Post-Corona Era, Which Sales Sites Provide 'Customer Experience Innovation'?

‘Hillstate Harborhouse Stay’ Offers New Customer Experience with Virtual Reality Technology

As the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our daily lives, the real estate sales market is also adapting to prepare for the post-COVID era. The traditional model of maximizing visitor attraction through model houses has been broken, and high-quality project information is now being provided anytime and anywhere through virtual reality technology. In fact, major construction companies are implementing virtual reality for all unit types and applying it to cyber model houses, while existing model houses are also shifting from physical models to providing virtual reality spatial information, changing the way customers experience real estate.

A representative example is Hyundai Engineering & Construction’s ‘Hillstate Harbor House Stay’ in the Sinheung-dong area of Jung-gu, Incheon. ‘Hillstate Harbor House Stay’ is planned to be a large complex with a total of 1,267 units, located at 54-8, Sinheung-dong 2-ga, Jung-gu, Incheon Metropolitan City, consisting of two buildings ranging from 6 basement floors to a maximum of 42 floors above ground. It will include 987 studio-type units with exclusive areas of 22 to 33㎡ and 280 family-type units with exclusive areas of 72 to 81㎡.

The complex will feature various community facilities such as a residents-only restaurant, indoor swimming pool, fitness center, indoor golf practice range, wine book lounge, guest rooms, banquet hall, and shared office spaces. It has recently entered the contract signing phase and is gaining high popularity among investors.

‘Hillstate Harbor House Stay’ operates VR stations at the sales promotion centers located at 97 Saemal-ro, Guro-gu, Seoul (Sindorim Technomart) and 730 Michuhol-daero, Michuhol-gu, Incheon. Visitors can autonomously experience all unit types available for subscription in virtual reality through the VR stations before and after touring the actual model house.

Providing a new model house experience through virtual reality technology, 'Hillstate Harborhouse Stay'
(Source: 'Hillstate Harborhouse Stay' Sales Promotion Center)

As a result, visitors can thoroughly examine location conditions, unit information, and complex details without time constraints, and have ample experience with the sales products by sorting exhibition items in real time, leading to high satisfaction with visits to the sales promotion centers. Most notably, it helps disperse visitor flow within the potentially crowded model houses, enabling the practice of social distancing measures that are expected to continue in daily life.

‘Hillstate Harbor House Stay’ also offers a virtual reality real estate experience through its official website’s cyber model house. While traditional cyber model houses provided only a “viewing experience” based on offline model house footage, the spatial information realized through virtual reality enhances user interaction, offering a “two-way” experience and demonstrating innovation in customer experience.

Cyber Model House that replicates the virtual reality space experience on the homepage as well
(Source: ‘Hillstate Harbor House Stay’ official homepage)

Because it can consistently provide a high-quality project experience both online and offline, demand for integrating virtual reality technology into sales projects like ‘Hillstate Harbor House Stay’ is expected to continue expanding.

A sales representative for ‘Hillstate Harbor House Stay’ stated, "Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a need to shift from the traditional method focused on attracting visitors to model houses. We plan to deliver more accurate product information and maximize visitor and user satisfaction through immersive technologies such as VR and AR."

Jeon Sang-wook, director of Jipview, which operates the VR stations for ‘Hillstate Harbor House Stay,’ said, "With social distancing and the stay-at-home trend expected to continue long-term, inquiries about introducing immersive technologies like VR into sales projects have significantly increased. Although the space is realized in virtual reality, it provides an experience close to reality, and real-time experiences that were not possible before lead to high customer satisfaction."