Smart Products_Coming Your VVay If you don't use a smart product yet, you soon will. Under Armour can generate revenue from in-app Your shoes, your clothing, your watch, your water ads, including ads from other companies, and purbottle, and even your toothbrush are being rede-_ chases from app users referred to its products. The signed to incorporate sensors and metering devices platform delivers unprecedented depth of informaconnected to the Internet so that their performance tion and insight about fitness- and health-oriented can be monitored and analyzed. Your home will in- consumers, creating numerous opportunities for creasingly use smart devices such as smart thermo- Under Armour and other brands to engage with postats, smart electrical meters, smart security systems, tential and existing customers. For example, Map My and smart lighting systems. Fitness collects data about a user's name, e-mail adUnder Armour, noted for performance clothing, dress, birth date, location, performance, and profile spent $710 million to scoop up mobile apps such as if the user connects to the app using social media. MyFitnessPal, Map My Fitness, and Endomondo,_ Under Armour does not sell identifiable personal which enable it to tap into the world's largest digital data about individuals to third parties but does prohealth and fitness community, with more than 225 vide advertisers with aggregate information about million registered users. According to company data, app users. Under Armour is hoping that daily use Under Armour's connected fitness users have logged of its smartphone apps will build stronger ties to more than 500 million workouts and taken 7 trillion customers that will lead to stronger sales of its own steps since the company started tracking the data. apparel, footwear, and other athletic gear. The comAnalyzing these data has provided insights such as pany is clearly benefiting from bringing the power of 3.1 miles being the average distance for a run and software to its physical products. that May is the most active month for exercise. Smart products are also finding their way into Under Armour is trying to enhance its perfor- people's homes. Between 2017 and 2022, Con mance clothing with digital technology. The com- Edison, which supplies electrical power and natupany now sells connected running shoes. The shoes ral gas to the New York City metropolitan area, is come in several models and feature a built-in wire- installing 3.6 million new electric smart meters less Bluetooth sensor that tracks cadence, distance, and 1.2 million new gas smart meters in all its cuspace, stride length, and steps, even if the runner does tomers' homes and businesses. A smart meter is a not bring a smartphone along. The data are stored digital meter that communicates between a resion the shoe until they can sync wirelessly to Under dence or business and Con Edison through a secure Armour's Map My Run app for iPhone, iPad, and wireless communication network. The smart meter Android devices. Users can also connect to the app on records and transmits each customer's energy conthird-party devices such as AppleWatch, Garmin, or sumption regularly throughout the day. The smart Fitbit, to incorporate metrics such as heart rate that meter transmits data to a system of access points on can't be tracked by the shoes. The shoe's analytics utility poles, which send the usage information to will let users know when it's time to purchase new Con Edison. shoes and sensor batteries have to be charged. The smart meter will let the company know when Under Armour has recently added a digital coach- a customer loses service, resulting in faster repairs, ing feature for the connected running shoes and and will also provide real-time billing information Map My Run app. Runners will be able to monitor to customers based on energy usage, enabling them their gait and stride length mile after mile, and see to pinpoint areas for energy savings. They will also how that impacts their pace and cadence. By analyz- permit more definitive voltage regulation, enhancing ing these data, along with data about the runner's electric distribution-system efficiency, reducing costs, gender, age, weight, and height, Map My Run will be and providing savings that ultimately get reflected in able to provide a runner with tips on how to improve lower customer bills. Data from the new meters will his or her pace and splits, by taking shorter or longer let Con Ed set prices based on customers' time and strides while running, for instance. level of use. Rates might jump during summer hours Chapter 3 Information Systems, Organizations, and Strategy 103 when hot weather makes people turn on their air con- and Android smartphone users so that they can track ditioners, or drop overnight when power use is lowest. their detailed energy usage while they are on the go. Con Ed customers can use an online My Account dashboard with tools to track their daily energy consumption down to 15-minute increments. They Sources: Jen Booton, "Under Armour's New HOVR Smart Shoe Will can analyze their usage by comparing hour to hour,__Automatically Track Your Run," SportTechie, January 26, 2018; Edgar weekday versus weekend, or day versus evening use just a gimmick," Engadget, February 9, 2018; www. Coned.com, accessed to see where they can save, and they can receive March 28, 2018; Edward C. Baig, "Under Armour and HTC Team Up on high bill alerts if they are using more energy than Connected Fitness," USA Today, January 5, 2016; www.underarmour. usual. Con Ed also offers a mobile app for iPhone Making a Costly Bet on Connected Fitness," Fortune, April 21, 2016. CASE STUDY QUESTIONS 1. Describe the role of information technology in the How are they changing the behavior of their products described in this case. How is it adding users? valuetotheseproducts?Howisittransforming3.Arethereanyethicalissuesraisedbythesesmart these products? products, such as their impact on consumer pri- 2. How are these smart products changing opera- vacy? Explain your