Leju Holdings Stock

Leju Holdings Limited operates as an online to offline (O2O) real estate services provider in the People's Republic of China (China or PRC).

The company offers real estate e-commerce, online advertising and online listing services through its online platform, which comprises local websites covering 400 cities, various mobile applications, and Weixin mini programs. The company integrates its online platform with complementary offline services to facilitate residential property transactions and home renovation transactions. In addition to its own websites, the company operates various real estate and home furnishing websites of SINA Corporation (SINA).

E-Commerce

The company offers e-commerce services primarily in connection with new residential property sales. Its O2O services for new residential properties include selling discount coupons and facilitating online property viewing, physical property visits, marketing events and pre-sale customer support, and issuing commission coupons and providing an information platform to individual brokers.

Online Advertising

In respect of the online advertising services, it mainly provides comprehensive advertisement placement services to advertisers, mainly property developers, through a packaged online cross-media and cross-platform product portfolio, including those owned by the company and other independent outlets. It sells advertising primarily on the SINA new residential properties and home furnishing websites, which are operated by the company. In addition, it is the exclusive advertising agent for the SINA home page and non-real estate websites with respect to advertising sold to advertisers, including real estate developers and home furnishing suppliers.

The company also purchases advertising resources from Tencent and other independent media outlets. It launches Leju Finance, an online platform that provides information and news on the real estate industry, market, and developers featuring their financial performances. The company earns revenue from advertising sales and brand promotion services provided to advertisers, including real estate developers and home furnishing suppliers.

O2O Platform

The company offers multiple online and offline access points for consumers. It reaches consumers through its own websites, various real estate and home furnishing related websites on sina.com.cn that are operated by the company, Weibo, Weixin, Tmall, and various mobile applications, and Weixin mini programs. These websites and mobile applications enable the company to reach potential purchasers for whom it is then able to provide its offline services. The company also provides complementary offline services to cultivate customer loyalty and ensure superior customer experience.

Websites

The company's internet presence includes local real estate websites across China that it either operates directly or outsources to local outsourcing partners. These local websites provide region-specific real estate news, information, property data and access to online communities to real estate consumers and participants. Its local presence in each of these cities enables the company to provide services that are tailored to local conditions, enhancing the attractiveness of its websites to consumer and to advertisers who seek targeted advertising opportunities.

Through the company's direct operations and outsourcing to local partners it operates websites in every province of China. The company operates the following websites:

New residential property websites, including house.sina.com.cn and leju.com, where viewers are automatically directed to a local website with localized information and services, covering 400 cities; and and on leju.com, the company offers customers the ability to purchase discount coupons for property purchases.

Existing residential property focused websites, including esf.sina.com.cn and esf.leju.com, where viewers are automatically directed to a local website with localized information and services.

Home furnishings website, jiaju.sina.com.cn, which is a platform to offer information with respect to home furnishing and for distributors to offer home furnishings to consumers; and viewers have access to localized information on home furnishing.

Real estate media website, including news.leju.com, a B2B platform, which provides information and news on the real estate industry, market and developers featuring their financial performances.

The company sells online advertising on each of its direct-operated local websites covering 74 cities. The company also outsources 326 local websites to third parties that pay it fixed fees for the right to operate the websites.

Mobile Applications

The company's major mobile applications include 'Leju Home Purchase' (an upgraded version of 'Pocket Leju'), 'Lai Ke' and 'Leju Finance', each of which has version for the iOS and Android operating systems.

Leju Home Purchase, an upgraded version of Pocket Leju, is a comprehensive and professional real estate e-commerce platform. It provides personalized services to consumers and potential buyers of new and existing homes, and potential residential renters. These services include local market news, scheduling home visits, selection, access to purchase discounts, special offer recommendations, local housing price interpretations, purchase guides, property assessment, tax calculation, housing loan calculation and others.

Lai Ke is a communication tool between property consultants and potential home buyers. It pushes information to potential home buyers through real-time big data analytics and helps property consultants reach out to targeted clients.

Leju Finance is a mobile app, which provides information and news on the real estate industry, market and developers featuring their financial performances.

In 2014, the company launched its mobile e-commerce platform based on existing mobile applications developed by its company, including 'Leju Home Purchase' (an upgraded version of 'Pocket Leju'); and Weibo and Weixin, two of China's major social media platforms. The company's mobile e-commerce platform also connects real estate sales personnel and agents with potential home buyers and sellers, including through live chat services, in addition to providing updated customer data and analysis and a facility for making appointments for site visits.

In 2014, the company launches the first 'Weixin Home Promotion', using the Weixin platform as an integral part of its mobile e-commerce platform. In 2014, the company upgraded its mobile e-commerce platform to consolidate all of its mobile resources to provide developers with three unique groups of mobile promotional tools, including media channels, communication tools and e-commerce tools, to further enhance mobile marketing for its clients.

In 2015, the company launched a mobile product in cooperation with Didi Chuxing, a mobile transportation platform in China, to arrange individual site visits for customers using private cars.

Complementary Offline Services

The company's offline services include physical property visits and a call center, which enables its website viewers to contact it or representatives of property developers for information on new residential properties and its services. The company's services are also available at developers' show rooms and through real estate brokers. It also organizes and conducts offline marketing events for property developers to promote their new resident properties.

Services

The company offers e-commerce services in connection with new residential property sales and home furnishing; online advertising services in connection with new residential property sales and home furnishing; and online listing services for existing residential properties.

E-Commerce

The company's e-commerce revenue is primarily derived from the sale of discount coupons for new residential properties that are promoted by developers.

O2O Services for New Residential Properties

The company's O2O offering includes selling discount coupons for new residential properties. Its O2O services can be accessed by prospective purchasers through the real estate website of SINA, which it operates and its website, leju.com, as well as through its mobile applications. Prospective purchasers can also access its services at show houses for new residential properties and through real estate developers.

Discount Coupons: A discount coupon entitles a purchaser to purchase a property from the property developer at a particular development at a discount from the advertised price. Discount coupons can be purchased by prospective property purchasers online at leju.com and house.sina.com.cn, and their respective local websites, as well as offline in showrooms for new property developments. The company enters into arrangements with developers whereby it offers O2O services, including the sale of discount coupons, to promote and facilitate property sales. Each such arrangement is specific to a particular development.

The company has entered into arrangements with China Unionpay to use its payment platform to collect payments for discount coupons. The term of this agreement has been extended to 2025.

Online Advertising

The majority of the company's online advertising revenues are generated from the sale of advertising on real estate and home furnishing websites to advertisers, including real estate developers and home furnishing suppliers.

The company operates the SINA real estate website, house.sina.com.cn, and the SINA home furnishings website, jiaju.sina.com.cn, and it is entitled to all advertising revenues from these websites. In addition, pursuant to an agency agreement with SINA, the company is the exclusive advertising agent of the SINA homepage and non-real estate websites, for advertising sold to advertisers, including real estate developers and home furnishing suppliers. It helps real estate advertisers reach their target audiences in many of China's major cities. Real estate advertisers primarily include real estate developers, agents and brokers, as well as suppliers and providers of home furnishing and improvement products and services.

Furthermore, as the exclusive real estate advertising agency for SINA non-real estate websites, the company facilitates advertising by its real estate advertising clients on the SINA real estate websites, as well as non-real estate websites. Real estate advertising offerings on SINA websites include online advertising and sponsorship arrangements. Online advertising arrangements allow advertisers to place advertisements on particular areas of SINA websites, in particular formats, such as banners and text links, and over particular periods of time. Sponsorship arrangements allow advertisers to sponsor a particular area on SINA websites in exchange for a fixed payment over the contract period. Real estate advertising on SINA websites also includes revenue from outsourcing arrangements with local business partners.

The company and SINA have entered into a number of agreements governing its relationship with SINA, including an advertising inventory agency agreement, an amended and restated domain name and content license agreement, an amended and restated trademark license agreement and an amended and restated software license and support services agreement.

In 2019, the company entered into a series of advertising agency agreements with Tencent, pursuant to which it is the real property advertising agent of Tencent, including having exclusive advertising rights in certain areas of China. The company also generated advertising revenues from various other websites and mobile applications, such as Weixin, Weibo, Toutiao and UC Web from 2019 to 2021. It earns revenue from the sale of online advertising on each of these websites.

Listing

The company offers fee-based online property listing services to real estate agents and free services to individual property sellers. The company operates the SINA real estate websites for listings of existing residential properties for sale or lease.

Brand Promotion

The company employs a variety of marketing and brand promotion methods to enhance its brand recognition and attract developer clients and real estate purchasers, including advertising arrangements and the Leju Membership Club. Users can sign up to join the Leju Membership Club online at its website, leju.com, and become members following email or phone number confirmation through text message.

The company conducts advertising activities in 74 cities where it directly operates local websites through promotional events for developers and other industry participants, including industry award ceremonies, panel discussions and similar events.

Sales and Marketing

Most of the company's new home advertising revenue and home furnishing advertising revenue is derived from its direct sales force. The company also derives new home and home furnishing advertising revenue from sales through third party advertising agencies.

The company has built a sales and marketing team that is experienced in the online advertising, internet and real estate industries. Its sales and marketing personnel work closely with its customers in local markets and help it gain insight into developments in these local markets.

Seasonality

The first quarter (year ended December 2022) of each year generally contributes the smallest portion of the company's annual revenues due to reduced real estate transactions, advertising and marketing activities of its customers in the PRC real estate industry during and around the Chinese New Year holiday, which generally occurs in January or February of each year and due to the cold winter weather in northern China. In contrast, the third and fourth quarters of each year generally contribute a larger portion of its annual revenues due to increased real estate transaction, advertising, and marketing activity during the months of September and October.

Intellectual Property

As of March 31, 2023, the company owned 152 registered copyrights, owned or licensed 333 registered trademarks in China, had 29 trademark applications in various industry categories pending with the China Trademark Office, had one patent application in China and owned or licensed 92 registered domain names.

The company owns the software copyrights of its mobile applications 'Leju Home Purchase' (an upgraded version of 'Pocket Leju'), 'Leju Er Shou Fang', 'Lai Ke' and 'Leju Finance'. It has registered its software copyrights of substantially all of its mobile applications.

Regulation

The company has requested its beneficial owners who are PRC residents to make the necessary applications, filings and amendments required by the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE).

The company and its PRC resident employees who have been granted stock options or other share-based incentives of its company are subject to the Stock Option Rules as its company has become an overseas listed company upon the completion of initial public offering.

Competition

The company competes with fang.com, a real estate internet portal in China; and competes with anjuke.com, which is operated by 58.com, a major online real estate listing platform in China. In addition, the company competes with mobile-based providers of news, such as toutiao.com, for its online advertising business.

History

Leju Holdings Limited was incorporated in 2013 in the Cayman Islands as an exempted company with limited liability under the Companies Law of the Cayman Islands.