"OpenHouse.ai entered the home building industry in 2018, with the vision of democratizing technology and data to empower home builders to create more personal and ‘human' experiences throughout the entire buying journey. The OpenHouse.ai platform is empowering home builders of all sizes to leverage the power of data analytics and machine learning to drive more qualified buyers to their sales centre and deliver each customer a personalized home shopping experience. OpenHouse.ai helps builders cater to the new generation of home buyers by offering a consumer-driven shopping experience that begins nurturing shoppers the moment they arrive on a builder’s website.
THE CHALLENGE
The digital transformation of the home building industry is well underway as the vast majority of home buyers are beginning their buying process online, and this experience is unique for everyone. As the purchase of a home is deeply personal, the shopping experience should be as well. Prompted by this sharp rise in consumer expectations and the desire for a personalized shopping experience, home builders have been presented with a challenge and an opportunity to elevate the digital shopping experience for each unique website visitor.
Trico Homes, founded in Calgary Alberta, was in search of a solution to improve home buyer’s website experience while also bringing more potential customers to their show homes. As 51% of people buy homes they found online, it is essential for Trico, and other home builders, to optimize the online experience to educate and nurture customers earlier in the home buying process. Trico Homes deeply values each stage of the home buying journey and wanted to create an optimal experience for their customers. Buying a home is not a one-size-fits-all experience, so why do all home buyers often experience the same online shopping experience as the next person? By providing a personalized website experience, each unique home buyer is guided down their unique path to purchase, ultimately increasing the likelihood of conversion and accelerating the sales cycle.
PERSONALIZED WEBSITE EXPERIENCE
Unlike the traditional home buying process, shoppers are overwhelmed with substantially more options, all at the click of a button. As the online space is flooded with alternatives, builders need to differentiate themselves; and a personalized website experience for each unique home buyer is the ultimate way to do that.
Personalization is the process of delivering personal experiences on a website by dynamically showing content, product recommendations and specific offers based on previous actions, browsing behavior, purchase history, demographics and other personal data. Website personalization is catering the user experience on your website to each visitor by showing them content and homes that are most relevant to them. This technology reduces the amount of information and the number of irrelevant options to help guide visitors through a buyer journey that is designed just for them. This investment in the online experience is the differentiating factor that will enable Trico Homes, and other home builders to create a superior digital home buying experience for each unique individual.
THE OPENHOUSE.AI SOLUTION
With consumers starting their buying journey online, Trico Homes was eager to investigate technology that would create a meaningful experience the moment a buyer arrives on their website. Available as a plug-in to existing home builder’s websites, OpenHouse.ai’s machine learning platform learns about each unique website visitor to deliver recommendations and search results that are catered to their individual needs and preferences. A common challenge for home builders like Trico Homes is search functionality, relevancy and deciding how to best arrange and recommend products; but OpenHouse.ai takes care of that. By leveraging this technology, Trico Homes now provide each unique home buyer with a personalized website experience based on who they are and what they want.
This platform combines adaptable experiences, nudges and a host of other tools to support the buying journey from the moment a buyer arrives on Trico’s website. The personalization platform understands user preferences to sort homes on your website’s catalogue by relevance to the home buyer, ultimately helping home buyers find the right home for them, faster. With the help of OpenHouse.ai’s technology, Trico Homes was able to develop a superior end-to-end digital buying journey for each home buyer.
THE RESULTS
- 45% increase in organic search traffic
- 41% increase in direct search
- 12.5% accelerated sales cycle
- 41% reduction in marketing spend
- 18% reduction in cost/lead
- 18% increase in foot traffic
OpenHouse.ai’s technology empowered Trico to provide a personalized experience from website to sales centre; as Trico’s website now learns and grows with every interaction, ultimately narrowing down buyer’s search to homes in the price range, style and community they want. By using AI-technology, Trico can better nurture and educate their leads and offer them a superior home shopping experience the moment they arrive on the website.
The integration of OpenHouse.ai’s technology also drives more qualified buyers and a higher volume of foot traffic to their show homes, as Trico has seen an additional 4 homes sold per month compared to their previous monthly forecasts. Personalized shopping experiences continue to create a positive impact on the buying experience, and in Trico’s case ultimately accelerated their sales velocity by 12.5%.
As a prospective buyer browses through Trico’s inventory of homes, the OpenHouse.ai platform acts as if a salesperson is sitting right next to them, recommending floor plans and communities tailored to their unique needs and preferences. By creating a superior online experience, Trico continues to constantly evolve, and meet the needs of each unique customer.
So, consumer expectations continue to rise, and a personalized shopping experience is becoming the norm across industries, so why is that not the case in home building? Are you ready to create a customer-centric, digital home shopping experience for your buyers? Schedule a consultation or demo here.
