When Homejoy raised its $38 million round of funding last December, the company did so with a plan to move beyond just offering cleaning services to its customers. It’s starting to make good on that plan, with the launch of a beta test for other home services.
In an email sent out to some Homejoy users (text below), the company invites customers to book and try out some of the new home services available in beta. When you click through, it takes you to a landing page that lists a wide variety of services you can book.
Those include plumbing, handyman, landscaping services, pest control, furniture assembly & installation, painting services, moving and storage, electrical services, and carpet cleaning.
For Homejoy, the test could enable the company to move upstream into higher-margin businesses. Plumbers, painters, movers, and electricians all tend to demand a premium above the cost of having your apartment cleaned. And that could be good for Homejoy’s bottom line, as it seems to be struggling to keep pricing for its cleaners low.
Last week, the company emailed customers to say that it was raising the price of its cleanings to $25 per hour for recurring weekly or bi-weekly appointments, or $35 per hour for single or recurring appointments every three or four weeks. That was up from the $20 an hour it was charging for regular cleanings previously.
Of course, Homejoy isn’t the only company to offer more than just cleaning on its platform. Handybook, which it competes against directly in many markets, has long offered a series of services that include light plumbing and electrical work. Now the two will go head-to-head not just for customers, but also for service providers to complete the jobs.
It’s not clear how extensive the test is, or in how many markets that Homejoy is offering home services today. But it’s clear that home services are something the company is very interested in, and if the test works, they could expand very quickly.
We’ve reached out to Homejoy for more info, and will follow up with any update we receive.
Hi,
My name is [XXXX], your Client Account Specialist at Homejoy!
We haven’t seen you in a while, so we wanted to reach out and invite you to be among the first to experience new services at Homejoy.
Your Clean Kitchen
Homejoy is now your all-in-one home services solution!
That’s right [XXXX] – Homejoy is beta testing new home services, and we’re excited to welcome you to be among the first to join! Among the many services we’re launching are handyman, plumbing, electrical, moving services and more.Click the link below in the next 3 days to claim 50% off any handyman or home improvement service. There’s no better time to make your home happier.