How OLX is impacting real estate market by modifying customer transactions

New Delhi, June 21, 2019: India’s real estate market has picked up at a decent pace in the last 1.5 years with the new launches picking up and the effect of Real Estate (Regulation and Development) Act, 2016, (RERA Act) and Goods and Services Tax (GST) slowingdown. The implementation of the Real Estate Regulator Act (RERA), lowering of interest rates on home loans and the focus on affordable housing including granting of Infrastructure Status, have given the sector a much needed boost. Thanks to these reforms and policies moving forward, consumer sentiment has also improved and sales have begun to pick up.

Over the years, OLX has expanded its presence in the real estate category in order to cater to this demand for real estate in India. One in every five users on the platform visits the real estate section, highlighting the increasing interest of consumers in buying, selling and renting properties online. There are over 1.2 billion page views every month on the real estate category on OLX. Such large numbers of users and inventory on OLX generates a greater amount of data that allows better discovery for users tailored to their real estate needs. OLX understands the needs of the digitally literate consumers of India and has been able to innovate in the sector via simplifying the process of buying and selling real estate. The company is determined to offer a simple and effective way of searching for relevant properties in India and giving a chance for real estate owners to approach a pool of users online which enhances discovery and eventually conversions.

With the global standard and unified product now, OLX uses emerging technologies that enables them to serve its users better. By leveraging artificial intelligence and machine learning, OLX is able to understand the needs of its users in real time and address them accordingly. The new app showcases listings based on users’ search history and interest which means that they are always recommended real estate options that is tailored to their liking. It is present across 40+ countries and our global presence enables us to iterate on tech innovations at a much faster rate. The new app has been designed after understanding the unmet needs of our users after collecting feedback from them.

Customer centricity remains key to OLX and this is reflected in the real estate section too. Customers are at the core of everything we do and therefore, people love OLX.

OLX is one of the top players in the real estate housing category. Some of the differentiators are as follows:

• OLX Group is spread across more than 40 countries
• We’re used by a global community of 330 million every month
• Powered by a team of 4,000 people, working on 17 brands, from 26 offices across five continents
• Globally every single second 3 houses are listed on OLX
• India’s largest online classifieds marketplace with 85% share
• In India we receive 6 BN monthly page views
• Auto & Real estate are fastest growing categories
• One fifth of our traffic comes on real estate
• 5 lakh + live property listings, and more than 50 lakh registered property seekers.
• Largest platform for rentals, with more than live listings
• There are more than 15,000 agents on the platform, who deal in buying, selling and renting properties across 100+ cities

OLX, keeping the current growth rate in check, is determined to grow its classifieds business three-fold globally.This will mean a lot for India as it is one of the two high growth markets for OLX and there will be many exciting developments at the company to reach the deeper pockets of India where there lies an immense real estate opportunity for both the buyers and the sellers.  

In line with its future growth plan, OLX has introduced and leverage disruptive technologies on its platform with higher focus on real estate consumers. Business listers on OLX have also doubled their spends in 2018 vs 2017, showcasing OLX as a preferred marketing channel for the real estate industry in India. 

Going forward, OLX is determined to use its strengths in the market to resolve the various challenges in the real estate sector in India.

Some services provided by OLX to real estate consumers:

• Only marketplace which offers C2C experience in Real Estate

• Simple and effective platform -Mandatory registration, chat first and enhanced filters
• With our new app, it’s easier to access and navigate through various listings. The experience is unparalleled for consumers.
• The new app managed to bring down the posting time by 50%, and led to a 30% increase in the engagement level
• Users are able to search for listings across India instead of being limited to their own vicinity
• There are real-time security tips for buyers & sellers in the chat experience
• With the new voice messaging feature, users can quickly speak to prospective buyers/sellers without leaving the platform or sharing their phone numbers thereby ensuring better privacy of their personal details

• Strong play in rental accommodations

Listings across India help consumers choose between various options. The listings also offer numerous filters like type of house, gender preference for sellers and buyers and housing facilities among others that help consumers customize their search

• Unique listings and unduplicated leads

The massive presence allows OLX to generate a wide variety of unduplicated listings which remains unique to OLX. This in turn enables a better discovery and search experience for users. Also, users on OLX spend more time compared to any other classifieds platforms which means that users remain more engaged with the platform.

OLX has strengthened its position in the real estate category with strong business growth witnessed in 2018. Going forward, the company will start monetizing its India business soon. OLX is looking at doubling the number of monthly active users to 10 crore from the current 5 crore and growing its India business by at least 10 times.

As OLX looks to strengthen its real estate vertical, the company will scale its  presence across residential and commercial properties being listed on the platform in 2019 by leveraging its strengths to address the various challenges plaguing the Indian real estate industry.

Corporate Comm India(CCI Newswire)