PriceOye is Pakistan’s leading price comparison startup that helps people find the best value deals for mobile phones sold in trusted online stores. Speaking to IDG Pakistan is Awais Imran, co-founder and head of content & design.
“The entire idea is to make online shopping simple for budget-conscious consumers. Chances are, if you’re a Pakistani, you are budget-conscious and are willing to go the extra mile to get a good discount. PriceOye wants to remove the extra mile by enabling you to find the lowest prices on one page, so you don’t have to go to each online store separately, note down prices, warranties, shipment times, and do the comparison yourself.” He said when talking about how he came across the idea for PriceOye.
As of current PriceOye has about ten online stores on board which include big names such as Daraz, Yayvo, Homeshopping, Mega, Telemart etc.
Being an entrepreneur is certainly not easy, and there are many challenges that one comes across especially when running a brand new startup. Speaking about challenges faced as an entrepreneur with regards to his work at PriceOye and previous ventures, Awais shares:
“The most challenging days is always at the very start of a new startup. It is when things are extremely uncertain, there are more questions than answers, and it is difficult to get outsiders to believe in your mission and vision.”
The ecommerce industry already has various price comparison websites, but what sets PriceOye apart from the likes of JustPrice and PriceMatch according to Awais is that PriceOye is custom-developed from the group up, which gives them much greater performance and flexibility, while helping to maintain system stability as they scale up.
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Ever since PriceOye launch in February 2016 their user growth has been organic according to Awais. “Today, we’re serving 600,000+ monthly page-views from hundreds of thousands of users monthly. This is enabled by our team’s expertise in user experience, software development, and online marketing.”
However PriceOye is still in its beta mode, they are expected to see a number of product updates including a complete redesign, they are also planning on adding multiple categories so one can compare prices of more than just mobile phones. In the future, they are also looking forward to use social media as a more powerful source of acquiring new users, and staying on top of people’s minds.
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On a closing note, Awais said
“The greatest support Pakistani startups need is direct mentorship. The startup ecosystem is nascent here; so many founders are operating on half-knowledge and information, which drastically reduces chances of success. We have many accomplished entrepreneurs amongst us who can help new founders succeed, but for one reason or another, they don’t do that.”
Interview conducted/edited by: IDG
