Digital empowerment

Geetu Vaid

There may not be much happening in the realty sector at the moment as far as the sales and price appreciation fronts are concerned, but the landscape is changing fast when it comes to the ways in which property is being viewed, selected, marketed and sold. This change is being brought about with an increasing number of developers  becoming digitally empowered. Be it the major players or local small-time ones, even in Tier II towns, everyone is using some form of tech support whether it is to showcase their product, to reach out to the potential customers or even to sell.

Catering to demand

One of the major catalysts for this trend has been the changing buyer profile. The average age of homebuyers has come down considerably to between 30 and 35 years and this is the “smartphone generation” that feeds on information on the internet and would like to check out all choices before making the final decision. The developers are targetting these “mobile” and tech savvy potential customers through web portals, live chats with consultants, virtual tours of property and are even offering to sell on e-commerce sites.     

Portal route

According to available figures as many as 75-80 per cent of homebuyers scout realty portals like Magicbricks.com, 99 acres, makaan.com, commonfloor.com, realty compass.com etc. These portals are being used extensively for leasing and  selling of residential and commercial properties. The number of those making online searches last year was more than eight million. Figures revealed by Google show that the number of queries made online had registered over 35 per cent year-on-year growth till last year. “Even if just half of these queries get converted into sales then that is a huge number of transactions effected through the digital route”, says Anil Mithas, CMD, Unnati Fortune Group.  

Online real estate portals allow prospective buyers to compare different projects by providing data-backed analysis of each and every micro market along with minute details of the projects, thus allowing the buyers to make an informed choice as per their requirements”, says  Tejinder Pal Setia, Chairman, Mona Townships Pvt Ltd (MTPL) & Jade Business Park. His group has tied up with web portals like 99acres.com, magicbricks.com, housing.com, commonfloor.com, makaan.com, sulekha.com etc to give clients an opportunity to study the project thoroughly before proceeding for a physical inspection of the site to finalise their purchase. “Furthermore, certain features on online real estate portals like expert advice on getting finance, latest price trends and legal advice are an added advantage,” he adds

New-age marketing

Technology has changed the way projects are being marketed now. To quote a few examples, one can select locations to display their choice of advertisements to prospective customers on their mobile who are present on that location; 3D walkthroughs and augmented reality are concepts being used to market projects. In construction, major realty majors are adopting precast technology in building their latest projects. “The advantages are quality, less dependence on labour, speed of construction, and a value-for-money product”, says Pawan Jasuja, Director, Finlace Consulting.

March of technology

Thus, there is a virtual race on between different developers to provide a unique and more value-added tech experience to the prospective clients with live on site feeds, drones, Google Glass etc becoming commonplace offerings in the bouquet of developers, big and small. “To offer bigger view to buyers, developers have gone beyond sample flats and are providing live videos captured by drones. Use of automatic devices in home and office has brought everything on buyer’s finger tips”, says Dinesh Jain, MD, Exotica Housing. 

Talking about the march of technology in realty space Pankaj Bansal, Director M3M India says, “We have 360 degree approach towards technology, we have access to various new software solutions, services, and apps like Matterport’s 3D Showcase, Speaking Photo, Google Glass and  Doorsteps to boost our marketing and selling. We have tied up with various online portals. It’s a strategy that you kind of just learn from doing lots of sales, we use Google advertising network, various social media and various 3D interactive technology for our luxury projects.”

 “We have been developing 3D walkthroughs of all our projects, which can be used through various medium, and helps communicate the complete experience of living or working in the projects being marketed”, says Prateek Mittal, Executive Director, of Tricity-based Sushma Builtech.  The group has been using 3D hoardings and standees to reach out to customers.

Cost effective

The fact that online marketing is cost-effective is another factor that has made several developers switch over to it.  “It brings down a lot of marketing expenses for companies and it’s an easy access for customers to look out for their desired options. Virtual marketing is definitely a new innovative style and is the next future for generations to come”, says R. K Arora, Chairman, Supertech Ltd

 E-selling

Online home buying is an emerging platform and companies are offering customers, the properties ranging from affordable to the ultra-luxury segment. Many developers in like the Lodha Group, DLF, Godrej Properties, Tata Housing and Kolte Patil, Unnati Fortune Group etc have tied up with e-commerce sites like Snapdeal to sell properties online. Though the concept is inits nascent stage, yet  last year Lodha Group claimed to have made over 100 bookings, while Tata Housing and Tata Value Homes (a subsidiary which is into affordable homes) sold over 400,000 sq ft through 450 apartments online with sales value of over Rs 350 crore. The group got a heartening response during the Google Online Shopping Festival. Unnati Fortune Group has also tied-up with Snapdela to offer online bookings of its Unnati World Residences. “Our aim is to strategically enhance our sales channels while offering our customers greater ease and convenience”, said Anil Mithas. The group is offering exclusive discount and snapdeal vouchers worth Rs 70, 000 to enhance the experience of its customers to buy the property online.  Though the main target customers for this category are NRIs, online sale of property is slowly getting popular in India. “Real Estate category on Snapdeal has seen a tremendous response from customers since its launch in August last year. The category has grown significant in the last six months and has exceeded all our expectations,” the DLF spokesperson said.  But as home purchase involves a huge sum of money and several legal implications it will be a long time before online home buying becomes commonplace in India.