Virtual Tours Tab Added to Rightmove Mobile

In a long awaited move by Rightmove, 3D virtual tours have formally been recognised as a permanent media source that prospective buyers and end users want to see when browsing the site to find their next home. The move came as a silent update which features a 'Virtual Tour' tab displayed prominently next to other media and data sources such as 'Description' and 'Floor Plan'.

The addition of the virtual tour tab onto the mobile platform comes with the lastest Rightmove stats that 67% of web access comes from a mobile device rather than a desktop browser. This means that virtual tour viewing rates will now see an increase of around 300% over what they have been prior.

So what is a 'Virtual Tour'? A Matterport virtual tour is a digital product utilised to allow the prospective buyer to navigate and find their way through a property both pre viewing and post viewing. It uses a combination of IR laser scan data and 360 degree panoramic photography to build a photorealistic model of a property, enabling a smooth navigation in both photographic view and also as a 3D 'Dolls House' view.

Why has Rightmove decided to roll this feature out as a primary media source and why is it so important?

1. The Mass Adoption by Estate Agents

Rightmove have previously said that they didn't want to implement the Virtual Tours tab on their site until the technology had become widely adopted by their clients and accessibility had  peaked past an undisclosed threshold that they had determined internally.

Judging by the increase in VT icons appearing on Rightmove desktop, we can only assume their algorithms have picked up on the demand and made the switch to prominently feature the additional tab over their wider network to promote accessibility across all platforms.

2. Virtual Tours are Extremely Cost Effective

There have been numerous case studies over the last 3 years detailing the effectiveness of Matterport virtual tours within the property industry. A prominent case was that of RE/MAX, an agent that began fully utilising virtual tours in their marketing packs and subsequently increased their conversion rate from 60% to 95% and reduced the number of days a property was on the market by 56% over a 3 month period.

The long term yearly savings of the technology against the costs have yet to be quantified but initial estimations are well into the thousands.

3. Dynamic Visual Content Drives Qualified Leads by 49%

The stats simply do not lie. Agents who have embraced virtual tours over the last few years have seen a 49% increase in qualified lead generation; 95% more phone enquiries; 65% more online enquires and 40% more clickthroughs.

The statistics are expected to rise gradually over the coming year as the technology becomes more widespread; but as with professional photography, eventually the stats will stabilise as the status quo is maintained. The question is then asked, which agents were the winners in the dynamic content race?

4. The Technology is Rapidly Growing

It comes as a surprise to many, but virtual tours are soon approaching their 25 birthday, however original technology was extremely archaic.

Accessibility hit a major milestone in in 2007 with the launch of 'Google Street View' which completely changed how we viewed location data over the internet.

Matterport were one of the first providers to mix scan data with photographic imagery and revolutionised the consumption of virtual tours for the property industry.