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Are agents nervous about handing appointments control to Rightmove?

Just 2.3% of its agents are using the tech, although it is proving popular with tenants looking to book viewings directly via the portal.

Nigel Lewis

rightmove

Rightmove says 430 agents have signed up to use its rental Viewings Manager tool which it launched five months ago to enable house hunters to book appointments directly from its property listing pages.

The tool, which comes as standard as part of agents’ membership, constitutes approximately 2.3% of its total estate agent client list and indicates that it’s going to take the portal some to win around significant portions of the property industry to its new tech.

Rightmove says it has upgraded the tool following feedback from agents and although agents may be wary of handing their bookings management over to the portal, 86% of tenants are using the tool when using the portal.

The announcement is not its only tech upgrade.

Rightmove has also rebuilt its draw-a-search tool and says the improvements have lifted usage by 37% since it quietly introduced the changes last month, helping deliver some 78 million specific search alerts to house hunters.

Tweaks

Other tweaks include integrating its stamp duty calculator into the portal’s property details pages, a good tactical move given the current wave of SDLT-prompted home moves taking place at the moment.

tarah rightmove viewings manager“We know that the frenzied market is quickly depleting agent’s stock levels, so much of our product innovation is centred around keeping home-movers more engaged and giving them more reasons to consider why now might be a good time to move, as well as developing tools to help agents save time,” says Rightmove’s Chief Product & Technology Officer Tarah Lourens (pictured).

Read more about Rightmove’s viewings manager.

April 27, 2021

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