E-commerce:
As bourgeois as the concept sounds, the real thing is just as proletarian as we are. On the surface, we see major names like Amazon, or in Pakistan, Daraz. rocket, and others, but what we don't see are the hundreds of thousands of laypeople who work day and night to make the e-commerce dream a reality.
Making money through e-commerce in Pakistan is every online entrepreneur's goal, and for good reason:
To begin with, those who have tried know that things sell more than services. They are easier to market, and the e-commerce model does not need as much effort as a service-based approach requires.
Second, in terms of competitiveness, e-commerce is still less crowded than services.
Without a doubt, e-commerce is a perfect form of business in which the basic trick of the trade remains the same. Choose an item at a wholesale price and sell it at retail. What is the retail price? You get to pick.
Not long ago, as a seller, I had to hunt for a few goods online and discovered that wholesale is not the same for every seller. Take, for example, this fruit pacifier; I tried to find it at a low price but discovered that each distributor had its own set of prices. This provides you the freedom you need as a business owner, and all you have to do is figure out a reasonable amount of profit and sell that wholesale item at a retail price.
The most common misperception about e-commerce that Pakistani youngsters have is that it is just for the wealthy. No way! You don't need a lot of money to start a product-based Internet business.
Without further discussion, I will demonstrate not only how Pakistani e-commerce works, but also how you may select a foreign audience and develop an e-commerce firm around it.
E-commerce in Pakistan:
Pakistan is still a newcomer to the world of e-commerce, and the scale of Pakistan's e-commerce industry is far from adequate. How do we know this? Let us compare Pakistani e-commerce statistics to those of India.
While Pakistan has one-fifth of the population of India, e-commerce figures do not reflect this proportion. Total e-commerce sales by Indian online retail shops were over $20.059 billion in 2017.
Given that we are latecomers into e-commerce, the statistics are not too concerning. Having said that, it is vital to recall that, according to the SBP research, Pakistan's e-commerce market has not surpassed $600 million (in 2017). This means that more than $3 billion is still on the table, and all you have to do is take it.
According to the speed of the e-commerce sector, the entire size of the Pakistani e-commerce sector would surpass the psychological barrier of $1 billion by 2020. According to the SBP data, our total e-commerce transactions (prepayment) in FY 2017 were 1.2 million, and 571 local e-commerce businesses generated PKR 9.8 billion just from local prepayment. This amount does not include the money produced by our retailers from foreign prepaid online sales. This also does not include the money produced by our retailers through post-payment or COD sales.
Types of e-commerce stores:
Several forms of e-commerce businesses operate from Facebook to www and generate millions of sales each month.
Here is a list of the various types of e-commerce stores:
Big Shot Multi-Retailers: These shops are not as large as medium-sized internet shops, much alone the major guns. They concentrate on a single field and attempt to generate sales by leveraging their expertise. Stores like Higher.com.pk and Babynestboutique.com are examples.
Medium-Size Multi Retailers: These businesses are not as large as Daraz or its competitors, but they do have their own established websites with a wide range of merchandise. These retailers are working hard to reach the top, and this category includes retailers such as GoTo and Well.pk, among others.
Small-Size Multi Retailers: These stores are not as large as medium-sized web retailers, much alone the major guns. They concentrate on a single field and attempt to generate sales by leveraging their expertise. Stores like Higher.com.pk and Babynestboutique.com are examples.
Facebook Retailers: This is the final category of Pakistani online retailers. These retailers have well-established Facebook businesses or groups, with examples including Facebook business sites (shops) such as Haniakidsclothing and Lahore Buy & Sell.
Pakistan’s Biggest E-commerce Stores:
Many of them follow the Amazon business model, in which they handle the packaging and distribution of your items.
In summary, if you can't get a store the size of Daraz.pk out of your head, you may start selling with them and let the world's largest online retail shop handle non-productive chores.
Here’s the list of these e-commerce giants:
Daraz.pk
Yayvo.com
Shophive.com
Homeshopping.pk
Symbios.pk
Rocket.pk
Now we'll take a look at the top three retailers, review them thoroughly, and discover who they cater to and how we can use these large platforms to our advantage.
Daraz.pk:
Daraz was launched in 2012 by Rocket Online, a German internet incubator, and venture financing firm. This effort was co-founded by two Pakistanis, Muneeb Maayr and Fares Shah, and the website features goods from cottage businesses as well as 126+ big brands.
Rocket.pk:
rocket is a Pakistan-based online shopping website that provides products online with cash-on-delivery payment methods and free shipping options. They have a wide range of products. It is an authentic site for online shopping.
Telemart.pk
Telemart is also one of Pakistan's major e-commerce companies, as well as the country's largest tech retailer, with shops throughout the country.
