Exclusive product availability, proprietary technology and an energetic response to customer feedback provide Smarthome Direct with the keys to successful growth

By Matt Griffin

Kapur openly calls it “The Sharper Image model,” referring to the growing number of Sharper Image store and catalog products branded with the private label Sharper Image Design logo.

Brand New Solutions

While third-party products based on the popular X-10
protocol (the language that allows
home automation products to talk to each other) provided the basis for Smarthome’s early success, the company’s customers began to request products that were more reliable. Knowing it couldn’t control a product’s reliability without manufacturing it, Smarthome began to acquire several small engineering firms beginning in 1997.