This report is available exclusively to subscribers of Inman Intel, a data and research arm of Inman offering deep insights and market intelligence on the business of residential real estate and proptech. Subscribe today.
Zillow has released its Listing Showcase product to a number of new markets on each coast, specifically the large metros of Dallas, Tampa, Orlando, Jacksonville, San Francisco and Riverside, California, according to a Sept. 1 announcement sent to Inman.
Listing Showcase is an enhanced property marketing product from the industry’s most popular portal, offered under the company’s agent-focused ShowingTime+ division. It features highlighted map icons that link to property websites with vibrant, motion-graphic hero images, bolder listing agent information, cleanly categorized room imagery, interactive floor plans and an intuitive home tour scheduling widget. The service is limited to select agents in each market.
The product presents a sharp contrast to one of Zillow’s long-time stigmas, that of hiding the listing agent’s presence in favor of fee-paying premier-level agents. Still, the listing agent does pay for the Showcase service.
Zillow has been shifting in the last 18 months into a service-oriented, agent-first platform, shaking loose of its long-time advertising model. The acquisition of showing service ShowingTime provided the ideal impetus to move toward directly helping agents in new ways, such as through its nationwide creative services offering, 3D tour solutions and expanded listing promotions.
Mike Lane, vice president of ShowingTime+, described Listing Showcase in a June 2023 statement as creating an “unmatched listing experience for agents and sellers.”
“As soon as shoppers land on a Showcase listing, they’ll be virtually transported into the home, giving them a deep understanding of the home’s flow, architecture and design — all before visiting in person,” Lane continued. “Listing Showcase is the first of its kind — a listing experience that captivates shoppers, wows sellers, and gives agents a powerful tool to help them win more listings and grow their business.”
The tool first launched in Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Diego and Seattle.
Zillow has been acquiring companies over the last 24 months, starting with ShowingTime in 2021, to build out what it called a “super app,” more a collection of marketing services for agents delivered through its primary domain than a solitary software product.
It bought a visual marketing company in December 2022 called VRX Studios to further its floor plan and enhanced photography mission. A month ago, it scooped up creative media management and photographer marketplace Areyo and a week later bought Spruce, a digital escrow and title platform in a clear endeavor to link the entire transaction, making two acquisitions in a single month.
