Introducing ‘makaan Mobile’ – India’s 1st Pure Sms-based Real Estate Mobile Application

~List properties/view responses on your mobile, without any Internet connection~

Makaan.com, People Group’s Indian Property site announced the launch of ‘Makaan Mobile’ – the country’s 1st SMS-based Real Estate Mobile Application. The application, developed by one of India’s leading MVAS companies, Mauj Mobile is aimed at enhancing the overall consumer experience for property sellers. Makaan Mobile provides an attractive alternative to property sellers who currently need to log on to the Internet either to list their property or to view responses from interested buyers. Harnessing the power of SMS, the Makaan Mobile application is compatible with almost all GSM models, and will cater to a subscriber base close to 200 million in India alone, which is almost 4 times the size of the Internet consumer base.

With this application, Makaan.com becomes the first Indian Real Estate site to have launched a pure SMS based product. The website aims at making property buying and selling effortless and non-technical for the user. Ease of use, and mobile convenience are the cornerstones of success for Makaan Mobile.

Speaking on this initiative, Mr. Aditya Verma, Business Head, Makaan.com said, “All our innovations till date have revolved around ensuring ‘customer delight’, and Makaan Mobile is another step in this direction. The idea of the application germinated from the need to connect with users who are generally on the move and do not have regular access to the Internet. This application will take Makaan.com product offerings to a far greater audience. With the launch of this service, we anticipate a 30% growth in daily property listing rate over the coming months.”

Makaan Mobile is expected to revolutionize the way properties are bought and sold in the country, and given the fact that Makaan.com sees around 8.5 lakh unique visitors per month, the application is sure to garner acceptance amongst the property-selling community, especially real-estate agents, for whom the mobile phone is the weapon of choice.

Commenting on the relevance of the application to the Indian market, Mr. Manoj Dawane, CEO, People Infocom (Mauj Mobile), said, “For Makaan, we needed to create a service that would have a high penetrability facilitating greater reach, and which would be completely user-friendly. Hence, we opted for an SMS-based service that would function without any Internet connection. And, with Makaan Mobile, we have achieved just that.”

The Makaan Mobile innovation comes close on the heels of theMakaan.com TVC on IPL, which also aimed at achieving greater consumer connect, and growing the online real estate industry as a whole.

About Makaan.com
Makaan.com is an online real-estate service promoted by People Interactive; the consumer Internet division of the Anupam Mittal led People Group. This site has been conceived to explore and invent opportunities in the online real-estate space. Makaan.com is committed to helping users make wise and profitable decisions related to buying, selling, renting and leasing of properties, in India and key global geographies. This user-friendly portal has Pan India presence, with physical offices in top 13 cities of India, including Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Pune, Chandigarh, Jaipur, Kochi, Vizag and Vijaywada.

About People Interactive
People Interactive was founded in 1997 to help architect India’s Internet landscape. Today it is one of India’s leading Internet companies and boasts brands such as Shaadi.com, Shaadi.com Centres, Fropper.com, Makaan.com and Astrolife.com. The company is focussed on discovering and developing scalable Internet business models around communities and classifieds. It prides itself in being a pioneer of Indo-centric Internet business models and believes in innovation led growth.

The company won the IT People Award 2007 for Excellence in Information Technology, and was also awarded the Red Herring Asia Top 100 Awards in 2006. In September 2007 Business Today recognized the company’s flagship brand – Shaadi.com as one of the Top 10 Marketers in the country. Shaadi.com was also felicitated at the WEB18 ‘Genius of the Web’ Awards 2007, as the best E-Commerce site (Matrimony), and Shaadi.com Centres won the ‘Franchisor of the Year Award’ for the third consecutive year in 2007. People Interactive was also named as one of the Top 500 companies in Deloitte Technology Fast 500 – Asia Pacific Awards 2007.

People Interactive is a Sequoia Capital backed company and is part of the Anupam Mittal led People Group.