From housing 75 million people in 1971 to roughly 163 million people in 2018, Bangladesh’s population has exponentially increased in the past 47 years. This consistent increase, in turn, has brought about a rise in the demands for housing. The days of private properties are long gone. The nation’s skyline is literally rising as the construction of high-rise on a daily basis.
Lamudi is an online property portal operating across 33 countries around the world. Founded in 2013, Lamudi operates in 13 countries across Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America, and has already become the market leader in several regions. The CEO of Lamudi Bangladesh, Anne Maria Hermans, will celebrate their five-year anniversary. Before cementing a career in real estate, Anne began her career at PVH Corp., the parent company of Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, where she played a significant role on various projects in Hong Kong, London, and Amsterdam.
Web-ination: When Sale Became All Things Online
When I started at Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, e-commerce was in its early stages, making up 1% of total global sales. The business model focused on selling to major retail outlets and our own physical stores, the power of e-commerce was not yet understood. Rapid globalization brought the e-commerce platform to the forefront of our society. It was important to deliver the same service around the world so that the customer could buy in Milan what they had seen in Shanghai. The ability to have this global impact was exhilarating and the efficiency of e-commerce, with its direct connection to the consumer, is something that has always fascinated me. During my tenure with these multinational companies, I have increasingly learned the power of working with data. Working with an e-commerce platform gives you an in-depth understanding of your customer base as a whole, and the ability to fine-tune the platform according to their needs. As the scale is so large, tiny improvements can have a huge impact.
“The ability to have this global impact was exhilarating and the efficiency of e-commerce, with its direct connection to the consumer, is something that has always fascinated me. During my tenure with these multinational companies, I have increasingly learned the power of working with data.”
Setting the Stage for the Digital Act
Maintaining an e-commerce platform is all about constant improvements. Our real challenge is to pick up on our customers’ needs and bring that into our plans on how to develop the website, which is constantly evolving. Our recent implementation of Facebook chat, for example, allows us to assist the customers from start to finish. For me, the advantage is that you can trust in the quality of the platform because it is managed by the head office in Germany. We have a major competitive advantage because we can focus on constant improvement of the website and share costs across the different countries. This comes with drawbacks, as every country is unique. The challenges I face in Bangladesh vary from the ones we’ll face in Mexico, which makes it increasingly difficult for the head office to prioritize our specific issues. I personally believe that the advantages outweigh the challenges. There is a learning curve in every country, and all these findings can be implemented across the board. With Lamudi operating in Bangladesh for five years, I believe we have had a sufficient amount of time to optimize our platform and create a strong, localized business.
Foundations Built on Partnerships
I think public-private partnerships are important for bringing stakeholders together, so that you get different perspectives and qualities, improving the industry as a whole. Particularly for the built environment, it’s important that different voices are heard so that everyone has a say in how the city develops. It is also vital for public and private organizations to communicate as much as possible; often private companies are generating useful data and insights. In real-estate, it could benefit urban planning, for instance, illustrating opportunities in demand and supply. This type of data sharing will become an increasingly important part of public-private relations moving forward. I believe that trust is a central part of creating a sustainable business model. With mutual trust, there is a drive to grow together as businesses, improving the sector as a whole – everybody benefits. Building relationships are, therefore, one of the most important aspects of my job. Ever since I started at Lamudi, I made it my top priority to have an open dialogue with developers. I frequently have invaluable conversations with our clients, where they give me their thoughts and recommendations for Lamudi, and I respond with ideas about how to set their properties apart from the rest. This new way of doing online business takes a bit of getting used to. At Lamudi, we pride ourselves on helping customers get comfortable with the online platform. I invite developers to utilize our services to see if they work for them.
“In real-estate, it could benefit urban planning, for instance, illustrating opportunities in demand and supply. This type of data sharing will become an increasingly important part of public-private relations moving forward. I believe that trust is a central part of creating a sustainable business model. With mutual trust, there is a drive to grow together as businesses, improving the sector as a whole – everybody benefits.”
The Voice of Broadcasting
We expect more people to utilize the web for selling their house and using the spare minutes on the bus searching for their dream apartment. We have just finished a complete overhaul of our platform to make it as mobile-friendly as possible. It has increased the speed, user experience, and capacity to take on new listings. Unlike other platforms, we still allow users to post one property for free because we expect another increase in traffic. We are very excited to experience the impact of the 4G network.
Information- The Elevator to the Penthouse
The use of data is just beginning. At the moment, many companies are making business decisions in the same way that they have done for years. It is vital to have a perception of real-time sensitivity to the needs of the end consumers. Social and demographic changes, such as smaller family sizes, are leading to an increase in demand for smaller apartments. However, these are undersupplied by the market. Data can help address these mismatches by giving up-to-date information gathered on a large scale. Our customer interactions give us a clear picture of the market as a whole, and we have produced a number of research reports to be used as a resource by developers for their strategic planning.
