Recently, Beike (02423. HK; BEKE. US) released its 2023 third quarter report, which showed that as of September 30, the company had 40903 active stores, a year-on-year increase of 3.0%, and 399048 active brokers, a year-on-year increase of 7.1%.
Behind the counter trend growth lies the common and urgent problem faced by Shell and the industry: how to manage the platform ecosystem well and maintain a healthy working environment in the vast store and broker system?
The answer is not simple. After years of effort, Beike has established and improved a "store owner committee" through platform rules for co construction and negotiation, a "jury" for independent resolution of broker disputes, and a platform supervision system for deterring and investigating platform violations. The three major components together form a mechanism that enables new brokerage brand owners, shop owners, and brokers to trust, promoting the benefits of all parties in the real estate transaction process and rebuilding a healthy industry ecosystem.
Starting from the sample of Chengdu, the core city in the western region, we may be able to find some answers from the operation of Beike Chengdu Station.
1
Strictly investigate the chaos from within
Chengdu has delisted and processed 63 stores this year
Eliminating the chronic problem of housing leakage and cutting off the illegal profit industry chain is the top priority for ecological governance of real estate trading platforms.
Before 2018, there were numerous scalpers in the real estate trading industry, and the phenomenon of housing leaks was repeatedly prohibited. The public sale of housing information has even become a public "secret" in the industry. In this context, Beike began a self inspection and self correction battle, and thus established a Beike supervision team.
In April 2018, the Beike Chengdu Station platform supervision team was established. At the same time, multiple teams including the Security and Risk Center, Platform Supervision Center, Rendian Technology Center, Property Dictionary, and Product and Operations formed a "Joint Operations Team" to hold a meeting to study countermeasures and how to win this self inspection and self correction "war".
On the one hand, by sorting out the possibility of property leaks one by one, real-time online monitoring will be added to various channels for accessing the property; On the other hand, the operation mode of simulating black and gray production infiltrates into the scalper party organization of reselling housing information, and through targeted data bait settings, each channel is confirmed whether there has been a leak.
After years of practice, Beike has established a complete, effective, and replicable ecological security network for the whole country. Through a three pronged approach of prevention education, violation monitoring, and violation investigation, we will strictly investigate and punish violations such as skipping orders, maliciously prying orders, and falsifying, improve platform efficiency, and protect the rights and interests of brokers, store owners, and brand owners.
In the second year of the establishment of the Shell Supervision Team alone (2019), the Shell Platform Supervision Center investigated and dealt with 15897 cases of violations that affected the trust of ACN (Broker Cooperation Network) nationwide, including private single flyers, property leaks, shadow brokers (joining the platform under false identity), hidden houses, false viewing, and external companies (merchants/brokers who have entered the platform have other stores that have not joined the platform), 231 merchants were delisted, and the GMV (total transaction volume) for loss detection reached 2.4 billion.
Not only that, on April 17, 2019, Beike also developed and launched the monitoring operation platform Taia 1.0. By using technological means to solve the four major pain points of difficulty in calling data, interpreting data, tracing behavior, and applying for cross product replication permissions in supervision plans, the efficiency of investigation clue mining has been greatly improved. With the iteration of the system over the years, the accuracy and efficiency of the investigation have now reached higher levels.
The person in charge of Beike stated that quality is the bottom line and DNA of the Beike platform for the significance and role of establishing a supervision team. Unfair and violation of platform cooperation rules will not only harm the interests of other cooperating stores and brokers, but also damage the entire ACN ecosystem of the Shell platform. It will also reduce the quality service experience of consumers and hinder the positive development of the industry. Since its establishment, the Shell Supervision Team has been working hard for several years to continuously clean up industry issues, creating a better operational ecosystem for cooperative stores and brokers, guiding brokers to comply with regulations, and promoting the industry to move forward and improve.
Data shows that as of the end of November this year, only Beike Chengdu Station has investigated and dealt with 1447 violations such as private flight orders and commission rebates in 2023, and delisted 63 stores. In the future, the platform will continue to increase its efforts in ecological governance, strictly investigate and crack down on the violations and dishonesty of merchants and brokers.
2
Over 2500 jurors on duty
The jury covers over 100 brands nationwide
As a new residential platform that gathers numerous cooperative brands, Beike's ecological governance is not limited to supervision and investigation, but also controversial and autonomous.
As early as July 1, 2018, a "jury" was established in accordance with the rules of the Shell House Searching ACN. This organization is an autonomous organization composed of representatives of outstanding brokers, which can make collective decisions on disputes arising from operations among brokers within the Shell ACN. It promotes the construction of the ACN through independent management and supervision, guides brokers to compete fairly, and continuously improves the platform mechanism.
At the same time, the Shell jury, as the final adjudication department for business disputes arising between brokers within Shell ACN and between brokers and other non business adjudication departments/cooperating companies, has the highest decision-making power.
In the real estate brokerage industry, there is a general understanding that the biggest challenge for the development of regional brokerage enterprises lies first in institutional design. Previously, due to the serious humanization, the established rules could not be smoothly implemented, which in the long run would lead to chaotic work processes and low efficiency.
The establishment of the Shell jury provides a model for industry regulation. "The future of the industry must be win-win cooperation, rather than fighting alone. Beike is an open empowerment platform that guides us to cooperate, which is exactly what the industry needs. In this process, the system can solve most cooperation problems, and the jury can solve cooperation disputes outside the system, so that there is no gap in cooperation," said a cooperative store owner on Beike Chengdu Station to reporters.
At present, the Shell platform has over 2500 jurors nationwide, covering over 100 brands. Among them, Chengdu has 570 jurors in the pool, covering 10 brands including Chengdu Lianjia, Deyou, Fufang Real Estate, and 21st Century Real Estate. To become a juror, there are corresponding requirements for seniority and deduction of points for violations. Most of them are handled by experienced and industry aware brokers, making mediation fair and convincing.
As of January November 2023, the jury of Beike Chengdu Station alone has mediated a total of 2318 disputes, with 2117 successfully mediated and a dispute rate stable within 5%. They have participated in 56 court trials, involved 32 penalties for violations, and punished 56 people for violations. They have also imposed 16 penalties for performance, and assisted at least 30 people in recovering their performance.
3
Monthly "Store Owner Committee" seminar
Promote more optimized platform rules
In addition to the monitoring center and jury, Beike has also established a "store owner committee".
The Store Owner Committee is a platform autonomous organization recommended and elected by the store owners who have settled in the brand. Its purpose is to promote platform co construction, supervise platform operation and management, and protect the rights and interests of brands, brokers, consumers, and other parties.
Based on the landing city of Beike, members collect and provide feedback on the opinions of brand owners and brokers, provide reasonable suggestions for various rules and regulations in platform management, and assist the platform in improving rules and unifying standards; At the same time, responsible for supervising the standardized operation of the platform, coordinating and handling disputes between different brands, promoting the improvement of the credit system for service providers, and creating a competitive ecosystem.
Taking Chengdu as an example, in September 2018, the first Chengdu "Store Owners Committee" was established, with the participation of brokerage brands such as Lianjia, Deyou, Fufang, and Yuantou. Later, other brands gradually joined in, and the rules were discussed and agreed upon in a wider scope, which also improved the work ecology.
Regarding the original intention of establishing the "Store Owner Committee", Xu Wangang, Vice Chairman of Shell Group, once introduced that, "Although the Shell House Finding Platform has established many rules, there may still be disharmony in the specific practice process. At this time, the newly established Store Owners' Committee can play a coordinating role, including providing suggestions for platform rules. In addition, the establishment of the Store Owners' Committee can also promote communication and learning between Store Owners and promote each other's development. Therefore, its role is comprehensive."
The importance of the "Store Owner Committee" in identifying and filling gaps in rules has also made it an important part of promoting autonomy and self-care in the real estate industry.
It is understood that the "Store Owner Committee" has a regular meeting mechanism, at least once a month. At the same time, there will also be a corresponding feedback mechanism for timely internal discussions.
In the view of economist and director of the Financial Research Institute, Guan Qingyou, Beike Find a House is exploring a new business model. It not only provides a public cooperation platform for the industry through institutional and systematic construction, but also guides cooperative brands to autonomously coexist, allowing for true sharing of resource information and making the entire industry more efficient.