If 2020 taught us anything, technology is going to change the way we do business forever. During the pandemic, we saw people changing lifelong behaviours around everything from how they shopped for groceries to how they communicated in the workplace, but the changes won’t stop there. There is now a desire by all types of buyers to research online, find information about the product they are looking for and make an informed decision when buying. This will not stop at a new vacuum cleaner. The time is coming where the entire property industry will be disrupted with people looking to make their biggest purchasing decision, buying a new home or investment, from the comfort of their lounge room in their pyjamas at 10 pm, not when your salespeople are available to help them. That is why you must learn how to sell a house online.

Read on and let us show you the 7 reasons to prove this is true and what you can do to ensure you are in front of the next big wave and taking advantage of it for your business.

1. INCREASE IN ONLINE SPENDING

In 2020 as the entire world felt the effects of the pandemic lockdown, online spending in Australia recorded a 31% increase in the number of households shopping online. This is due to online retail and grocery; however, as time has gone on and online spending has continued to increase in recent months, consumers have shown a desire to continue this trend. Retail precincts across the country are reporting a downward trend in the number of customers. The extra rigour required to provide a COVID safe environment for shoppers is off-putting to large sections of the community.

What does the data say?

Data shows that Australian online spending will reach nearly $35 billion in 2020/21; while some of this growth is because of the pandemic, the trend continues. Australia’s eCommerce growth is also made plain in Australia Post’s recent eCommerce Industry Report. This report found 12.3 per cent of Australian retail sales were conducted online in March 2020, with 5.2 million households shopping online by April 2020, an increase of 31 per cent against the year-on-year average. These figures do include specialty food and liquor. By July 2020, eCommerce had grown to comprise 14 per cent of the Australian market’s total retail sales, excluding cafes and restaurants. As a result, Australia Post is now projecting eCommerce sales will exceed 15 per cent of total sales by the end of 2020, years ahead of the 16 per cent figure Australia projected for 2025.

The other contributing factor in giving people the confidence to shop online is the continual improvement in online technology and the ongoing advancement of the NBN throughout Australia, giving consumers unprecedented broadband access. This allows companies to show their products in an increasingly more efficient manner and ensure the consumer
is confident in what they are buying.

DATA SHOWS THAT AUSTRALIAN ONLINE SPENDING IS EXPECTED TO REACH NEARLY $35 BILLION IN 2020/21.

HOW DOES THIS AFFECT THE PROPERTY MARKET?

This is also very true in traditional methods of sale in the property industry. Open homes and display centres are now subject to extra controls for COVID, as well as being exactly the sort of environment that the community are trying to avoid. Purchasing an owner-occupier house and land package or an investment property online is not as far fetched as it sounds. In fact, in 2002, at the beginning of the northwestern Sydney development boom, it was not unheard of for anxious buyers to camp out to secure their perfect block of land on the day of release.

However, one forward-thinking home builder built an online reservation system that allowed people to do that from the comfort of their own home. That was the first system that the team behind PIPR built, and it went on to help that builder become a market leader for decades in the house and land development space. That’s just one reason why you need to learn how to sell a house online.

2 – CHANGING WORLD, PEOPLE ARE NOW PREPARED TO BUY EVERYTHING ONLINE

Think about the last time you made a purchase, maybe for something like a car. Did you research what you were looking for online? Did you check out carsales.com.au to see what the car you were after was worth, what the best price was you could find? Or did visit the manufacturer’s website and try out their product simulator to choose a colour, the type of wheels, and interior options that you liked? Did you then go into a dealer or just make the purchase online? Chances are if you are anything like me, you did all the research, worked out exactly what you wanted, but then went and did business with someone you trusted to finalise the purchase.

That is where the right type of experience for a buyer online is so important. People still like doing business with people, but in a world where interacting with people has changed, having a buyer’s trust in your brand is of paramount importance. Online property portals like realestate.com.au have a lot of traffic and have all sorts of buyers looking at your house and land sales product. Still, they do not give your potential customers a bespoke curated experience of doing business with you. There are now ways to ensure the personal touch. The entire world is now accepting of online meetings. A well-designed system will ensure that people doing business with your company can be confident of the sales process and how they are working with you.

If you’d like to read on and discover the next 5 tips associated with why you need to learn how to sell a house online, download our free E-book!

7 Reasons You Need to Learn how to sell a House Online – FREE E-BOOK!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Rich Evans is the Founder and CEO of PIPR Pty Ltd, a prop-tech business helping builders all across Australia use technology to create stronger, more sustainable businesses. He has helped some of Australia’s largest construction companies scale their sales through the unique PIPR approach to developing online portals to manage the sales of house and land stock, from creating high-quality marketing materials to the automation of the sales process. Rich published the book Click Here – A guide to making the internet work for your business – in 2009 through Wright Books Australia.

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