User expectations have changed. And since the beginnings of mass consumption in the 1950s, it has only taken a few generations to see expectations for personalization and uniqueness emerge.

From your car to your shoes or even your kitchen, today everything is customizable with a configurator. And home design has not been left behind. Designing your own home: so far nothing new. But that meant turning yourself into a fully-fledged contractor and was only suitable for those living in the countryside.  But in the face of the growing urbanization of society, the expectation of personalization options in urban residential buildings is real. From less than 15% in 1900, the world’s urban population crossed the symbolic 50% mark in 2007. And projections show 80% in 2025.

Starting from the observation that the desire for uniqueness will grow and personalization will be increasingly popular, how do we do this in a sector as rule-bound and fixed as property?

 

The configurator, a tool for personalization

As marketing guru Seth Godin states, in his book « We Are All Weird: The Rise of Tribes and the End of Normal », “We’re so used to having choices it’s almost shocking when we don’t have them ». In the case of new-build real estate, it is about being able to provide buyers with as much information as possible about their future home, but also to offer them a way to visualize themselves in their future home and quickly offer them effective ways to customize it, as Jeanne Massa says.

The configurator allows ultra-customization of homes, both before the sale, to convince prospects, and after the sale to optimize margins by generating additional sales.

 

The configurator, a tool designed to optimize your margins and investments

Take the example of a purchase just as symbolic as real estate: the car. From the Dacia Sandero to the Lamborghini Urus, what car manufacturer can afford to not offer customization these days? It has become standard. And DS, for example, has made it the cornerstone of its upscale: “For the DS 3, not including engine specifications, there are 3 million different combinations, including the color of the roof, the body, the dashboard, the rims…” explains marketing director Arnauld Ribaud. A choice of such a variety of inspiration that leaves future owners unlikely to meet a model identical to theirs on the road!

And the results speak for themselves. According to Argus Pro:

  • Buyers of a mass market city car spend an average of €2k on personalization.
  • They add on average 7 to 8.
  • 80% of the models are sold customized.

It is also a great opportunity to optimize margins and investments by controlling the supply and construction chain.

 

The configurator, a tool to offer customization in a simple and efficient way

Although it offers choice, customization is standardized. Based on predefined themes (Nordic, modern, classic, etc.), future buyers then customize each room based on your stock. In fact, the Habiteo housing configurator allows you to present your entire catalog of materials and TMA in 3D.

The goal is simple: to save your team time and get ahead with your marketing. How? The configurator allows you to manage your entire catalog of materials, prices and availability from the MyHabiteo space. You can choose whether or not to display prices on your configurator. This allows the platform to be used both in pre-sales and in add-on sales.