Having something for each one, the information age seems to be in its best form today. Whether it’s the pains of spanning a few miles to shop or a thousand miles to talk to your friend overseas, the internet has a solution to almost all human limitations.
Be they technical, lingual, or even physical, innovations in the IT industry thrive on the constant need to overcome such barriers. Free communication across oceans, virtual shopping and the greatest outreach possible are just a few IT services to name. Technological innovations have even led a pathway to virtual entrepreneurship and widened the scope of many industries.
Catalysis
Perhaps the very first effect of employing IT in any industry is the computerization/systemization, which translates into greater security for employers at the work place. In a country like Pakistan, where physical manpower has been the crux of all industries, IT innovations are nothing short of revolutionary for wage workers. Although IT boomed here a long time back, the trend of internet-based businesses and industries is still young.
The benefits of a nourished IT industry trickle down to other sectors as well. Consumer goods industry is blooming at the online forum as e-shopping frequents in an average Pakistanis life. By saving up on inventory costs, display area and management staff, shopping e-portals like homeshopping.pk and daraz.pk tend to make greater profits, while the benefits of greater variety and comparable deals increases their customer base. The outreach of online portals is thus far greater than an independent retail store stationed at even the best of any commercially viable location.
Globalization
Keeping in view its many benefits, the country’s IT industry is finally hitting a home run. After an extensive term of unwanted brain-drain, tech-savviness seems to be making a comeback with trained entrepreneurs in a variety of industries.
Real estate is one such industry in Pakistan that traditionally operated through word of mouth. Coupled with a lack of formalized land records, the industry could never reach its full potential.
However, things changed when the online industry came to its rescue. A number of e-portals are now leading the fate of real estate in Pakistan, by bridging the gap between buyers and sellers at a virtual platform.
Accessing properties virtually lessens buyer’s exertion. Online property portals help buyers, sellers and renters choose from a wider pool of options and make better informed decision. E-portals further provide mortgage calculating services to online customers, helping them make closer price estimations of properties. Accompanied with the computerization scheme of property records, the portals have created ease for overseas buyers of property.
These portals have affected the pool of investors and developers who seem more confident of buying stakes in Pakistani property.
Many portals follow international standards and come up with monthly/quarterly property market reports. This helps stakeholders keep track of property value trends. Property portal Zameen.com also offers the exclusive option of search trends to viewers as well as Price Index which further helps the users with their investment decisions. This facility enables interested parties monitor the popularity of various localities in cities, whether they’re moving up the ladder or descending it. Market trends enhances transparency of the realty industry and helps widen the buyer pool.
The virtual platform is rightfully the king of new-age trade and marketing. While a print advertisement in the local newspapers reached a few thousands, with online portals the property ad reaches millions in an instant. In the real estate sector, not only has it brought back interest but also facilitated transparency by reducing issues of mistrust and land-grabbing in the country.
While other industries have seen similar revolutions, it is safe to say that virtual portals are essential business catalysts in contemporary economy.
