Business Model and Website Features to start On-Demand Service Marketplace for Professionals

Technology companies have lately been busy developing software to hire professionals online. Cab booking service and food ordering portal are popular examples. Most recent are online platforms to hire local professionals for jobs like house painting, home cleaning, plumbing, and more.

In no time, such home service marketplace with unique features have made their mark by gaining huge popularity and building a reasonably good customer base.

Seeing its rising popularity, FATbit’s team of analysts conducted a thorough research of the growing industry and gathered critical business insights for entrepreneurs planning to launch similar portal. Let’s start with business model and later look into website features.

Business and Revenue Model

Such websites are more than online directories with contact details of service providers and customer reviews. Platforms like HouseCall and TaskRabbit tie up with service providers to list their services and connect with seekers instantly.

For every client contract, website charges a predefined percentage of the billed amount. For the seekers, this service is 100% free of cost. Most don’t depend on advertisements for revenue. Besides website, similar apps like Air Tasker are available to hire professionals online.

Mobile-first approach

A home service marketplace use mobile technology for better engagement. Native mobile app offers several distinct advantages to homeowners (To know various options of mobile app, read this post). Here are the distinct features of leading industry mobile apps;

• Quick and easy service scheduling
• Option of 24/7 emergency service
• Instant information about available local service providers
• Upfront pricing for varied services
• Transaction convenience through fast and secure Mobile Payments
• Service Feedback that enables quality maintenance

In addition to above, you can also see when your pro is en-route and get an updated ETA (estimated time of arrival) on similar apps like Air Tasker.

Home Service Contractors use app to get updates about clients who wish to hire local professionals. Powerful features help them accomplish following;

• Homeowners prefer to hire service providers near their vicinity. This app detects the professional’s location and connects him with service seekers in their neighborhood.
• The app further helps in scheduling appointments.
• It also provides the facility of navigation, billing and email invoices.

If you are planning to launch website like Air Tasker and Pro.com, you must invest in developing such features.

Features for Building Customer Trust

Such platforms are popular among women for obvious reasons. Their choice of a service provider depends on the quoted price and reliability of the person coming into their home. To simplify the process of hiring for them and instill trust, following features come handy:

1. A professionally taken photograph of service provider and photos displaying their work.
2. Detailed reviews and ratings from previous clients
3. Social reviews and ratings system –  Based on client’s current location, the system automatically prioritizes and highlights reviews from individuals in the user’s neighborhood. If a client is logged in through Facebook, reviews from those people in the user’s personal social graph appear automatically.
   
4. Media coverage and testimonials

Optimize every aspect of website and mobile app in terms of UX. For improving conversions, focus on following points:

• Neat navigation and CTAs
• Explainer video
•  Simple sign-up process
• Smooth buying/checkout process

Don’t have the funds to invest in a mobile app in the beginning? Invest in a solution that brings the advantage of responsive design.

Biggest Industry Players

If we were to enlist businesses like Uber for home services that enable ordering and paying, there would be many. All of them in some way or the other provide a common platform for home service providers and homeowners but are still different. Let’s list names of the most popular ones:

• Pro.com
• The Home Depot
• HomeAdvisor (earlier know as ServiceMagic)
• Air Tasker
• Task Easy
• Handy
• TaskRabbit

Features to Establish Uniqueness

While most Uber for home services focus on offering a wide range of services, the leading ones are trying to focus on customer experience by featuring personally-vetted local service providers. Though all this is accomplished through background checks, service tests, and existing consumer reviews, communicating the same to your target audience on the homepage itself could be a great idea.

To speed up the process of vetting, create the functionality to share business details and submit documents through the website itself. This will also minimize the efforts of your team.

Request website analysis

Do you plan on launching a venture based on a popular business model? Share the details and website references in the comments sections and we will try our best to cover it through a detailed blog post. Also let us know in case you need any help regarding website design, development or marketing.

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