From app to Tenant Experience Platform

In just a few years, Avy has evolved from an tenant  app to a complete Tenant Experience Platform for the entire tenant journey. But what does this move mean more concretely — and why does it matter?

We had a chat with Petter Arvidsson, Chief Product Officer at Avy, to get an insight into what the product journey has looked like and what opportunities it creates for the real estate industry.

Avy was long associated with being a “Tenant app”. What do you mean today when you describe yourself as a Housing Platform?

Yes, that's right. From the beginning, a lot was about creating an app that simplified the everyday life of the tenants. But we saw a greater need in the industry early on: real estate companies often worked with several different interfaces, where our tenant app became one channel among many, creating a fragmented experience for customers.

We wanted to change that and create an omnichannel experience — where tenants can connect and interact with their landlord through the way that suits them best, without unnecessary friction. Our platform brings together the entire customer journey and makes it both seamless and customer-focused, fully aligned with today's expectations and behaviors.

The value for the customer, tenant, is clear. But what other values create an omnichannel experience for a real estate company?

For the real estate companies, it's about much more than satisfied tenants. When all communication paths come together in one channel, processes become easier and internal frustration decreases. It will also be easier to leverage your investments in Proptech — because new digital services can quickly and easily reach customers. Integrations are key here; they allow the platform to grow and evolve without having to start from scratch every time.

What parts of the tenant journey can Avy support today?

We cover pretty much everything and are there from moving in to moving out! It starts at the time of moving in, where we make sure that access runs smoothly for both the tenant and the administration. Then we support the customer journey in areas such as communication between neighbours and management, customer service and service matters, access to tenant services, booking of shared resources and much more. In addition, we offer insights and data that help real estate companies understand their customers better and act proactively. In short: we are there throughout the entire stay.

What does it mean that Avy is an open platform?

This means that it is easy to integrate various digital services and systems into our Tenant Experience Platform. On the one hand, we have many ready-made integrations that can be easily switched on to, for example, leading real estate systems, digital locks, booking engines, IMD solutions and more. In addition, we have open APIs and an Embed framework that makes it easy for our customers to connect to other external systems and web services. In this way, each real estate company can adapt the platform to its own needs and build on its digital ventures over time.

Why is it no longer enough to just “My Pages”?

It is the tenants who are driving the development here. They expect the same smart, frictionless service they already encounter in other industries and where most screen time is spent in apps rather than in front of a computer. The web is still perfect for longer briefings on the big screen, but in everyday life the tenant picks up the mobile for quick errands, instant bug reports, digital keys or reminders of booked laundry time. The app thus fills a different need than “My Pages”, while both must deliver identical content, tone mode and functionality. When each channel specializes in what it does best — but feels like the same service — a seamless omnichannel experience is created that meets today's behaviors and tomorrow's expectations.