Vantage point: Insights from cutting-edge research

Wearable devices need to offer more compelling value proposition

High abandonment rates for wearables indicate the need for device makers to offer more compelling value propositions to users to drive greater adoption of wearables, says Gartner, Inc. According to a survey by the research firm, the abandonment rate of smartwatches is 29 per cent, and 30 per cent for fitness trackers. This show that people do not find them useful, they get bored of them or they break. According to the survey, smartwatch adoption is still in the early adopter stage (10 per cent), while fitness trackers have reached early mainstream (19 per cent). Only eight per cent of consumers have used virtual reality glasses/head-mounted displays (excluding cardboard types). The survey found that people typically purchase smartwatches and fitness trackers for their own use, with 34 per cent of fitness trackers and 26 per cent of smartwatches given as gifts. “Dropout from device usage is a serious problem for the industry,” says Angela McIntyre, research director at Gartner.” The abandonment rate is quite high relative to the usage rate. To offer a compelling value proposition, the uses for wearable devices need to be distinct from what smartphones provide. Wearables makers need to engage users with incentives and gamification.

Companies turn to technology to reach out to the right talent

About 80 per cent of firms use technology mostly for job and social media posting, career websites, internal and external database search and background search, says a report titled “Talent Acquisition and Automation in India, 2016”. The report has been published by the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) in collaboration with CareerBuilder India. The report is based on inputs from over 120 firms across industries. It focuses on the extent of technology being deployed for hiring and zeroing in on the person with the right skill sets for the job. About 17 per cent of firms are completely unaware of the existence of technology tools for hiring. Technology is least leveraged for candidate screening, evaluation, engagement and self-service. And MS Excel continues to be the primary source to measure and manage pre-hire metrics. The biggest hurdles in adoption of technology are lack of awareness of existing relevant tools and inability to track return on investment. Budgets, implementation challenges and internal bottlenecks are the least of challenges. “Talent acquisition is one of the critical yet undervalued functions of an organisation. The simple automation of this asset can safely predict, accelerate, analyse and empower firms to take the right decisions. A majority of firms, irrespective of size, industry and geography, struggle with a gap in expectations from their workforce on hiring and the actual delivery,” says Achal Khanna, chief executive officer, SHRM India.

More Indians are going ‘mobile’ and buying ‘smart’

Online marketplace Flipkart has published Flip Trends 2016 report based on last year’s smartphone and smart wearables sales on its portal. The report is based on analysis of over 100 million customers. According to the report, Redmi 3S Prime, Redmi Note 3, Moto E3 Power, and Lenovo K5 and Samsung J5 were the top five best seller smartphones of 2016.

Delhi led mobile phone sales amongst the top metros, followed closely by Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Hyderabad. Further, South India emerged as the most technology-savvy region, accounting for over 35 per cent of smartphone sales, followed by North (28 per cent), West (22 per cent) and East India (15 per cent). Also, internet of things powered smart bands and smartwatches saw tremendous growth, growing over 500 per cent from 2015. Apple, Motorola, and Samsung emerged as the top sellers in this category. Ajay Yadav, head — mobiles, Flipkart, says, “The popularity of smartphones in India highlight the shift consumers are making towards 4G-enabled smartphones. Today, consumers are opting for brands and models that could not just offer them the features, but were smart on the pocket as well.”