Opinion: Are millennials killing the doorbell industry?

Recently, among the many textposts circulating through social media platforms, one in particular kept catching my eye. It reads: “Can someone write an article on millennials killing the doorbell industry by texting ‘here’?”

The idea behind this question was that doorbells are becoming insignificant because people can simply use their phones to let someone know that they have arrived, thus causing the doorbell industry to suffer as it loses consumers.

At first thought, this question seems to have a valid point. After all, the purpose of a doorbell is to let a person know that someone is at their door. This question may even make the reader wonder what other tools or objects, that used to be a part of everyday life, are now being threatened with the increasingly widespread use of technology.

However, after some more careful thinking and some research, I realized that this question completely forgets to consider the innovation of smart doorbells.

The doorbell industry isn’t dying; in fact, it is adapting quite well to the mass integration of technology into society, and creating products that are extremely appealing to consumers of this day.

So, what is a smart doorbell?

A smart doorbell is an internet-connected doorbell that notifies another smart device (most commonly the owner’s smartphone) when someone is at the door. It can either be activated when the visitor presses the doorbell, or just by sensing the visitor through motion-detecting sensors.

A smart doorbell typically has a built-in camera that allows the owner to watch and talk to the visitor through an app on their phone, as well as ensure safety and deter theft.    

Complementing these features, smart doorbells may also be connected to a smart lock, meaning the owner is able to open the door for their visitor through the app, even if they are not currently home.

High-quality smart doorbells range from about $100 to $300, and coupled with the thousands of people that have already installed or are planning to install a smart doorbell at their house, the industry is clearly flourishing.

The idea that millennials and their technologically advanced lifestyle are rapidly changing the world and the way we live is not new. However, more often than not, many industries that are expected to be negatively impacted find ways to adapt to this incoming change.

With all this in mind, to whoever wrote that post on social media, you may be worrying about the doorbell industry for nothing – with the widespread use of smart doorbells, it is very likely that residents know that their visitor has arrived even before they text “here.”