According to Hager’s latest Digital Adoption Survey, 55% of respondents in the electrical industry have agreed that social networks enhance business opportunities – a 40% increase on 2011’s results of an identical survey.
Furthermore, there has been a 25% increase in those agreeing that smart phones, similarly, enhance business opportunities, from 40% in 2011 when statistics were initially gathered, to 63% of respondents in 2015.
The new survey explores the adoption of smartphones and social networks and analyses the significance of the increasingly dominant role they play within the electrical industry.
One hundred and sixty two wholesalers, contractors and electricians responded to the survey, providing results and clear trends that have allowed Hager to signpost the necessary changes in the future of the industry and be responsive to the evolving market.
According to the new research, there has been a significant increase in respondents owning a smart phone, from 65% in 2011 to 88% in 2015. With the increase in those agreeing that smartphones enhance business opportunities, respondents noted the subsequent ease of access to information, the immediate communication and the functionality and convenience that they provide when working on a job and communicating with customers.
Similarly, respondents indicated that social networks provide a strong platform for communication and promotion. It enables them to reach a wide audience and customer base, with the ability to share photographs of completed projects, services and business activities en-masse. The results also show a general acceptance that a substantial amount of the future of faster communication, promotion and accessibility lies in social networks.
As demonstrated by the successful HagerGang community, which has grown immensly, and not just because everyone is after a HagerGang t-shirt. The community provides members with useful technical support through real-time conversations. Today HagerGang is percieved as a popular community that installers regularly request to be a part of.
Alex Gardiner, Communications and New Technologies Manager said: “We are delighted to have released the Digital Adoption Survey aimed to explore the role of digital technology within our customer base. It is our company philosophy at Hager to be forward thinking, so the results from the survey have allowed us to marker the evolving technological changes within the industry and to provide crucial information to stay ahead of the times”.
“The way we access information has changed greatly and in response to this we have already introduced the first steps in our move to mobility with Pulse and we will soon be following this up with new apps designed to make contractors lives easier.”
For further information or to view survey results, click here.
