Ericsson smartphone and city life study comes up with 18 concepts for the future, which 61% of people expect to materialize in the next 3 years
An Ericsson study into how smartphone-services influence city life has found that there is a mass demand for new ICT services across all sectors; from education, crime, and rubbish collection through to the restaurant and hotel industries.
For the study, Ericsson developed 18 service concepts across these areas in order to study how consumers predict future growth patterns for smartphones and how they will enhance city life.
Consumers were most satisfied with shopping, restaurant/café and leisure facilities, but were least satisfied with traffic services, as well as those for the elderly and daycare. Communication from the authorities was also cited as a primary annoyance from city dwellers.
To combat this, Ericsson suggested a connected food and medicine service that provides consumption updates to families with children or elderly relatives in care center or a social care network which enables easy communication with extended family members all day via any device.
Those surveyed were also asked to respond to the idea of an online city service that makes all public info available for smartphones and PCs or a 24/7 online hotline city chat which gives real-time answers to questions about public services.
The idea of a self-driving/parking car that allows you to disembark and let the car park itself was also popular among those involved, with 43 per cent saying they would use it every day.
The two most popular concepts in the satisfaction areas were shopping related, with 67 percent of people saying they want a same-day delivery service that works online and in stores. Almost 50 percent of users also want a mobile goods navigation service that lets them know what items are in stock in their vicinity, allowing them to plan trips and minimize travel.
A situational shopping recommender that lists recent purchases by others proved to be the least popular service idea.
Interestingly, consumers see these services as primarily being driven by their relevant industry – not only the ICT sector – with 61 per cent expecting the satisfaction-related concepts tested to become available very quickly.
They believe that in just a year, market availability of some of these services will have almost trebled. In three years, availability will be 4.6 times what it is today, turning all tested concepts into mass-market services.
The study was conducted online with 7,500 iPhone/Android smartphone users aged 15–69 in São Paulo, Beijing, New York, London and Tokyo. The study is representative of 40 million citizens.
If you're interested in learning more about the digital revolution and what it will mean for brands and businesses then join The Drum for 4 Minute Warning on Wednesday 4 December. Speakers including Blippar CEO Ambarish Mitra, Forrester Research senior analyst Anthony Mullen and head of Reprise Media Craig Inglis will discuss how digital advancements are changing the world and consumer needs forever. More information on the day, the full list of speakers and how to buy tickets can be found on the 4 Minute Warning site.