It is no secret that the property industry has dealt with its fair share of hardships over recent years with agents and developers under pressure to adapt and change marketing strategies to stay ahead of the game. One such strategy has seen pioneering agents such as Barton Wyatt Surrey Estate Agents (with properties for sale in Virginia Water) exploring mobile phone technology and adopting QR codes in an attempt to attract new property buyers.
It is estimated that by 2013 around 1 billion people will own a smartphone, a small and powerful device that allows us to connect to the internet, run programs, hold data and generally organise our lives on the go. It is a device that is fast outselling the PC and will soon allow us to purchase items using swipe and pay technology being developed by Google. And with mobile phone systems moving from 3G to 4G technology and with Apple rumoured to be incorporating 4G connection speeds into its next generation iPhone 5 that will allow download speeds of somewhere between 20 and 50 Mbps, making it several times faster than the UK's average web connection, smartphone technology is fast becoming the best search and data collection option around.
With this in mind, Google also estimate that over 50% of property searches will use smartphones by the end of 2012, so it is no surprise that real estate agents are jumping on the smartphone bandwagon using the aid of QR Codes to sell their properties.
But what is a QR Code? In simple terms a QR Code or Quick Response Code is a matrix style two dimensional bar code image containing black modules arranged in a square pattern on a white background which can encode product information, URL links to a video or coupons which can be used at an outlet for example. This code, designed to be downloaded at high speed can then be read by a smartphone and stored away.
With the help of a code, potential property buyers no longer have to pursue real estate agents for information about the properties on sale. Indeed, for customers the tedious process of searching for the perfect property can now be made easier enabling customers who visit a particular property to scan the QR Code found on the "For Sale Sign" and instantly obtain access to its property specifications, quotes, community information, virtual tours and property pictures as well as finding links to mortgage options, information on similar properties and related services such as interior decorators and furniture stores.
Certainly, QR Codes can instantly join the buyer to important property information providing a simple, effective and faster alternative to traditional methods of closing a sale and one which Surrey based estate agent, Barton Wyatt has embraced, becoming one of the first estate agents to start using them in the UK.
James Wyatt, Partner of award winning estate agent Barton Wyatt comments,
"I have watched the US market grab the idea of QR codes and now is the right time for us to show our competitors and clients that we are still leading the way in innovative and effective marketing. We will first begin using them on sales boards before moving onto adverts and other suitable areas, and in light of the current smart phone obsession we hope that this new technology will prove very useful in securing property sales."
With its very own QR code, Wilton House on the Wentworth Estate in Virginia Water offers 7 bedrooms and bathrooms with 4 reception rooms, professional gymnasium, and a self-contained staff flat comprising bedroom and sitting room, kitchen and bathroom set above a triple garage.
Barton Wyatt provide luxury Propertyfor for sale in Sunningdale. James Wyatt MNAEA, MARLA, TRC, REALTOR ® is a partner at Barton Wyatt Letting Agents Surrey. Tel: 01344 843000
