The Covid 19 pandemic has forced a reevaluation of our approach and attitude. This is getting reflected in all walks of life. A great example is the pace at which the Real Estate Industry is adopting digital solutions in various fields.
Need for Digitization
Digitization is helping real estate developers connect directly with a large customer base via mediums like webinars, platforms like zoom etc. It is also helping build trust with customers as information flow is seamless and real time. It is also allowing customers opportunities like virtual tours etc to get a better understanding of the projects / houses they are planning to purchase in. Drone shoots and videos are becoming the norm to showcase the property to new buyers thus reducing the dependencies on actual site visits.
There has been an increase in the share of digital marketing post Covid 19. Developers are now learning to harness the power of the internet to reach out to new prospects. Social media is now the preferred medium to reach out to stakeholders and webinars the way to connect with them.
The digital medium is also gradually becoming the medium for financial transactions in the home-buying process and could see substantial traction moving forward.
Digitizing the Value Chain
Real Estate Developers are embracing technology across different functions. Most developers use different kinds of CRMs to track their customer prospects as well as manage the post sales process. These also help facilitate collections and documentations for customers at various sales life stages.
Project Management Tools are used to manage the construction processes as well as to keep track of materials and supplies at various construction sites. These also help put in place systems to track and manage costs and compare to budgets.
New state of the art technologies like Building Information Modelling (BIM) are helping increase efficiency in planning, designing, constructing, and managing buildings and infrastructure. Data base modelling and use of AI driven algorithms is helping the sales process as well as construction. Decisions are now data driven and helping real estate developers optimize and manage space.
Land records across the country is gradually getting digitized which will ease land acquisition and lead to increased confidence of landowners. The land acquisition process which has remained one of the most complex processes all this while is also expected to ease up post digitization.
The digital era is now here to stay and is redefining the expectations of home buyers. Developers who adapt to these changes are the ones who will be best placed to serve the ever changing demands of the new age home buyers.