questions.

Some industry insiders said that many of the so-called intelligent pet products are not intelligent - “water dispenser plus a pump will become a smart water dispenser, ordinary camera with the word ‘pet’, the price doubled! “–many manufacturers are looking at the pet consumption boom, they create a lot of gimmicks, the quality of the product did not go up, the price of the first leap to the sky.

The reporter interviewed a number of pet owners said, intelligent pet home products is still more than practical concept. This is the reason why you can’t afford to buy a new one. The company’s products are designed to be used in a wide range of industries, including the automotive industry, the food and beverage industry, and the food industry.

Earlier this year, an artificially intelligent stray cat nest developed by Baidu engineers attracted a lot of attention. In addition to a temperature-controlled device and an intelligent camera, this cat shelter also features “cat face recognition,” “de-sexing recognition,” and “sick cat recognition” based on AI (artificial intelligence) technology. to protect cats and control stray cat breeding. This warm-hearted gesture has been praised by many, and may be the key to the future success of smart pet products - smarter and more practical.