OnTheMarket has plans to go after new agents and patch up the gaps between it and its rivals, including Zoopla, with a new, aggressive approach.
At an investor lunch yesterday, CEO Ian Springett and CFO Clive Beattie outlined their plans.
These include an aggressive recruitment drive of agents in the coming months through a mixture of a free 12-month trial or equity in return for long-term subscriptions.
They are promising “restrained pricing” in comparison with the incumbent portals, especially Rightmove.
Assuming the planned membership growth is achieved, implicitly closing the inventory gap, OTM then plans to aggressively spend on marketing – £50m over two years – to close the traffic gap.
Yesterday’s investor event was hosted by Exane BNP Paribas for OTM to meet investors.
William Packer of Exane said afterwards that he sees OTM’s new push “as potentially disruptive to the competitive equilibrium”.
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