KE Holdings Inc. (BEKE): Marketing Mix Analysis [Dec-2025 Updated]

KE Holdings Inc. is defintely navigating a tough Chinese property scene, but they aren't just sitting still. You see them pivoting hard, moving beyond just closing deals to building out a full tech-enabled service ecosystem-that's the Product shift. While their agent network keeps growing, hitting over 471,501 people by Q3 2025, the pressure is showing on the Price side, with gross margins dipping to 21.4%. Honestly, their strategy is a balancing act: investing heavily in AI and share buybacks-spending US$281 million in Q3 2025 alone-while trying to keep revenue creeping up 2.1% year-over-year to RMB23.1 billion. Let's break down exactly how this mix of tech investment and margin compression plays out across their Product, Place, Promotion, and Price strategies right now.

KE Holdings Inc. (BEKE) - Marketing Mix: Product

The product element for KE Holdings Inc. centers on its comprehensive, integrated platform for housing transactions and related services, moving beyond simple brokerage to encompass a full-service ecosystem.

Existing and new home transaction services remain the foundational offering, though performance shows divergence. For the third quarter of 2025, the Gross Transaction Value (GTV) for existing home transactions was RMB 505.6 billion, marking an increase of 5.8% year-over-year, while net revenue for this segment was RMB 6.0 billion, a decrease of 3.6% year-over-year. Conversely, the new home business saw its GTV decline by 13.7% year-over-year to RMB 196.3 billion in Q3 2025, with corresponding net revenues falling 14.1% year-over-year to RMB 6.6 billion. Overall, total GTV for KE Holdings Inc. in Q3 2025 was RMB 736.7 billion, which was relatively flat compared to the prior year.

KE Holdings Inc. is actively diversifying into non-transactional services to mitigate cyclical risks in the core market. The home renovation and furnishing business, for example, generated net revenues of RMB 4.3 billion in the third quarter of 2025, which was relatively flat compared to the RMB 4.2 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2024. To be fair, the home renovation and furnishing business showed stronger growth in the preceding quarter, with Q2 2025 revenue reaching RMB 7.5 billion, an increase of 13% year-over-year, and achieving a contribution margin of 32.1%.

Home rental services have demonstrated rapid, high-quality growth as a key diversification pillar. By the end of Q3 2025, KE Holdings Inc. was managing over 660,000 rental units, a significant jump from over 370,000 units managed in the same period of 2024. This scale drove net revenues from home rental services to a record high of RMB 5.7 billion in Q3 2025, up 45.3% year-over-year. The contribution margin for this segment reached 8.7% in Q3 2025, up 4.3 percentage points year-over-year, with the contribution profit rising 186% year-over-year to nearly RMB 500 million.

Technological enhancement is embedded across the product suite. The AI-driven CRM product, 'Like,' is a critical tool for broker efficiency. As of the end of June 2025, 'Like' was deployed across 69 cities and was empowering over 335,000 brokers, with its penetration rate exceeding 75% in both Beijing and Shanghai. AI integration is also yielding tangible operational improvements elsewhere; for instance, AI rental pilots saw signups rise 10% while the workforce fell 10%, and an AI review tool improved processing speed by 64%.

The company offers a full-service ecosystem, which is reflected in the breakdown of its total Q3 2025 net revenues of RMB 23.1 billion.

The breadth of the product offering is further detailed by the technology deployment and service expansion:

• AI-driven CRM 'Like' deployment reached 69 cities as of June 2025.
• The 'Like' CRM empowered over 335,000 brokers by the end of June 2025.
• Home rental services achieved city-level profitability before HQ allocations in Q3 2025.
• The home renovation and furnishing business achieved a contribution margin of 32.1% in Q2 2025.
• Home rental services contribution margin reached 8.7% in Q3 2025.

The company's product strategy clearly emphasizes scaling high-growth, higher-margin services like rentals and renovations, supported by AI tools to maintain efficiency in the core transaction business.

KE Holdings Inc. (BEKE) - Marketing Mix: Place

The 'Place' strategy for KE Holdings Inc. (BEKE) centers on its dual-pronged, integrated online and offline platform, Beike, which is designed to be the central hub for housing transactions and related services across China. This distribution model is key to how they bring their services to the consumer base.

The physical footprint is substantial, supporting the online marketplace with tangible service points. As of September 30, 2025, KE Holdings Inc. maintained an extensive physical network with 59,012 active stores. This physical presence is crucial for building trust and facilitating complex real estate processes in the Chinese market.

KE Holdings Inc. distributes its services primarily through its leading in-house brokerage brand, Lianjia, which operates directly, alongside a network of connected third-party agents who join the Beike platform. This hybrid approach broadens market reach while maintaining quality control through the flagship brand. The agent network saw significant expansion by Q3 2025.

Here's a quick look at the scale of the physical and agent network as of the end of the third quarter of 2025:

• Primary market focus remains the vast and evolving real estate sector in China.
• The platform connects a massive user base, with mobile monthly active users (MAU) averaging 49.3 million in the third quarter of 2025.

The growth in the distribution network demonstrates a commitment to scale, even as profitability metrics shift. You can see the comparison between the total network size and the active components in the table below:

The strategy is clearly focused on expanding the touchpoints where consumers interact with the Beike ecosystem, whether through a physical Lianjia store or an agent connected via the online platform. This physical-digital integration is the core of their distribution strategy in the Chinese real estate sector. The company's strong balance sheet, with cash and equivalents totaling RMB55.7 billion as of September 30, 2025, provides the financial backing to sustain this expansive physical and digital infrastructure.

KE Holdings Inc. (BEKE) - Marketing Mix: Promotion

You're looking at how KE Holdings Inc. communicates its value proposition to the market, which goes beyond simple advertising. For KE Holdings Inc., promotion is deeply tied to demonstrating technological superiority and financial stewardship, especially given the market dynamics in late 2025.

The strategic focus for promotion centers heavily on technology and operational efficiency. This isn't just about showing off new features; it's about proving that their platform is smarter and runs leaner. The integration of Artificial Intelligence, for example, is a key message point. You see this in the continuous iteration of their AI agent system for intelligent operations and marketing within new home transactions, and the deployment of an AI assistant to serve homeowners with market trend insights and report analysis. This tech-forward stance is a core differentiator they push to the audience.

Management clearly signals confidence to the investment community through financial actions. A prime example is the share repurchase program, where KE Holdings Inc. spent US$281 million in Q3 2025. This was the highest single-quarter repurchase in two years, which management uses to promote the belief that the stock is undervalued and that they are committed to enhancing shareholder return.

Brand building for KE Holdings Inc. emphasizes the quality of service and the establishment of industry infrastructure standards. This is supported by operational metrics showing network scale. For instance, as of the end of Q3 2025, the number of active agents grew to 471,501, an increase of 11.4% year-over-year. Furthermore, active stores reached 59,012, up 25.9% from one year ago. These figures back up claims of a robust, high-quality service network.

The company balances its promotional budget with necessary investment in future capabilities. The R&D expenses for Q3 2025 were RMB648 million, representing a 13.2% year-over-year increase. This spend is positioned as the engine driving the AI and efficiency improvements that form the basis of their service quality claims.

Here's a quick look at how those key investment and scale metrics support the promotional narrative:

Internally, the agent welfare improvement strategy functions as a form of talent retention promotion. This focus on agent well-being has a direct, though sometimes costly, impact on service delivery. For example, the lasting impact of this strategy was cited as a factor contributing to a decline in the contribution margin for existing home transaction services year-over-year in Q2 2025, due to higher fixed labor costs resulting from an increase in Lianjia agents. Still, the company frames these investments as essential for maintaining the quality of its front-line personnel, which is critical for customer-facing promotion.

The communication strategy for KE Holdings Inc. boils down to a few core messages you should track:

• AI integration drives operational and marketing efficiency.
• Financial discipline is shown via active share repurchases.
• Service quality is backed by expanding agent and store networks.
• Investment in R&D underpins future product differentiation.
• Agent welfare is key to retaining high-quality service providers.

Finance: review the Q4 2025 marketing budget allocation against R&D spend by end of January.

KE Holdings Inc. (BEKE) - Marketing Mix: Price

You're looking at how KE Holdings Inc. (BEKE) prices its services in a shifting market, which is all about balancing commission structures with rising internal costs. Honestly, the pricing strategy reflects a complex interplay between transaction volumes and operational overhead.

The overall pricing realization, as reflected in the gross margin, saw pressure in the third quarter of 2025. Gross margin declined to 21.4% in Q3 2025 due to market pressures and costs. This compares to a gross profit of RMB4.9 billion on total net revenues of RMB23.1 billion in Q3 2025, representing a 3.9% year-over-year decrease in gross profit.

KE Holdings Inc. (BEKE)'s revenue model is a mix of gross commission generated through its own brokerage, Lianjia, and net service fees collected from connected agents operating on its platform. This structure means pricing power varies across service lines and agent types.

Here's a breakdown of the revenue components for Q3 2025:

• Total net revenue reached RMB23.1 billion, a 2.1% year-over-year increase.
• Net revenues from existing home transaction services were RMB6.0 billion (US$0.8 billion), a 3.6% year-over-year decrease.
• Net revenues from new home transaction services were RMB6.6 billion (US$0.9 billion), a 14.1% year-over-year decrease.
• Revenue from home renovation and furnishing was RMB4.3 billion, remaining relatively flat year-over-year.

The company is actively managing the cost side of its pricing equation. Increased fixed compensation costs for agents are pressuring the existing home transaction margin. Specifically, the drop in contribution margin for existing home transaction services was primarily due to deteriorated fixed compensation costs absorption rates for Lianjia agents because of lower net revenues in that segment.

Non-transactional services, like home renovation, offer higher contribution margins, which helps offset pressure in the core transaction business. The contribution margin for the home renovation and furnishing segment reached 32% in Q3 2025, an increase of 0.8 percentage points year-over-year.

The pricing structure for transaction services shows differing margin profiles:

The cost of internal commission and compensation, which reflects agent pay structures, was RMB4.2 billion (US$0.6 billion) in Q3 2025, a 3.7% decrease year-over-year, largely due to the decreased GTV of new home transactions served by Lianjia agents.

Financing options and credit terms are generally managed through the platform's ecosystem, but the direct pricing element is the commission rate structure, which is being stressed by the fixed agent compensation component. If onboarding takes 14+ days, churn risk rises, which impacts the absorption rate of those fixed costs. Finance: draft 13-week cash view by Friday.