I’m sure we’ve all been there… we do our research before visiting a store to purchase our new appliance, we’ve built up a great rapport with the salesperson and decided to shop at that store again, then as we’re about to pay they go and spoil it all by attempting to sell us several years’ worth of extra parts & labour guarantee at a ridiculous cost. The fact that they’ve probably spent a good deal of the contact time selling the appliance’s superior workmanship, components and reliability seems to be forgotten in their quest to increase their commission and perhaps achieve a target by selling this add-on, which tends to leave us as customers feeling a bit let down.

We in this industry are doing our best to promote the concept of saving water and energy and a press release I received this week describes a product that hits the spot in both terms of a brilliant add-on to that sale AND a useful aid when it comes to saving water. For customers on a water meter it’s got to be a far better impulse buy than a pricey long-term guarantee, hasn’t it? You’ll be offering them something they need, which will save water and thus money, instead of asking them to pay for something you’ve just spent ages convincing them they’re unlikely to need!

Oasys is a decorative disk that hangs anywhere in the home and it shows daily infographics about how much water the household has been using, by talking wirelessly to a microphone on the main water line. It shows people the impact of their daily water use habits and the difference they make when they save water, allowing them to set goals to do even better. It also forecasts the weather, how much water is in local reserves, and can text/email you if there's a water leak.

You can read more about it below…

Also featured in this week’s news is a plea by the European Water Label’s Yvonne Orgill, for cash incentives to be made available to encourage users of water/energy-guzzling products to switch to those that reduce water usage and save energy.

In both cases it will take a little investment but the money spent will be far outweigh the benefits achieved – not just in personal terms but when it comes to our environment too.

See the concept come to life at: www.electroluxdesignlab.com

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Yours,

Jan Hobbs