Technology trends that will improve the holidays this year

More so than ever before, consumers will rely on technology, including smart home gadgets, to prepare for the holidays. Luckily, there are always new technology trends to look out for. Retailers and marketers know that the holiday season is the ideal time to release new goods that are designed to make life easier for consumers. The deluge of new smart home systems on the market is a testament to that.

Related: Every retailer needs omni-channel this festive season

If you're hosting family over the holiday season, you’ve no doubt thought about how you can optimize the experience for additional efficiency and maximum festive cheer. You'll want to keep your guests entertained with smart speaker systems, cook the food using smart kitchen tools, and keep a seat at the dinner table for out-of-town guests using video calling systems. Other emerging technology or smart home devices you could consider adding to your home include a smart security camera and video doorbell, a smart lock, and a smart light outside your front door. And that’s all before your guests have even come inside.

Whether you're celebrating and having people over for Thanksgiving, Christmas or Hanukkah, the holidays can be a stressful time. Your mother will want to know when you’ll be giving her the ultimate holiday gift, a grandbaby. Also, you’ve either gained or lost too much weight in recent months, your hairstyle doesn’t really suit your face shape, and that sweater is taking the idea of “ugly sweater” a little too far.

Sometimes, with family, there’s no winning. And that’s why, as host for the day’s festivities, you might just need to step it up a notch. Luckily, there are many new technology trends which will help you to make this time of year that little bit easier. Just about everything can be automated and smartified these days. Here are some ideas of the smart home systems you need.

Related: The pros and cons of smarthomes

Smart cleaning

With the help of your robot vacuum cleaner, you can have your home sparkling clean in no time. The super smart versions have built-in mapping technology and cameras which can navigate around your home. It can also find its way back to its charging station when in need of some extra power and can be controlled by both remote control and an app so you can instruct it to start at a specific time. Even the not-so-smart versions will make their way around your home just fine, picking up all dust and hairballs along the way. Your fussy family members won’t spend the day turning their noses up at your dust bunnies.

Smart speaker

There’s nothing like some music to add that extra element of festivity to a family holiday gathering. You could choose to play songs from your childhood so that you can all reminisce about special moments or you could choose to play recent hits so your family can bond over how music just isn’t what it used to be.

A smart speaker system will allow you to curate playlists or you can ask it to play certain songs. You could also instruct it to turn up the volume when Great Aunt Edna can’t quite hear or turn it down while in the middle of an important round of Charades. It’s like having a personal jukebox. And everyone loves those.

Smart kitchen

Of course, you can't commit to a high-tech holiday without cooking all your meals using the latest gadgets and gizmos. Think a refrigerator which orders groceries for you, a crockpot you can start and stop with an app, and a sous vide machine for that perfectly prepared piece of meat. Your family will be so impressed with your cooking skills, there’ll be no time to criticize your sweater.

Smart irrigation

Of course, when things get a little too heated in the kitchen, you could always step outside and invite your extended family members to admire the well-maintained garden. Of course, you couldn't have done it alone. Your smart irrigation system knows exactly when and how to water the lawn and you could even easily prompt it to get started via an SMS. Your family doesn’t need to know that. Take all the credit and admiration offered.

Putting smart technology trends to good use

If looking into smart home systems hasn’t yet satiated your appetite for technology trends, read our recent article which highlights technology trends for the holiday season. It discusses how consumers are likely to buy technology products during the holidays and how marketers can entice buyers. A good idea for marketers to consider is using SMS as part of their digital strategy. Clickatell Touch and SMS Platform can help businesses and marketers here. They make it possible to communicate with customers in the ways they prefer.