Proptechs experience traffic surge as AI enhances consumer experience

Proptech companies have seen a significant rise in website and app traffic due to the integration of artificial intelligence, which has improved consumer experiences. Leading firms such as Housing.com, NoBroker, and Square Yards have reported a substantial increase in downloads across their platforms.

Reports indicate that the Indian proptech market is projected to grow 9.6 per cent annually from 2021 to 2025, reaching a $100 billion valuation by 2030.

Realty search portal Housing.com reported 0.66 million app downloads as of March 2024, up 48 per cent from January 2021. The firm believes that AI integration in proptech significantly enhances consumer experience in real estate by simplifying home searches. It helps navigate variables like neighbourhood selection, pricing, and configurations, aiding decisions between options like three or four-bedroom homes.

 

“We are focusing on various dimensions of the property search experience at Housing.com. The increased use of social platforms and e-commerce also benefits our sector. Our primary goal is to simplify the consumer journey. A major challenge is helping people decide on a neighbourhood. Factors like affordability, proximity to schools or workplaces, and lifestyle amenities play crucial roles,” said Sangeet Aggarwal, Head of Product, Housing.com.

“To assist users, we are working on personalised recommendations and aggregating resident reviews. This helps identify the best neighbourhoods, making the search process more efficient and user-friendly,” added Aggarwal.

NoBroker emphasized their new internally built AI software, ConvoZen, designed to analyse conversations (in multiple languages) with accuracy, processing about 25 million hours of calls. Additionally, the firm witnessed 40 per cent growth in traffic on their app and website from January to June (H1) 2024 compared to the same timeframe in 2023.

NoBroker employs AI across all aspects of its business, including automated property image screening, accurate property price estimation, understanding customer needs, and operating in multiple languages and channels without human intervention.

“AI enables us to scale efficiently, allowing us to serve more customers without compromising on quality. This non-linear scalability ensures that as our user base grows, the high standard of service remains unwavering,” said Akhil Gupta, Co-founder & CPTO of NoBroker.com.

In FY25, NoBroker aims to revolutionize property interactions with AI virtual agents, provide real-time assistance and accurate service estimates, enhance home interiors with personalised AI, and streamline remote property management using advanced generative AI.

Square Yards reported a 50 per cent surge in user engagement and a 40 per cent increase in conversion rates in the last 18 months, driven by AI integration. “We have leveraged AI in multiple use cases, including machine learning models for scientific lead nurturing, virtual interior staging and visualisation, content generation, and building large-scale AI city digital twins,” said Vivek Agarwal, Co-founder and CTO, Square Yards.

In terms of customer experience, the firm emphasized that solutions like SEO-friendly auto-descriptions, image tagging and enhancement, virtual tour creation, and 2D-to-3D floor plan conversions have enriched property exploration by making it more immersive and informative. Furthermore, AI-driven data insights have facilitated personalised recommendations, significantly boosting customer satisfaction and retention.

“Leveraging the power of generative AI has also streamlined the sales process, contributing to heightened customer satisfaction and enhanced sales efficiency. It has improved transparency and efficiency in our internal processes. Looking ahead to FY25, we plan to build on these successes to sustain our growth trajectory and solidify our position,” Agarwal added.

Priyatham Kumar, Founder, Homes247 said, “AI is a significant innovation in today’s commercial setting; with its personalisation feature, it assists website users by recommending items that are most likely to interest them based on user data, search history, and preferences. Additionally, real-time insights and analytics provide significant insights into user behaviour, allowing for the rapid identification and resolution of any issues that are impacting the user experience, as well as the optimisation of website performance through effective changes.”