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Bilt has announced the launch of two new platforms designed to bring its residential real estate technology to neighborhoods and help local businesses and event venues attract customers and build loyalty. The company is essentially taking the operating system it built for apartment rent and mortgage payments and rolling it out across local businesses, including hospitality, restaurants, and sports venues.
The first product, Neighborhood OS, is an artificial intelligence-driven system that works with restaurants, retailers, gyms, and other local businesses to attract customers, offer rewards, and drive repeat business. This is achieved by connecting your business’ existing systems such as reservations and payments.
“We are helping local businesses tap into more commerce by allowing them to reach new customers and receive their rewards as currency,” said Ankur Jain, Founder and CEO of Bilt. “This gives all of these merchants their own Shopify-like platform for real businesses so they can run their own marketing campaigns. They can run their own loyalty campaigns.”
An example of this could be if a restaurant near a customer’s home offers a reward and the customer accepts it, the system would recognize it and track that customer to manage future interactions such as more rewards, reservations, guest services, etc. AI can help companies measure which perks are working and which aren’t.
Bilt’s initial partners include Altamarea Group, AM parking, Lowe’s, and Thumbtack. Bild says it has partnered with 50,000 merchants to allow residents to take advantage of Bild benefits in-store. Companies that already have a compensation system in place do not need to replace it. This provides an AI platform that small and medium-sized retailers can use on their own.
They can run their own marketing offers to drive demand from buildings on the Bilt platform. Examples include offering a free drink on the 10th visit or hosting a game day viewing party to attract local sports fans. They will be able to push it through the platform. So merchants now have the same tools that Bilt needed to offer unique rewards.
“Offline commerce spends six times more, is run by a parent and child, and has to run on 10 different systems. Everything is done manually for marketing purposes and there is no way to track what is working,” Jain said. “You can democratize the ability to sell as an individual online against the big companies because they have all these tools.”
The second service is a membership platform for organizations that already have a customer base. It could be a sports team, a real estate company, a hotel, or a financial institution. Organizations maintain brand and customer relationships. Bilt layers additional technology to connect an organization’s programs with participating merchants, providing additional benefits to merchants not available through existing programs.
Bild lists the Houston Rockets, Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, affiliates, Hyatt, Constellation Brands and Bozzuto as initial members.
“We believe this community is one of the greatest amenities we can offer our residents,” said Toby Bozzuto, president and CEO of Bozzuto. “Through our partnership with Bild, we have the opportunity to make that amenity an even more meaningful part of everyday life.”
In the case of professional sports, the idea is to connect fans beyond the stadium. Teams will be able to implement a branded fan experience that combines loyalty, fan passes, concierge services and neighborhood commerce. This includes perks at local restaurants, retail stores, and branded events outside stadiums and arenas.
Bilt launched in 2021 as a rewards program for rent and mortgage payments. Not only can tenants earn loyalty reward points, but they can also build their credit history. It was later expanded to credit cards as well. The company says it has 8.2 million members and supplies electricity to one in four apartment buildings.
