Zoopla has today launched what it says will be ‘game-changing functionality’ as well as a new brand and logo as it seeks to become the most trusted partner for agents. 
The company has described these changes as the ‘biggest’ in Zoopla’s history and reflects a step-change for the company as it strives to challenge Rightmove for the number one spot in the property portal market.
The changes, which build upon Zoopla’s vision which it announced to the market in January (see below), aims to drive better engagement with homeowners and movers, across the property lifecycle, and over a lifetime of property decisions.
At the heart of the changes are a range of alterations to Zoopla’s website and services that aim to transform the way people find, buy, sell and rent homes. At the core of this is the launch of My Home, a hub for homeowners which provides people with the skills, knowledge and insight to guide them on whether it is time to move and sell.
My Home will launch as a central homeowner landing page and then a dynamic page for almost every unique home in the UK.
Homeowners will register for and track their home, in order to stay on top of its worth, follow expertise and connect with relevant agent partners.
Alongside My Home, Zoopla will be making changes to some of the most visited pages on its website, including its homepage and individual property detail pages, as well as changes to its app.
Alongside the new services and improvements to its website, Zoopla is changing its look and feel with the launch of a rebrand, its first since 2007. The new branding incorporates widespread changes including a new logo and even a shift to a different shade of its iconic purple.
Andy Marshall, Zoopla’s chief commercial officer, commented: “When we announced our Vision back in January, we were clear that we would put customers at the heart of everything we do and to stimulate the market for their benefit.
“The improvements we are announcing today live up to that commitment. They are the result of millions of pounds of investment and thousands of hours of work looking at exactly what will deliver the best results for agents, housebuilders and homemovers alike.”
“Rather than rest on our laurels and surf on the wave of a busy market we have used this time to deliver fundamental improvements to the experience of using Zoopla.
“My Home is unique and this, combined with the raft of other changes we are making, will generate long-term value for agents, encouraging homeowners to realise the potential of their homes and use them as a springboard to reach their goals.”
It seems that some of the portals are waking up to the fact that UX is now everything, probably spurred on by the realisation that Amazon an e-commerce platform has seen exponential growth during the lockdown. Property portals and platforms if they become of use and are easy to navigate and ‘do something engaging’ can navigate the change in user sentiment. Rightmove are less agile and their higher pricing model for agents, with a very fixed 20-year old plus model is starting to creak a little, especially with new 2030 aligned portals such as Boomin and Moovshack launching. And before the ‘boo hiss’ crowd of ‘Pie in the face’ starts its usual 47 pages of anonymous comments on Boomin, maybe take 15 minutes to look under the hood of what Boomin is about, there is a reason that certain players are on board and the management and development team are who they are. Those in the know, will be aware that I was never a lover of Purplebricks as it was agency and tech lite, but Boomin is a different proposition, curated to nurture the digital native. Those who live in the analogue world of yester year will soon be waking up and realising the world has moved on, leaving them far behind, as over a third of the global generation is Gen-Z and they do things very differently to the Millennial class who are now in their early 40’s.
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Don’t forget that the average age of a first time buyer in the U.K. is 34.
Generation Z are still very young and are a minority of buyers. They are defined as reaching adulthood in the second decade of the 21st century. Although they may be reaching adulthood but they won’t be active homebuyers for another 10 years. By that point, many will have decided to be become permanent renters as ownership of “things” becomes less and less popular.
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Mr Stanton alludes regularly to the year 2030. Is he aligned with the World Economic Forum’s forecast that by this year; ‘you will own nothing, rent everything and be happy’?
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What’s UX precious?
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Not sure if I misunderstood the question…but
UX = User Experience i.e. user of the portal or website
In the tech world a better UX is perceived as key to attracting or retaining users (customers)
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In the property world, people predominantly visit websites in order to try and find a new home. For a lot of people, all the froth on some websites is more of a nuisance and very much secondary. A website can have all the “UX” it likes but if it doesn’t have the property inventory it will not succeed. Apologioes, didn’t mean to press “thumb down”
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Could not be bothered to read all that
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Me too.
I would never ever again use Zoopla. There stupid desktop valuations used to mess up our sales all the time. A purchaser would put in a silly offer, I’d say where did you get that figure from, their reply ‘Zoopla’ says its worth that.
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I don’t know about everybody else but I am sick and tired of looking at computers screens and quite frankly fed up of technology. Let’s face it, all the general public want to do is search online for a property and phone up to view it. Why do we need endless amounts of technology to do that!
keep life simple and get outdoors!
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It probably depends on where your patch is but around here Ive heard many agents bang on about facebook / instagram to the detriment of all else …. when the average age of their clients is very well advanced.
I come from an IT background but even I can see an agent would want to appeal to as wide a market a possible which means UX to some and good old fashion phone calls to others.
UX to me is being as inclusive as possible to as many people as possible to keep my customer base as wide as possible…not tech for tech’s sake just cause you can and it looks good.
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Amazon do well when shops are shut – shock news
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Seeing as i have upset the conveyancing ‘profession’ on another thread i will no doubt upset portal reps and ‘lazy’ estate agents on this thread.
Prop tech, some is great most is guff.
Portals, they only do one thing well and RM does it better than most. They are a central location for buyers to search for a property.
They will NEVER give you a sustainable number of vals, they will never ‘win’ you more sellers, buyers, tenants, landlords.
Its upsetting to read every day the numerous stories on tech and how we are missing out on the next great thing.
Why is there never stories about training and recruiting staff to do the job better?
Seriously if you want more properties to sell, get better at asking, be it when you are registering applicants or out viewing with them.
Andrew talking about UX (like he knows!) or Z talking about cleaner, easier, more features …….. You are all being sold to. You dont need most this stuff you just need to be BETTER SALES PEOPLE otherwise you are just order takers and the public may as well use 99 home or other naff listing site.
*Insert the Larry David theme, with me sitting back sipping a coffee with a smile on my face while it dawns on others how bad lazy their business has become*
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If Zoopla could do one thing, it would be to stop counting the “I am looking for property within X miles of town Y” as a lead, Especially when the same people send several emails with different towns as their preferres location. If they were serious (and countable) enquiries, they would give more details or enquire about a specificn property.
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My rep gave me a full breakdown of my email leads and how many were organising a vewing or specific to a property, ask your rep they have the info.
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No need to ask a Zoopla rep, you can and should record that information yourself.
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