The encyclopedia · Strategy & Leadership · Strategic decision · 2018–2020
Beike's ACN made rival real-estate agents cooperate, and became the industry OS
Beike's Agent Cooperation Network splits commissions across listing, handling and closing agents; over 70% of its deals now close via cross-store cooperation.
Beike (贝壳找房) · Lianjia (链家)
The solution
Lianjia built China's largest brokerage through moves like transparent-transaction deals (2004), the housing dictionary (2008), real-listing guarantees (2011) and an advance-compensation fund (2013). But the model was heavy, and capital markets still saw it as a traditional agency.
In 2018 founder Zuo Hui packaged Lianjia, DeYou and Beike into one platform, Beike Zhaofang, opening its tools to the whole industry. The core is ACN: commission is split among the agents who list, hold keys and close the deal, so agents from competing brands cooperate instead of poaching.
It worked: in 2019 over 70% of Beike's existing-home transactions closed through cross-store ACN cooperation; per-store GTV hit 1.6 times the industry average and grew 86.2% in a year. GTV reached ¥2.1 trillion (up 84.5%) and revenue ¥46 billion (up 60.6%), and Beike listed on the NYSE as BEKE.
Why it worked
- Commission splitting aligns incentives across brands and stores.
- Verified listings make shared inventory trustworthy.
- Higher per-agent earnings attract more agents to the platform.
- Network effects lock in brokers who need each other's listings.
What can be applied
To fix a market where everyone cheats everyone, change the payoff matrix, not the rules: if cooperation pays more than poaching, agents will self-organize around your platform.
Aftermath
Beike's ACN defused the 2018–2019 anti-Beike alliance led by 58.com: 21st Century Real Estate and Zhonghuan Interlink joined the platform, and the blockade collapsed. Beike became China's largest real-estate transaction platform before the market downturn, and its cooperation network remains the template for the industry.
Sources
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