The rise in e-commerce business has been witnessed all over the globe, and now, Pakistan has been observing the same trend over the past few years. As a result, the online shopping trend has also amplified more than ever in Pakistan. Due to the expansion of online marketing, there is a massive growth in the consumer-to-consumer (C2C) and business-to-consumer (B2B) businesses that focus on web marketing. Today, people are buying almost everything from the Internet, from the low-priced daily wears to expensive gadgets.
What are the Most Dominating Online Marketplaces in Pakistan?
Pakistan doesn’t lag in providing an international-standard facility when it comes to online shopping. The most obvious online marketplaces in Pakistan are Daraz.pk, Yayvo and newly launched Getnow that provide and Amazon-structured marketplace within the country. To tell you the truth, Pakistanis mostly prefer buying through Facebook pages as it is easier for them to browse, search, and place an order on the Facebook Messenger.
Shopping has become pretty much simpler because of the introduction and growth of online markets. One of the reasons why Pakistanis adore web buying is they don’t need to rush into the nauseating traffic for long. The temperature in Pakistan has elevated many folds over the past few years, and therefore, people think twice before shopping outdoors. People are trusting Internet shopping more and more because most of the services offer Cash on Delivery (COD) and return policies. Also, the majority of the Pakistani nation is job-oriented so they rarely get time to for shopping. Online shopping provides them with pleasure while saving both their time and energy.
What Challenges do the Startups Face?
As mentioned earlier, people prefer either Facebook or the online marketplaces and Google is still not in the list of options for searching their favorite brands or products. It means businesses have to spend a handsome amount of money on digital marketing to attract customers. Also, Pakistanis are both price and sales conscious which require businesses to design a unique strategy, not only to attract but to maintain a long-term relation with their customers. As a result, we see advertisements showing customer-oriented USPs, discount packages, free delivery services, etc.
Women vs. Men
According to a report aired by a private news channel, there are certain high peak times when Pakistanis do web buying the most. They mostly shop between 2:00 pm to 8:00 pm. It has also been reported that there are approximately 30 million Internet users in Pakistan who love online shopping. As a result, the sales have increased up to $30 million over the past few years that are expected to grow further. Surprisingly, only 30% shoppers were reported to be female while 70% were males.
The reason why Pakistani women are reluctant in buying from the web is because they prefer a first-hand experience of shopping. Most of the Pakistani women judge and test the products before buying; therefore, they are skeptical about buying online. However, the trend is changing rapidly and due to a growing in online marketplaces, women are trusting online stores now. Their trust is growing because most of the brands are very much into e-commerce and women show brand loyalty.
