1,000 automatically generated real estate exposés per day improve conversion rate

ImmobilienScout24 is one of the best-known and most-visited websites in Germany. The portal was only able to become the market leader among real estate platforms because it always offers its visitors the best user experience.

The real estate exposés on the detail pages of the offers are part of a comprehensively optimal user experience. The description texts for apartments and houses are interesting for two groups of users: firstly, potential tenants or buyers get an impression of the professionalism of the provider in addition to a lively description of the property. Secondly, landlords and sellers have the opportunity in the texts to present their offer in textual form and to stand out among competing advertisements through certain formulations.

However, formulating exposés for specific target groups proved to be a challenge for some providers when creating an advertisement. For this step, ImmobilienScout24 analysed an above-average abandonment rate and defined the task of making it easier for users to use the advertisement at that point.

Create exposés in real time

Together with Retresco, ImmobilienScout24 developed a solution that creates a natural-language text based on the data of the providers. When creating the real estate exposés, the solution relies on information that the advertiser enters into a mask during registration: the number of rooms, living space, equipment, location of the apartment and much more.

The exposés generated from these data (in real time) are displayed to the user as suggestions and a text field allows the user to add words, exchange sentences or adopt the entire text.

The users of ImmobilienScout24 accept the additional free service. The result: significantly fewer interruptions when creating real estate exposés and a measurably better conversion rate in the account creation process overall.

Technology and expertise for tailor-made solutions

Automatic text generation, synonymously known as natural language generation (NLG), is a process in which structured data is transformed into natural-sounding texts. Retresco’s textengine.io is one of the most innovative NLG platforms in the German-speaking world and enables providers in all industries to use their own data to open up new business areas or optimise customer communication.

ImmobilienScout24 was able to rely on the project experience of seasoned experts when developing the tailor-made solution as part of Retresco’s managed service.

An interdisciplinary team of computer linguists, software developers and data analysts worked together with ImmobilienScout24 on the definition of needs and goals in order to develop a tailor-made NLG solution. The implementation into the portal’s infrastructure was seamless and can be adapted and fine-tuned at any time.

textengine.io is already being used in many different areas via Retresco’s Managed Service or the SaaS platform: for the generation of product descriptions for e-commerce, financial reports for finance and banking or for automated real-time reporting in the media industry.