Auther: Lucy
Original:Ulink Media
With the changes in the life of the crowd and the concept of consumption, the pet economy has become a key area of investigation in the technology circle in the past few years.
And in addition to focusing on pet cats, pet dogs, the two most common types of family pets, in the world's largest pet economy - the United States, 2023 smart bird feeder to achieve popularity.
This allows the industry to think more in addition to the mature pet market within the volume, what logic should be used to tap the potential emerging market and quickly take up the position, for example, the United States family fish pet ownership is actually also very high, but there is still a lack of out of the circle of science and technology products.
01 Bird Feeding Market Size and Growth Potential
According to the American Pet Products Association (APPA), total U.S. pet industry spending exceeds $136.8 billion in 2022, a year-over-year increase of 10.8 percent.
Components that make up the $100 billion include pet food and snacks (42.5 per cent), veterinary care and product sales (26.2 per cent), pet supplies/activities and over-the-counter medications (23 per cent), and other services such as boarding/grooming/insurance/training/pet sitting (8.3 per cent).
The agency forecasts the number of birds owned by households in the US to reach 6.1 million in 2023 and will continue to grow in size. This is based on the gradual increase in the younger generation of pet owners and their willingness to spend more on their pets.
Another key point is that in addition to the expanding market for pet birds, Americans also love to observe wild birds.
The latest data from research organisation FMI puts the global market for wild bird products at $7.3 billion in 2023, with the US being the largest market, which means that bird feed, bird feeders and other wild bird-related products are in high demand.
Especially in bird observation, unlike cats and dogs that are easy enough to record, the cautious nature of birds makes it necessary to use telephoto lenses or high-magnification binoculars for observation, which is not inexpensive and not a good experience, which is what allows smart bird feeders with visualisation features to have sufficient market space.
02 Core Logic: Common Bird Feeder + Webcam + APP to Improve user bird watching experience
The smart bird feeder with added webcam can upload real-time images to the network and support users to view the status of the birds up close via mobile phone APP. This is the core function of smart bird feeders.
However, different manufacturers may have their own optimisation direction as to how far this function can be made to provide users with a better experience. I checked the product introduction of several smart bird feeders on Amazon and sorted out the commonalities and differences:
Battery life: the basic models of most products use USB charging, and some brands offer advanced versions of matching solar panels. In any case, in order to avoid frequent charging caused by missing bird activities, battery life has become one of the indicators to test the ability of the product, although some products say that a charge can be used for 30 days, but the product design differentiation can be further upgraded towards "low-power", such as when to set the product to start taking pictures or recording (recording time how long), when to go to sleep and so on. For example, when to set the product to start taking photos or recording (how long the recording time is), when to enter the sleep state, etc.
Network Connection: Most of the products use 2.4G Wi-Fi connection, and some of them support cellular network. When using Wi-Fi as a data transmission method, the working distance and installation location may be limited, but the user's requirement is still stable and reliable signal transmission.
HD wide-angle camera and colour night vision. Most of the products are equipped with 1080P HD camera and can get good images and video content at night. Most products also have built-in microphone to meet both visual and auditory needs.
CONTENT STORAGE: Most of the products support the purchase of cloud storage, some also provide 3 days free cloud storage and support to provide SD card to users.
APP notification: Bird arrival notification is achieved through mobile phone APP, some products "start capturing images when the bird enters 15 feet range"; APP notification can also be used for non-target expulsion, for example, some products will send a notification when identifying squirrels or other animals, and after confirmation by the user, the user can remotely operate the notification, and choose light or sound expulsion methods. choose light or sound eviction method.
AI recognition of birds. Some products have been equipped with AI and bird database, which can identify thousands of birds based on the screen or sound, and provide descriptions of the corresponding birds on the APP side. This kind of feature is very friendly to newbies and also allows users to acquire fun and increase the retention rate of the product.
Audio and video sharing: some products support online viewing using multiple devices simultaneously; some products support video sharing or quick posting of real-time videos on social media.
In-app learning experience: the apps of some products provide users with a knowledge base of birds, such as which type of food attracts which type of bird, feeding points of different birds, etc., which makes it easy for users to clock and feed with a purpose.
Overall, ordinary bird feeders with exterior design basically cost no more than $300, but smart bird feeders range from 600, 800, 1,000, and 2,000 price points.
Such products enhance the bird-watching experience for users and increase the customer unit price for manufacturing companies. And more importantly, in addition to the one-time hardware sales costs, there are opportunities to generate other value-added income based on the APP, such as cloud storage income; for example, through the interesting operation of bird communities, slowly promote the increase in the number of people who raise birds, and promote the growth of the industry scale, so as to form a business closed loop.
In other words, in addition to doing hardware, should ultimately be doing software.
For example, the founders of Bird Buddy, a company famous for its rapid and large-scale crowdfunding, believe that "just providing a bird feeder with a camera is not a good idea today".
Bird Buddy offers smart bird feeders, of course, but they've also built an AI-powered social app that gives users a badge every time they record a new bird species and the ability to share their achievements on social media. Described as a "Pokémon Go" collection scheme, Bird Buddy already has around 100,000 active users and continues to attract newcomers to the model.
03 Finally: how much hardware can be redone with a "camera"?
In the pet economy, pet feeders for cats and dogs have already launched visual versions with cameras; many brands of floor sweeping robots have also launched versions with cameras; and in addition to security cameras, there has also been a market for cameras for babies or pets.
Through these attempts, we can find that the camera is not only closely related to the security needs, but also can be understood as the most mature carrier to achieve the "intelligent vision" function.
Based on this, most of the smart hardware can be imagined: join the camera to achieve visualisation, there is no 1 + 1 > 2 effect? Whether it can be used to get out of the low-priced inner volume? This is actually waiting for more people to discuss the topic.
Post time: Apr-01-2024