Daraz had a particularly successful year in 2021. Daraz completed the year with over 40 million active users on its platform across five regions, according to the group’s founder and CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen, and made significant progress on user experience.
According to him, Daraz is in a solid position going ahead into 2022, owing to the development and optimization of its service offering, as well as favourable market dynamics across South Asia.
Daraz’s goal for 2022 is to lift the bar even higher for exceptional consumer and seller experiences, as well as to attract more female users and merchants to the marketplace. He owes the company’s remarkable success to great word of mouth and excellent experience. According to Mikkelsen, Daraz’s customer satisfaction levels have risen considerably as a result of a range of activities.
Among other things, according to Mikkelsen, digital maturity has been advancing in South Asia, in part because to Covid-19, but also due to a significant government focus. According to him, the pandemic has had a significant influence because more clients are shopping online, forcing SMEs to discover new sales methods.
“I firmly believe we are now at an inflection point in South Asia’s digital economy, and in the years to come, we will see exponential growth across the region,” Mikkelsen says.
When asked about the year’s highlights, he quickly points out that the debut of Daraz Live, a live streaming function, was one of the most significant.
“This [live streaming] allowed us to provide the opportunity to our customers to engage directly with sellers through livestreamed interactive sessions and have access to a range of real-time content.
“We also live streamed the T20 World Cup free of charge on the Daraz App to everyone across Pakistan. This was an exciting moment for all of us at Daraz to bring international cricket to millions of Pakistanis,” Mikkelsen remarks.
He also mentions Daraz’s annual grand sale 11.11, claiming that the 11.11 sale was the year’s most popular promotion, with over 14 million people accessing the site across five regions and about US$10 million in items sold in the first hour.
Mikkelsen claims that the ultimate goal of Daraz’s rebranding is to make e-commerce a significant part of people’s daily life. He expects that by updating the brand, Daraz will be able to provide more personalised experiences, guarantee that quality services and goods are delivered at every stage of the process, and provide additional entertainment and engagement opportunities for both consumers and sellers.
Ehsan Saya, Managing Director of Daraz Pakistan, says the company wants to invest more than $100 million in infrastructure and upskilling SMEs to help the country’s digital economy thrive. He thinks that by helping to drive earnings for over 300,000 SMEs and creating over one million employment, this investment would unlock significant growth for the group’s business and deliver more economic prosperity to the country.
When it comes to giving back to the community, Saya says the group’s mission is to improve communities via the power of business, and he feels that education is the key to fully unlocking Pakistan’s and the region’s potential.
As a result, Daraz University equips entrepreneurs and small businesses with the skills they need to succeed online. Daraz’s online learning centre provides customised and localised training on all aspects of the e-commerce ecosystem, allowing vendors to obtain free certification from top institutions. Daraz University educates approximately 5,000 vendors each month, enabling them to establish their own enterprises.
According to Saya, the business is dedicated to collaborating with the Pakistani government to help the country’s e-commerce and digitalization thrive.
