http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/spec...ats-busy-buyer

Published May 31, 2012

Virtual showflats for the busy buyer

Qingjian Realty ties up with SPH to launch interactive showflat on iPad accessible via group's newspapers

By michelle tan


[SINGAPORE] An increasing number of interactive virtual showflats have been popping up via websites and now the Apple iPad to save buyers that trip. Developers feel that this may supplement their marketing efforts though many local buyers would prefer to see a physical showflat if they can.

Chinese developer Qingjian Realty recently jointly produced a digital campaign with the Singapore Press Holdings, by launching Singapore's first interactive virtual showflat on the Apple iPad - accessible via iPad editions of The Straits Times, Lianhe Zaobao and The Business Times Weekend - which allows visitors to have a detailed tour of a development's units without stepping foot into the actual show suite.

Virtual showflats on online property portals have been around.

For instance, property big guns such as City Developments and Keppel Land have both previously developed such virtual showflats for past projects, albeit not on the iPad.

Said a CapitaLand Residential spokesperson: "We have been exploring the idea of developing virtual showflats but have yet to identify a suitable platform that meets all our requirements. In the current market, buyers still prefer to see the physical showflat before they make their purchasing decisions."

Likewise, UOL Group also stresses the importance of the "physical feel" when it comes to buying capital-intensive assets such as a property, though the group remains open to the complementary role of technology in local property sales launches in foreign markets.

Tan Ooi Boon, vice-president of marketing at Singapore Press Holdings added: "Using virtual technology to market homes is a powerful strategy as it targets potential buyers who are not even in Singapore. Since they won't be able to visit the showflat, the interactive ad will bring the showroom to them and let them see everything."

In fact, managing director of Qingjian Realty (South Pacific) Group Zuo Haibin is so confident of the group's step towards technology that he feels virtual showflats will become the trend that property developers will need to adopt in the future.