With a very high cost of labor in Australia, it’s uncommon to have a personal cleaner. However, Research firm IbisWorld projects the demand for home cleaning in Australia will rise due to high dual-income households and a progressive ageing population. To capture this demand, a new cleaning platform called Helpling has entered the Australian market this month. The company values the domestic cleaning market at AUD$2 billion annually.
Internet and mobile marketplace apps have fuelled the availability of on-demand services such as Uber for car rides and Airbnb for short-term accommodation rentals. Helpling aims to deliver similar benefits for home cleaning – convenience. Getting to the stage where people think of Helpling when they think of home-cleaning is the goal.
Using Helpling is easy. People enter their postcode; select how much of their house needs cleaning and the required hours then make an appointment by paying online up-front. Customers are not charged until after the job is done. Helpling’s sophisticated matching algorithm will then suggest the right cleaner based on location and availability. The service cost is fixed at $29 per hour with a minimum of two hours per clean, which needs to be booked 48 hours in advance. If a customer likes a particular cleaner, they are able to re-book them. Customers are also able to set up recurring periodic cleans every week or fortnight.
Since the business just launched in Australia, the service is only currently available in Sydney, but looks to rollout to other major cities in the future. To build up a network of supply, Helpling is actively recruiting cleaners who have their own existing cleaning business, are able to provide a police check as well as be insured for public liability. Cleaners are expected to provide their own cleaning products, although customers can choose to use their own. As a marketing tool, Helpling will funnel more customers to cleaners and deal with the admin tasks like invoicing and payments.
‘’Our mission is to make cleaning services conveniently accessible to Australian homes. Helpling puts home cleaning in the hands of every Sydneysider,’’ Helpling Australia Country Manager Lutz Ackermann said. "Whether on the train or at work, finding a cleaner with us takes only a few clicks. Just like online room rental and carpooling platforms have become indispensable, we are making home services the next big thing in Australian e-commerce.’’
Helpling Australia is a localized version of its European parent, headquartered in Berlin, Germany. The company has operations in Austria, France, Sweden, Italy, Netherlands and Brazil. Only launching in April this year, the company has racked up an impressive 10,000 jobs within the first three months.
This rapid expansion is typical of many Rocket Internet companies, of which Helpling is one. The Samwer brothers, founders of Rocket Internet are often criticized and respected at the same time.
They are criticized for copying successful models and replicating them in new markets where the original has not yet made a footprint. Zalando is a Zappos clone in Europe, CityDeal was a
Like the Football World Cup winning German team, the Samwer brothers Rocket Internet company is a fast-moving execution machine. Many entrepreneurs and slow moving companies alike revere this speed and focus. The company recently valued at $5.56 billion, is set to go public soon and will turn the three brothers into billionaires.
Helpling Country Manager Lutz Ackermann is excited by the opportunity because he sees the relevance for such a service in Australia. “Helpling is a very fast, convenient and transparent model and I’m confident we’ll do well in Australia.” Said Ackermann.
