Housing.com grows conversions by 1.8X, simplifies property listings
The leading real estate online platform improves property discovery, simplifies seller listing, and drives more robust feedback collection with Gupshup on WhatsApp
54%
Open Rate compared to 12% for email
1.8X
Conversions over traditional campaigns
60%
Feedback
collection rate
"Conversational engagement on WhatsApp has been nothing short of transformative for us at Housing. It's reshaped how our audience discovers properties and has nearly doubled our conversions. We’re excited about the innovations and how it simplify the experience for buyers and sellers alike."
About the brand
Established in 2012, Housing.com stands as India’s leading real estate company, spearheading the transformation of a sector traditionally deemed service-intensive and requiring substantial hand-holding. In addition to the website and app, the platform introduced chat-based discovery with value-added features such as map-based property search and verified listings, fundamentally reshaping how buyers and sellers interact. Housing.com prioritizes user experience, aiming to make property buying and selling hassle-free and enjoyable.
Over time, the company has broadened its services beyond listings and has added offerings like home loans and property management.
Challenges & Objectives
Housing.com’s marketing strategy primarily relied on social media ads, emails and push notifications to capture buyer interest, and drive conversions. However, they observed that traditional outreach channels like email and SMS were experiencing a decline in open rates and engagement.
Known for its product-driven approach to innovation, Housing wanted to optimize their marketing strategies and maximize return on investment (ROI). Their objective was to:
- Elevate the experience for both buyers and sellers
- Drive effective discovery and engagement
- Enhance conversions and reduce abandonment rates
To address this, they turned to Gupshup’s expertise with WhatsApp Business Platform to help customers engage directly and get relevant property recommendations.
Solution
Housing.com partnered with Gupshup to implement a comprehensive strategy that went beyond a simple chatbot, addressing key pain points and offering value throughout the buyer and seller journey
For Buyers
Driving higher engagement and conversions with personalized property recommendations
Housing started as an app-first platform, revolutionizing the traditional real estate marketplace. Prospective home buyers could explore listings on their app/website and then request to view contact details of the homeowners of properties.
As a part of their growth strategy, the product team wanted to go one step further and provide the same experience on chat with interactive journeys. They partnered with Gupshup to launch Property recommendation bot, which leverages user data and search history to send personalized property suggestions to the buyers on WhatsApp.
The buyers could either choose to contact the seller (by clicking the ‘Interested’ button) or explore more options (by clicking on ‘Next property’). On expressing interest, a direct connection is established between the buyer and the seller within WhatsApp, eliminating the need to switch between platforms; thereby fast tracking deal progression.
As a result of this personalized approach,
- Monthly conversation volumes on WhatsApp reached 2.5 million, with an open rate of 54%, significantly higher than the average 8-9% with email campaigns
- Buyers were engaged with 12% of them completing the entire bot journey
- Conversion rates grew 1.8X with interactive campaigns compared to traditional promotions
Improving buyer trust and satisfaction with Feedback loop
Housing.com’s business model focuses on connecting buyers with sellers. Buyers seek reliability and trustworthiness and are often concerned about the seller’s credentials. As a customer-first company, Housing.com wanted to ensure transparency and satisfaction among its user base.
They worked with Gupshup to integrate a seller feedback flow, where after interacting with a seller, prospects receive a message on WhatsApp to share feedback. This feedback is then anonymously shared with the seller for improvement and this loop builds trust and ensures a positive experience for future buyers.
Housing saw a 60% Feedback collection ratio post implementing the feedback bot.
For Owners
Simplify listings upload and improve conversions with Owner listing bot
Housing.com has been utilizing social media and email campaigns to attract owners to list their properties on the platform. Earlier, owners were required to upload all property details via a Google form, which could be cumbersome which led to a lot of drop offs.
Collaborating with Gupshup, Housing.com introduced the Seller Listing Bot. Through WhatsApp, the Housing team re-targeted the drop-offs. Those interested could conveniently upload photos and other details directly through WhatsApp, streamlining the listing process without a learning curve or needing multiple applications.
Housing witnessed 5X growth in monthly listing uploads from the dropped-off users.
Future Innovations
Expanding Interactive Options: Housing.com plans to add more dynamic buttons to the bot, enabling buyers to explore properties within the same budget but of different types, in specific localities, near landmarks, etc., directly within WhatsApp.
The team is also exploring evangelizing FAQs and leveraging Click to Chat ads on WhatsApp.
