Urban Company, Asia’s largest and highest-rated tech-enabled home services marketplace, has announced its exclusive end-of-year sale. Running from 23rd December to 31st December, this sale offers a fantastic array of discounts on a range of services, ensuring customers of the leading platform for home and beauty services in Dubai and Abu Dhabi can step into the new year with style and savings.Sale Highlights:24 for 24 Offer: To welcome new users, Urban Company is offering a flat 24% discount on all services. It's a celebration of the upcoming year and a perfect chance for new customers to experience the exceptional quality and convenience of Urban Company.Countdown to NYE: Experience the thrill with Urban Company’s exclusive NYE Countdown! Beginning on the 23rd, the sale kicks off with an incredible 50% off, with discounts gradually transitioning each day. It’s an invitation to seize the moment – the earlier you indulge in their services, the bigger the reward. Dive into the festivities with the best deals right at the start – it's their way of saying, the early bird catches the most exciting offers!Surprise Mega Deal: Throughout the sale, Urban Company has a special surprise in store for their customers – an incredible offer on their Cleaning Subscription service from 23rd to 31st December 2023. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to keep your home pristine.Urban Company is committed to delivering top-notch services at the most affordable prices. Book your service with Urban Company today and make the most of these incredible deals.

In this exclusive interview with Adgully, Nitesh Agarwal, Regional Head of Urban Company in the Middle East, sheds light on the company's journey in the region. Since their entry into the Middle East market in 2018, Urban Company has prioritized delivering premium services. Starting in Dubai, they've expanded their offerings across the UAE and KSA, offering services in approximately 20 categories. With a partner network of 32,000 professionals, Urban Company is now Asia's largest tech-enabled home services marketplace. According to him, Urban Company's success in the UAE can be attributed to a multifaceted approach. They prioritize customer-centricity, utilize technology to enhance service quality and affordability, invest in training, and consistently innovate. Excerpts:Can you share with us the journey of Urban Company in the Middle East?Urban Company entered the Middle East market in the UAE in 2018. Over the past five years, our commitment to providing a premium service experience has been our guiding principle. We started with Dubai in the UAE because of the potential that we saw in this market. We started with launching part-time cleaners, one of the popular categories here, slowly expanding our services to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah in the UAE and Riyadh and Jeddah in KSA. We now offer services in around 20 categories across UAE's home, beauty & wellness verticals.We are currently Asia’s largest and highest-rated tech-enabled home services marketplace with a partner network of 32,000 hand-picked service professionals.What, according to you, are the factors that have made Urban Company successful in the UAE?Urban Company's success in the UAE can be attributed to a multifaceted approach. Firstly, we prioritize customer-centricity above all. By harnessing the UAE's impressive 99% internet penetration rate, we've cultivated a deep understanding of the local consumer landscape, allowing us to fine-tune our services for maximum appeal.The UAE's service industry landscape, teeming with both organized and unorganized providers, presented a unique challenge. Traditional brick-and-mortar salons, technicians, and cleaning providers often offer services at competitive prices. However, the growth projection of the on-demand home services sector, anticipated to expand by 9.7% by 2026, indicates a promising trajectory, especially for digital platforms like ours.Our strategic utilization of technology has been a game-changer. It's allowed us to continually enhance our service quality while ensuring affordability—a key to customer retention in this market. Moreover, we place immense emphasis on training, considering the World Economic Forum suggests re-skilling half of the global workforce may be inevitable by 2025.Lastly, innovation has been a cornerstone of our strategy. Introducing tools like steam mops in our cleaning category, for instance, has empowered us to surpass customer expectations, solidifying our reputation as industry pioneers. In short, our success in the UAE stems from a blend of customer focus, affordability, rigorous training, and consistent innovation.What services do you offer, and which ones are the most popular?We offer a bouquet of high-quality services, such as salon, nails and spa at home, cleaning, plumbing, handymen, appliance repair etc., through our mobile app and websites.While cleaning was initially 85% of our offering, by 2023, services like beauty have grown in demand, with a significant portion of women preferring at-home beauty treatments, reflecting a shift from traditional salon visits.What is the procedure for joining Urban Company as a professional in any field?In the UAE, we focus on delivering hyper-localised services, and vendor onboarding is an ongoing process. Urban Company has a structured approach towards partner development and well-being centred around four key pillars: improved earnings, safety net, training and wealth creation.In the UAE, we work with vendors to improve the living standards of the workforce, upskilling, increase salaries and give incentives to them, as employee engagement is essential for great customer satisfaction.There is a thorough and objective selection process for every single service professional. Joining Urban Company involves a rigorous four-stage process. Candidates undergo screening, review of documentation such as Visa and licenses, detailed technical and soft-skill training given by on-payroll industry experts in real-life simulated set-ups, and final evaluation.This meticulous process ensures that all our professionals deliver services aligned with our high standards. We also incentivise service professionals on the basis of customers’ experiences.Urban Company believes in delivering a remarkable customer experience and we are constantly on the lookout for innovative measures to give the best to our customers. The global online on-demand home services market is estimated to reach $4.1 trillion by 2027, with more service providers and vendors introducing and enhancing sustainable, scalable and convenient services for modern customers.Are primarily women your clients for salon services, or do men also avail of your services?While women represent a major segment of our beauty services, the changing dynamics show that 30% of beauty services are consumed by men.What obstacles hindered your growth, and how did you overcome them?Our journey in the UAE, while rewarding, has not been without its set of challenges. When we entered the market, we faced a fragmented competitive environment, intensified by the presence of organized competitors, quite unlike the scenario in our home base, India. Many competitors lured customers with low prices, often compromising on quality. The pandemic further reshaped consumer behaviour, prioritizing health, hygiene, and high-quality services. Amidst this, consistently evolving consumer behaviour and rising expectations meant that we had to be agile and responsive.To navigate these obstacles, Urban Company took a multi-pronged approach:• Diversification and Quality: We expanded our service range to cater to the varied demands emerging from the pandemic, including increased demand for part-time cleaners, salon services, and wellness provisions.• Innovation and Technology: Introducing steam cleaners and scrubbing machines allowed us to redefine cleaning standards in the UAE. Furthermore, our tech-driven checks ensure our partners always utilize genuine products and adhere to our rigorous standard operating procedures. By investing in ongoing innovation, tools, and products, like our disruptive hourly cleaning service and signature pedicure, we've consistently raised the bar.• Training and Partnerships: Our emphasis on continual training ensures our partners are equipped to offer top-tier personalized services. Regular retraining, based on dynamic user feedback, keeps our services aligned with consumer expectations.• Digital Engagement: Recognizing that modern consumers are digital-driven, we've optimized our user interface, payment gateways, and overall digital experience to be hassle-free and intuitive. This has been pivotal, as even a single negative feedback in today's digital age can shift the trajectory of our business.In essence, while challenges like the pandemic, competition, and evolving consumer behaviour posed hurdles, our unwavering commitment to quality, innovation, and consumer-centricity has been the cornerstone of our resilience and growth in the UAE market.What is your vision for the company? Where do you see it in five years?Our vision is to establish ourselves as the largest on-demand home services marketplace by focusing on delivering an unparalleled experience to our users. With the UAE market projected to grow by 9.7% annually until 2026, we foresee a 10x growth in this region alone. Hence, with a focus on experience, we have invested heavily in the selection of service professionals with extensive training in real-life simulated set-ups and deep investments in bringing the most cutting-edge tools and products to our users.

Dubai : Leading marketing and data-focused digital agency, PivotRoots, has recently announced its successful bid to secure the media contract for Urban Company in the UAE. As part of their role, PivotRoots will develop and execute data-driven strategies to strengthen Urban Company’s digital marketing efforts in the region.This achievement comes as PivotRoots continues to expand its marketing services and scale data offerings through PivotConsult. As the media agency for Urban Company, PivotRoots will oversee integrated media, branding, and performance marketing initiatives with the primary objective of boosting consumer acquisition and engagement. Additionally, through PivotConsult, the agency will help empower the media activation for the brand by providing deeper and automated insights to increase efficiencies and effectiveness consistently.  Nitesh Agarwal, Regional Head of Middle-East, Urban Company said, “We believe that our partnership with PivotRoots will help us achieve our goal of delivering exceptional experiences to our customers by enabling us to engage with our customers more effectively and efficiently. PivotRoots' data-driven approach and expertise in digital marketing aligns with our values, and we are confident that their innovative strategies will help us stay ahead of the curve. With their support, we aim to further strengthen our brand presence in the UAE market and provide our customers with a seamless experience.”Urban Company is a leading global provider of at-home services, with a presence in multiple countries including India, UAE, Singapore, KSA, and USA. The company initiated its international expansion in 2018 by launching in the UAE, starting with Dubai, and later expanding to Abu Dhabi and Sharjah. While initially offering cleaning services, Urban Company has now expanded its portfolio to include Beauty and Wellness, and Homes and Maintenance verticals, with cleaning, salon, and spa services being the most prominent and rapidly growing verticals.Yogesh Khanchandani, Co-Founder of PivotRoots stated: “Our goal since integrating PivotConsult into our planning approach has been to introduce innovative and transformative data-driven digital marketing strategies. With digital-first brands like Urban Company, we have the chance to demonstrate the powerful impact of data-driven campaigns”.PivotRoots will develop and execute a comprehensive digital marketing strategy to expand Urban Company UAE's presence within the target market, with a focus on reaching key audience segments such as Arabic, Western, and Asian expats at effective frequencies. The agency's strategy aims to improve the brand's recall value and capitalize on readily available digital opportunities to enhance its overall performance. PivotRoots will utilize a combination of data analytics and digital media efforts to drive the planning and thought process, which will serve as a critical driver in achieving the agency’s goals.

Urban Company is APAC, and Middle East’s largest home services company. Bhavya Sharma, Director- Communications & ESG, Urban Company, talks about the growing importance of gig workers for companies and the economy, the challenges, as well as the importance of their skilling and training.As per a NITI Aayog Report in 2022, the proportion of gig workers among the total workforce rose from 0.54% in 2011-12 to 1.33% in 2019-20 and will have an estimated 2.35 crore people employed as gig workers by 2029-30. This exponential rise is attributed to several reasons such as increased Internet penetration, rising demand for flexible work, a young employable population, and a need to improve livelihood. Excerpts from the interview:What are the challenges with employing a gig workforce?One of the biggest challenges in building a services marketplace is having a skilled workforce. Despite the presence of a strong informal services and contract labour sector in India, less than 5% of the workforce is formally skilled, compared to 75% in Germany and 96% in South Korea. As a result, skilling, reskilling, and upskilling the country’s youth, to make them employable is critical.The other big challenge is matching the availability of service professionals and consumer demand. A strong technology backbone is necessary to ensure sync between demand and supply, especially during peak times. Through technology, key aspects (such as pricing, availability optimisation, professional assignment optimisation, and incentives) smoothen out mismatch and offer a competitive advantage.What are the initiatives and programs that Urban Company has introduced for its partners?Urban Company has always invested in the growth and development of its service professionals. We have identified and work towards the following four partner enablement pillars:Improved earnings: As per our recently published Urban Company Earnings Index, in Q4 FY 2022, partners who delivered at least 30 orders a month, earned about INR 31,000 per month, with the top 20% earning over INR 40,000 per month. Further, according to the findings of PGA Labs’ Earnings Benchmarking Study, Urban Company partners earn at least 60% higher net monthly earnings than their offline counterparts while working for considerably fewer hours (almost 50% less).Training & upskilling: One of our largest areas of investment is training and upskilling of our service professionals. We train the service professionals on both technical and soft skills through our physical and digital training infrastructure. The training programs range from 4 days to 45 days, depending on the candidate’s skill level and profession chosen. Upon successful completion of the training and clearing of the final assessment, service professionals also get Skill India certificates.Since 2014, the company has invested more than INR 150 crores in through a network of over 100 training centers pan India, and an in-house team of 200+ full time trainers.Safety net: Urban Company also offers a safety net to its partners in the form of insurance and access to financial support. All active partners on the UC platform in India are covered under a comprehensive health insurance plan of up to Rs 2 lakhs and 12 free medical consultations for self and family, whichever is applicable. They also have access to the Group Life and Accidental Insurance cover. Some of the key aspects covered under the policy are life insurance (Rs 6 lakh), disability cover (Rs 6 lakh), accidental hospitalisation (Rs 70,000), accidental OPD treatment (Rs 10,000), among others.Wealth creation: To ensure that our service professionals also benefit from the growth of the platform, in 2022, we announced an industry-first Partner Stock Ownership Program (PSOP). Under this plan, we have so far granted stocks worth more than Rs 5.2 crore to about 500 partners.Overall, these initiatives demonstrate our commitment to the well-being and professional growth of our service professionals. A strong testament to Urban Company’s commitment towards partner development has been our ranking in the recently launched Fairwork India Ratings, where Urban Company scored the highest among industry peers on the principles of fair pay, fair conditions, fair contracts, and fair management.Please throw light on your partnerships with NSDC, PSOP program, and the vast network of training centers?In 2022, we further strengthened our partnership with NSDC on training, financing and promotion of skill-based services in India. Under this partnership, all Urban Company service professionals will be provided co-branded QR-coded digital certificates upon successful completion of the training and clearing of final assessment. By virtue of this partnership, all service professionals will also become members of the Skill India portal (SIP). Further, these certificates will be available on both the NSDC’s Skill India portal and the Urban Company app, enabling customers to view details of the professional delivering the service.In 2022, Urban Company announced an industry-first Partner Stock Ownership Program (PSOP). We have set up a fair and meritocratic process for awarding these shares, considering the performance of service partners and their longevity on the platform. The entire process is rule-based and transparent, with an advisory panel providing complete guidance.Under this plan, we have so far granted stocks worth more than Rs 5.2 crore to about 500 partners. In order to build a diverse and inclusive partner ecosystem, of these 500 recipients, 30% are female partners from the Beauty & Wellness vertical. Further, among the cities, Bangalore had the most number of partner shareholders at 26%, followed by Delhi NCR (22%), Mumbai and Pune (together accounting for 16%) and Hyderabad (15%).What is special about Urban Company’s Cleaning Training Programme?Cleaning services is one of the most booked services on the Urban Company platform. This vertical has received so much customer love because of the experience we deliver on the back of a solid training program. We have a unique training program that covers everything – from technical aspects pertaining to stains and chemicals to grooming and soft skills. Our training centers have mock setups of kitchens, bathrooms, living rooms that allow service professionals to get practical training before they go live on the platform.What is special about Urban Company’s health insurance for partners, loans, etc.?The company also provides health insurance coverage up to Rs 600,000, including personal accident insurance, and partners have access to health insurance benefits up to Rs 200,000. The company has launched a comprehensive health insurance policy in partnership with ACKO Insurance that provides coverage of Rs 2 lakh to all UC Plus service partners. Additionally, the platform provides loans to its partners through tie-ups with NBFCs. These loans are small-ticket personal loans typically in the range of Rs 10,000-50,000 and are easily accessible via the app.What is the vision of Urban Company when it comes to upskilling its partner network?Urban Company’s goal is to train and upskill 500,000 service partners by 2030, including at least 200,000 women service partners.How has the pandemic affected your operations and how did you deal with them?The impact of pandemic on business operations was limited to the early stages of the pandemic due to lockdowns and other restrictions. However, since then, our business has only scaled higher.We expanded our geographic footprint from about 20 cities to 55+ in total. We also introduced new services such as haircuts for men and women, nail art services, laser hair reduction for women and more.