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Houzz

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Houzz
HeadquartersPalo Alto, CA, USA
Area servedWorldwide
Founder(s)Adi Tatarko
Alon Cohen
IndustryRemodeling
Interior design
Employees1,000+
URLwww.houzz.com Edit this at Wikidata
Users40 million+
LaunchedFebruary 2009; 15 years ago (2009-02)

Houzz is a website and online community about architecture, interior design and decorating, landscape design and home improvement.

The Houzz platform and mobile apps[2] feature photos, articles, product recommendations, and a user forum.[3] It was founded in 2009 and is based in Palo Alto, California, United States.

History

Houzz co-founders Adi Tatarko and Alon Cohen launched the site in February 2009 as a result of their own remodeling project.[4] In addition to finding it difficult to communicate their vision for their home,[5] the founders found it difficult to find the right professionals for their project.[6] What started as a side project to help with Tatarko and Cohen's own home remodel soon spread by word-of-mouth and they began to receive emails from homeowners and home professionals outside the San Francisco Bay Area asking them to open more categories on Houzz and expand to other areas.[7] Houzz became a company in the fall of 2010.[7]

In November 2010, Houzz released an app for the iPad.[8] The Android version of the app was released in December 2012.[9] By August 2013, the iPhone/iPad apps had been downloaded millions of times[10] and the website featured millions of images.[10] In January 2014, Houzz announced that it had opened offices and hired local managers in the UK, Germany and Australia to accelerate its global expansion; 35% of the company's site traffic already came from outside the U.S.[11] In December 2014, Houzz announced its expansion to the rest of Europe and into Asia, starting with Japan, given the demand for its platform and the success of its first international launches.[12]

Company

Business Model

Houzz has a home products marketplace where it collects a 15% commission from sellers on transactions. Houzz also charges it's sellers various Non-Compliance Fees.[13] Houzz also has a premium subscription service for home professionals, and brands advertise on the platform.[14] In addition, Houzz serves as a retailer, purchasing products from manufacturers at wholesale and selling them to consumers utilizing a drop ship model.

Houzz Pro+ Subscription

In January 2013, Houzz announced the launch of its Pro+ platform for professionals in a select number of metro areas in the U.S.[15] While listings for professionals are free, the optional “Pro+ program gives professionals additional visibility in their local area and allows them to highlight their work to attract new customers for an annual subscription.” In March 2013, Houzz announced that it had expanded the service from 12 markets in the U.S. to 425 new markets in the U.S. and Canada and launched new Pro+ Dashboard analytics tools.[16] The metrics dashboard gives professionals “additional insight into how their photos are doing on the site and includes real-time data about the total number of photo impressions, the number of clicks on them, click-through rates and add rates (how many people saved a photo to their Houzz ‘ideabooks’).”[16] In July 2015, Houzz announced the rollout of Houzz Pro+ to its first market outside of North America in the UK.[17] By June 2018, the service was available in 12 of 14 countries where Houzz has launched localized platforms outside the U.S.[18]

Home Products Marketplace

Houzz launched the beta of its home products marketplace in October 2014. The Marketplace allows users to buy products directly on the Houzz site. The service launched with over one million products from “a large variety of sellers.”[19] Houzz does not handle shipments or inventories but has its own customer service team “to make sure that users of the Houzz marketplace get the best possible shopping experiences and have an advocate if anything goes wrong.”[20] Houzz collects a 15% commission from merchants that sell on the site.[21] "Since Houzz announced the beta launch of its home products marketplace in fall 2014, the platform has grown to more than five million products and over 10,000 merchants."[22] In June 2017, the company launched the Houzz Trade Program to provide industry professionals with multiple ways to profit from purchasing and recommending products in the Houzz Marketplace.[23] Houzz launched its home products marketplace in the UK in January 2018.[24]

Product & Technology

In July 2013, Houzz introduced the Real Cost Finder, an interactive tool that helps users plan home renovations and total costs. The tool is based on data collected from the Houzz community.[25] In February 2014, Houzz launched Site Designer, a free website building and publishing tool for home professionals. Websites are connected to a pro's Houzz profile, “which allow them to easily pull in their images, reviews and other information from their existing profiles.”[26] In May 2015, Houzz introduced Houzz TV to empower homeowners through video content. “My Houzz” was the company's first video series and featured Ashton Kutcher as he renovated his mother's basement in the first episode.[27] In November 2015, Houzz introduced its app for Apple TV.[28] In December 2015, Houzz introduced Sketch, a feature that lets users upload their own photos or choose any from the platform to add products from the Houzz Marketplace. Users can also draw on photos or add stickers and text, as well as collaborate with others on their ideas simultaneously.[29] Houzz introduced Sketch for Android in January 2016.[30] Sketch is also available as a web experience.[31] In February 2016, Houzz introduced View in My Room within its app for iOS and Android that lets users virtually place products from the Houzz Marketplace in their homes before buying.[32] In March 2016, Houzz announced that it had opened its Commerce API to third party partners, with Shopify as a first point of integration, to make it easier for merchants to sell and manage their inventory on Houzz.[22] In September 2016, Houzz launched Visual Match, a new visual recognition tool that "uses deep learning technology to analyze more than 11 million home photos on Houzz. Furniture and decor that looks similar to the six million products on the Houzz Marketplace is then surfaced for users to browse (and hopefully buy)."[33] In May 2017, Houzz introduced a new tool for its iPhone and iPad app, View in My Room 3D, that allows people to preview over 300,000 products in 3D within the context of their own rooms.[34] With the launch of iOS 11 from Apple in September 2017, Houzz introduced an upgraded version of its 3D AR tool within its app for iPhone and iPad, which lets people see and move 500,000 products in their rooms.[35] For Houzz, 3D modeling has become a major earner. Those who use the tool, according to Tatarko, are 11 times more likely to make a purchase from the site.[36] The Houzz App for Andorid devices was updated with ARCore support in March 2018, enabling users to "place virtual representations of furniture and other home decor items anywhere in their home to see how they would look." [37]

Funding

In September 2010, Tatarko and Cohen secured $2 million in first-round funding[38] and began hiring a staff for their office in Palo Alto. The round was led by Oren Zeev,[39] from Orens Capital who joined Houzz's Board of Directors. In 2011, Houzz secured $11.6 million in a Series B round led by Sequoia Capital and other investors.[40] Alfred Lin, a VC at Sequoia and former senior executive at Zappos, joined Houzz's board of directors. In 2013, Houzz announced a Series C of $35 million led by NEA and GGV capital, with participation by Sequoia Capital, Comcast Ventures, KPCB and David Sacks.[41][42] In 2014, Houzz announced it had closed a $165 million financing round, led by Sequoia with participation from existing investors Oren Zeev, New Enterprise Associates (NEA), GGV Capital and Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB), as well as new participants DST Global and T. Rowe Price.[43] In June 2017, Houzz announced that it has closed a $400 million Series E financing led by ICONIQ Capital. Other new investors include Wellington Management Company, while existing investors Sequoia, Zeev Ventures and GGV Capital also participated in the financing.[44]

Acquisitions

Houzz made its first acquisition in 2015, "buying gardening and home advice site GardenWeb from NBCUniversal."[45] In February 2018, Houzz announced that it had acquired IvyMark, a startup that has built a business management tool for interior designers and other design companies. The tool "offers project management, furniture delivery scheduling and more." [46]

Home design photo database

As of December 2014, there were millions of images of home interiors and exteriors on Houzz.[47] Homeowners browse photos by room, style and location, and bookmark photos in personal collections the site calls “ideabooks.” Images had been added to ideabooks hundreds of millions of times.[48] Users can click on an image to learn more about the designer, ask a question, and learn about products tagged in the photos.[49]

As of August 2015, there were more than 7 million high-quality photos of interiors, exteriors and gardens.[50] Houzz now has more than 17 million home photos on its platform.[51]

Editorial content

An editorial staff in Palo Alto and contributors write daily design articles for the Houzz homepage and newsletters.[52] Content is tailored to each country where Houzz has launched a localized platform. For example, in Australia the “tailored experience is designed to overcome problems such as seeing northern hemisphere Winter Christmas ideas, during Australia’s Summer time; or reading American terms such as ‘countertop’ instead of ‘benchtop’.” [53]

Professional directory

Houzz has a directory of home improvement professionals who use the site to connect with homeowners. The platform can be used for consumers to search through different types of professionals for hire, view their previous projects, and begin a discussion with them with questions and inquiries, to ultimately hire them.[54][55]

Reception

CNN named Houzz the App of the Week, calling it "The Wikipedia of interior and exterior design sites".[56]  The magazine Real Simple called Houzz "the online equivalent of clipping décor images from magazines".[57] Bloomberg Businessweek called Houzz "An online antidote to the housing bust."[55] Architectural Digest wrote, "This app will stoke your imagination."[58]  TechCrunch wrote, "Houzz appears to be a decent idea that's been executed well."[59]  The Mercury News wrote, "You'll find ... ideas for your swipe file there that you and your architect can both contribute to and comment on."[60] The Wall Street Journal said “Houzz is ... a well of inspiration at the tip of your swiping fingers" and asserted that the app is one of the few nongame apps on iOS that have a 5 star rating.[61]

TIME included the Houzz App in its 2014 list of "essential software every iPad owner should download."[62] In 2015, Fast Company named Houzz to its "Most Innovative Companies List" for being "a one-stop design shop" and noted that "unlike many tech companies that try to lather on unnatural business models, Houzz is so strong because its revenue streams grew out of customer demand." [63] Also in 2015, CNBC named Houzz to its 2015 Disruptor 50 List, noting that "Pros use the Houzz platform to build their brands, collaborate on projects and connect with homeowners. Consumers love the site because they can click on thousands of different ideas for remodeling and renovating their homes and research and hire professionals. Houzz's online marketplace lets customers buy the furniture and home accessories they see, rather than having to toggle over to individual retailers and manufacturers."[64] Houzz was named to CNBC's Disruptor 50 List again in 2016,[65] in 2017, where the company ranked #6,[66] and in 2018.[67]

Awards

In May 2016, Houzz won "Best App" at Google's inaugural Play Awards. "User experience and high star ratings" were among the factors considered by Google's panel.[68] In May 2018, Houzz was named the 40th Annual Entrepreneurial Company of the Year by the Harvard Business School Association of Northern California.[69]

Controversy

In October 2015, Houzz settled a lawsuit to, "to resolve allegations that the company violated California privacy laws by recording incoming and outgoing telephone calls without notifying all parties on the call that they were being recorded".[70]

References

  1. ^ "Alexa - Houzz". Alexa Internet. Retrieved October 21, 2013.
  2. ^ BOB TEDESCHI (18 January 2012). "Before Tearing Out a Wall, Check Your Phone". Personal Tech. New York Times. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  3. ^ Lim, Jason (August 26, 2014). "Houzz Launches A Localized Version To Renovate Australia's Home Design Market". Forbes.
  4. ^ Kurutz, Stevens (March 21, 2012). "Houzz Proud". New York Times. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  5. ^ Meier, Aliz (October 14, 2015). "Home Design Ideas". Tegel.
  6. ^ Ryall, Jenni (August 28, 2014). "Houzz Launches In Australia, Home Renovators Get Excited". Mashable.
  7. ^ a b Ang, Sarah (December 11, 2013). "Houzz Helps You Make Your House a Home". Mashable.
  8. ^ Wauters, Robin (November 11, 2010). "Heads Up, Home Design Freaks: Houzz Launches New iPad App, Raises $2M". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 28, 2012.
  9. ^ Carney, Michael (August 27, 2013). "The numbers say Houzz has lit a fire under the home remodeling market". PandoDaily. Retrieved September 16, 2013.
  10. ^ a b Lardinois, Frederic (September 10, 2013). "Adi Tatarko of Houzz: Bootstrapping Was The Best Thing That Ever Happened To Us". TechCrunch.
  11. ^ Carney, Michael (January 15, 2014). "Houzz and international expansion go together like peas and carrots". PandoDaily.
  12. ^ Carney, Michael (December 19, 2014). "With rabid overseas demand, home design favorite Houzz looks to triple its international reach in 2015". PandoDaily.
  13. ^ https://help.houzz.com/s/article/Charges?language=en_US}}
  14. ^ "11. Houzz". CNBC.com. May 12, 2015.
  15. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (January 29, 2013). "Home Remodeling Platform Houzz Raises $35M Series C Round Led By NEA And GGV Capital, Launches Paid Pro+ Accounts". TechCrunch.
  16. ^ a b Lardinois, Frederic (March 12, 2013). "Houzz Expands Its Pro+ Service For Remodeling And Design Professionals To 425 Markets, Launches New Analytics Tool". TechCrunch.
  17. ^ "Houzz launches UK professional marketplace". KBBDaily.com. July 24, 2015.
  18. ^ Davis, Don (June 7, 2018). "Houzz.com grows through international expansion and mobile technology". Digital Commerce 360.
  19. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (October 1, 2014). "Houzz Raises $165M Series D Funding Round Led By Sequoia To Fuel International Expansion". TechCrunch.
  20. ^ Anders, George (October 1, 2014). "Houzz Tops $2 Billion Valuation, Opens Million-Item Marketplace". Forbes.
  21. ^ "Meet the 2015 CNBC Disruptor 50 companies". CNBC.com. May 12, 2015.
  22. ^ a b Lardinois, Frederic (March 22, 2016). "Houzz opens its Commerce API to third-party vendors". TechCrunch.
  23. ^ Martin, Alison (June 6, 2017). "Houzz Launches New Trade Program". Lighting & Decor Magazine.
  24. ^ Farley, Paul (January 25, 2018). "Houzz launches online shop in UK". Furniture News.
  25. ^ Ecker, Shana (July 8, 2013). "Houzz's Real Cost Finder Helps You Figure Out How Much That Renovation Will Set You Back". Huffington Post.
  26. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (February 5, 2014). "Houzz Launches Site Designer, Offers Free Websites For Home Professionals". TechCrunch.
  27. ^ Sidibe, Nana (May 14, 2015). "Houzz: Disrupting and empowering". CNBC.com.
  28. ^ McGarry, Caitlin (November 5, 2015). "Must-see Apple TV: Our 15 favorite tvOS apps". Macworld.
  29. ^ Lardinois, Frederic (December 10, 2015). "Houzz Brings New Collaboration Tools To Its iOS Apps". TechCrunch.
  30. ^ Fuller, Daniel (January 13, 2016). "Houzz Interior Decorating App Gets Sketch Feature". AndroidHeadlines.
  31. ^ "Houzz Introduces Sketch for the Web". Kitchen & Bath Business. June 23, 2017.
  32. ^ Korducki, Kelli. "You Can Now *Virtually* Try Out Furniture Before You Buy". BRIT+CO.
  33. ^ Chang, Lulu (September 14, 2016). "Find furniture that suits your style with Houzz's new visual match tool". Digital Trends.
  34. ^ Stein, Megan (May 4, 2017). "Never Fear Furniture Shopping Again: This 3D Tool Shows You How Things Will Looks in Your House". People.com.
  35. ^ Lunden, Ingrid (September 19, 2017). "A new ARKit app from Houzz brings 500,000 objects to moveable life". TechCrunch.
  36. ^ “Houzz’s Adi Tatarko: How an Israeli Immigrant Couple’s Home Improvement Platform Revolutionized an Industry”(March 19, 2019)
  37. ^ Diaz, Justin (March 21, 2018). "Houzz App Updated With ARCore Support". AndroidHeadlines.
  38. ^ Robin Wauters (11 November 2011). "Heads Up, Home Design Freaks: Houzz Launches New iPad App, Raises $2M". TechCrunch. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  39. ^ "Oren Zeev". People. CrunchBase. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  40. ^ Lauren Goode (19 December 2011). "Exclusive: Houzz Brings Home $11.6 Million in Series B Funding". All Things D. Dow Jones & Company Inc. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  41. ^ Fredric Lardinois (29 January 2013). "Exclusive: Home Remodeling Platform Houzz Raises $35M Series C Round Led By NEA and GGV Capital, Launches Paid Pro+ Accounts". TechCrunch. AOL. Retrieved 29 January 2013.
  42. ^ Colleen Leahey (31 May 2013). "Houzz's Unconventional Route to the Big Leagues". Fortune. Dow Jones. Archived from the original on 29 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  43. ^ https://techcrunch.com/2014/10/01/houzz-raises-165m-series-d-led-by-sequoia-to-fuel-international-expansion/
  44. ^ Magistretti, Berenice (June 23, 2017). "Houzz raises $400 million, doubling valuation to $4.3 billion". VentureBeaet.
  45. ^ Rao, Leena (August 25, 2015). "Home design company Houzz makes its first acquisition". Fortune.
  46. ^ Hinchliffe, Emma (February 6, 2018). "Houzz acquires interior design business management startup IvyMark". Inman News.
  47. ^ with-rabid-demand-from-overseas-home-design-favorite-houzz-looks-to-triple-its-international-reach-in-2015
  48. ^ Carney, Michael (August 27, 2013). "The numbers say Houzz has lit a fire under the home remodeling market". PandoDaily.
  49. ^ Hickey, Shane (December 28, 2014). "Houzz: the website that speaks the language of home improvement". The Guardian.
  50. ^ Rodriguez, Samuel (August 14, 2015). "Houzz Android app launches in Spain". ecommerce News.
  51. ^ Xie, Jenny. "18 renovation apps to know for your next project". Curbed.
  52. ^ Houzz (February 23, 2013). "Houzz: A Year in Review". Houzz. Retrieved October 22, 2013. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  53. ^ Lim, Jason (August 26, 2014). "Houzz Launches A Localized Version To Renovate Australia's Home Design Market". Forbes Asia.
  54. ^ KATHERINE BOEHRET (4 April 2012). "Professional Decorating Ideas in the Houzz". The Digital Solution. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  55. ^ a b NICK LEIBER (14 March 2012). "An Online Antidote to the Housing Bust". Profiles. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 20 April 2012.
  56. ^ "Houzz on CNN". YouTube. Archived from the original on September 14, 2015. Retrieved 30 January 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  57. ^ Real Simple: 60. September 2010. {{cite journal}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  58. ^ "Design Apps on Tap". Architectural Digest. Condé Nast Digital. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Retrieved 30 January 2012. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  59. ^ Rob Wauters (11 November 2010). "Heads Up, Home Design Freaks: Houzz Launches New iPad App, Raises $2M". CrunchBase. AOL Inc. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  60. ^ Richard Taylor Zillow (28 April 2011). "How to talk to an architect". MercuryNews.com. San Jose Mercury News. Retrieved 30 January 2012.
  61. ^ Tedeschi, Bob (January 18, 2012). "Before Tearing Out a Wall, Check Your Phone". New York Times. Retrieved December 28, 2012. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  62. ^ "The 50 Absolute Best iPad Apps". TIME. November 12, 2014.
  63. ^ Sacks, Danielle (February 2015). "Most Innovative Companies 2015". Fast Company.
  64. ^ "The List: Disruptor 50". CNBC. May 12, 2015.
  65. ^ "Houzz: Open for Renovations". CNBC.com. June 7, 2016.
  66. ^ "6. Houzz". CNBC.com. May 16, 2017.
  67. ^ "Houzz. Improving home improvement". CNBC. May 22, 2018.
  68. ^ D'Onfro, Jillian D'Onfro Senior Reporter Jillian D'Onfro (May 20, 2016). "The best Android apps in the world, according to Google". Business Insider.
  69. ^ "Entrepreneurial Company of the Year". HBS Association of Northern California.
  70. ^ "Attorney General Kamala D. Harris Announces Settlement with Houzz, Inc. Over Privacy Violations" (Press release). Office of the Attorney General, State of California Department of Justice. October 2, 2015. Retrieved February 2, 2015.

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