Tata Housing, one of the top real estate companies in India and a pioneer in experimenting with online selling of flats in India, has sold a villa worth Rs 5.5 cr through its ecommerce portal.
The transaction is easily the biggest retail ecommerce sale in India.
“The company has managed to sell more than 30 units with a price tag of over INR 1 crore, post introducing the concept in India,” it said. Tata pioneered this alternate sales channel more than a year ago in partnership with Snapdeal.
“An NRI customer has purchased a house at Tata Housing’s luxury project Myst, India’s first residential development designed using biophilic architecture in Kasauli worth INR 5.5 crores, while another customer from Mumbai has purchased Tata Housing’s luxury project at The Promont, Bangalore for INR 4.5 crores,” it said.
Most of India’s high value transactions are done by non-residents, as real estate prices in the country rival those of advanced economies such as the US. In some cases, real estate prices in India are higher than those in Europe and the US for a similar sized apartment or house in a similar locality.
The Promont is a crest of 4 majestic towers spread across 14 acres, atop Bengaluru’s exclusive hill.
Tata’s move to sell its flats through Snapdeal was greeted with amusement by many real estate majors. However, since then, many of Tata Homes’ peers have also taken to the online route to generate sales leads, if not to close a sale.
Commenting on the deal, Brotin Banerjee, MD & CEO – Tata Housing Development Company, said, “With increasing penetration of the internet, we are confident that the online medium will be the fastest growing channel of sales for the industry. We will continue to invest in innovation to improve the online home buying experience in terms of interface, security and quality of transaction.”
To enhance the customer’s experience, Tata Housing recently integrated a payment gateway which will allow customers to complete the entire transaction online. The company creates an environment close to reality through an extensive use of technology like 3D viewers, google maps and showcasing social infrastructure around our projects which helps the company to differentiate its projects.
Established in 1984, Tata Housing is a closely held public limited company and a subsidiary of TATA Sons Limited. TATA Sons Limited holds 99.86% of equity share capital of the company.
Since its revival in 2006, the company has grown exponentially establishing itself as the fastest growing real estate developers in India, with 70 million sq.ft under various stages of planning and execution and an additional 19 million sq. in the pipeline.