Embracing the Digital Shift: Exploring the Impact of Digital Presence on Business Development in Pakistan's Pandemic Landscape

Abstract

With its widespread infections and fatalities, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound and terrible effect on communities around the world. Enterprises spanning diverse sectors have not been immune to the pandemic's fury, enduring notable reductions in earnings, profitability, foreign trade, and investment. Global governments have strategically chosen to embrace digital transformation in response to these unprecedented difficulties, moving away from traditional physical businesses and towards digital platforms. This change has turned out to be a crucial one, allowing companies to grow into leaders in the digital space in addition to maintaining existing operations. One of the best examples of this shift is Pakistan, where company executives have quickly prioritised digital transformation, leading to continuous operations and growth in the economy even in the face of the epidemic. This study explores how digital presence affects Pakistani business development. This study intends to provide light on the efficacy of digital platforms in promoting business growth using both primary and secondary data. Secondary data was gathered from relevant research papers and articles published in peer-reviewed journals, while primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire employing a 5-point Likert scale. The findings of this study underscore the feasibility and effectiveness of digital presence, highlighting its multifaceted applications in the context of the pandemic. These applications include government initiatives promoting digital platforms as an alternative to physical work environments, organizational efforts to enhance digital presence to reduce operational costs, and governmental support for IT training programs to empower employees to effectively carry out their work-related tasks through digital platforms. In conclusion, digital presence emerges as a potent driver of business development, paving the way for increased growth and prosperity for a country.

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