From this week, buy a house on Snapdeal

Joins hands with Tata Value homes, becomes first e-commerce to sell real estate

The next time you go shopping for an electronic item or a fashion accessory on e-commerce platform Snapdeal, you will be able to also check out a house on discount.

In a partnership with Tata Value Homes (TVH), Snapdeal becomes the first e-commerce company to foray into the real estate sector. As part of this alliance, announced on Tuesday, Snapdeal will offer online bookings of TVH projects on its website.

Snapdeal has crossed 25 million subscribers and $1 billion in annual sales. TVH, a fully owned subsidiary of Tata Housing Development Company, has a presence in seven cities. TVH hopes to tap into the reach the e-commerce website offers and has plans to expand in both tier-I and tier-II cities. Kunal Bahl, co-founder and chief executive at Snapdeal.com, said: “Buying a home is an important and life-changing event. We have changed the way consumers shop. Now, we intend to change the way they buy their homes.”

According to the plan, any interested consumer will be able to book a house online by paying a token amount of Rs 30,000. The amount, non-refundable, essentially entails an expression of interest from the consumer for  homes priced between Rs 31 lakh and Rs 70 lakh. The bookings will open from Thursday, on Snapdeal.  To incentivise buyers, customers who book any TVH property for a week ahead through the website will get a Rs 10,000 monthly discount for one year. How the amount will be paid is still unclear.

“It can bring in new sales but I don’t think the overall market will shift to the online sphere in this segment,”  says Mona Chhabra, director, real estate practice, EY.

TVH is looking to capitalise on the Snapdeal customer base. “We strongly believe India is ready to buy homes online and, hence, a partnership with Snapdeal will help us revolutionise the industry. Snapdeal, with a strong base of customers, will help us reach out to a larger audience base, making home buying a click away,” said Brotin Banerjee, managing director (MD) of Tata Housing and TVH.

It can also be a means for lead generation for TVH, to be monetised at a future point.

Sanjay Dutt, executive MD at Cushman & Wakefield, says: "TVH is trying to leverage another popular channel to create value, in addition to their existing online and offline models. This can also facilitate lead generation, which can be converted to potential buyers who'll be approached offline."