Online markets have always remained a controversial subject because of trust and risk issues that are associated with the context. Despite the ease and convenience, that a shopping website offers, they were never able to gain the same popularity and success as conventional shops where buyers have face to face interactions with sellers and direct contact with the things they intend to purchase.
The local online markets were specifically considered unreliable and risky sites, but some of them managed to prove it wrong since they are not like the common online retailers that sell grocery, clothes, etc, but are the electronic dealers who sell items worth thousands of rupees.
The success of these online retailers is a source of encouragement for fresh start-ups aiming to sell goods online including food, clothes, hand bags, beauty products, shoes, jewelry, and other gift items. The very first confidence that these popular, local, online marketplaces provide is that local environment is favorable and feasible for online marketplaces.
Sites like Shophive, Azmalo.pk, Home Shopping and Hafeez Centre all have been operating in Pakistan for quite a long time and have become quite popular. All of them sell electronic goods such as mobile phones, home appliances, networking devices and gaming accessories. The point worth mentioning here is these are expensive purchases.
Their success shows that customers are increasingly buying electronic products, particularly mobile phones via a website hence indicating their trust in online marketplaces.
This good omen offsets some questions. Why wouldn’t other ecommerce portals work when marketplaces selling costly products are a success in Pakistan? Creating a website isn’t difficult, but maintaining the value of that online presence is challenging. These portals need to be explicit in their offerings and delivery of products. Failure to do so only could affect peoples’ perspective about the goods purchased online as it is an emerging market and requires a lot of time and effort to build up public trust.
With a significantly increasing number of mobile internet users and developing app culture, the chances for online businesses to succeed have improved because people want to keep connected to the whole world and need quick information in the modern day world. It is also more feasible for internet users to browse and order online as compared to the hassle of visiting the market and spending time on what could otherwise be done within minutes. There is an additional element though— the basic requirement for online business is to engage their audience and offer them the chance of what they really like doing.
Here, we have selected some of the top online business start-ups that have remarkably expanded in a very short time. They are smart, innovative and above all successful. If you have an online portal you want to evaluate, check these brands for their web design, user interface, usability and online marketing trends.
EatOye – IT Infrastructure and Offline Mob App
EatOye, also formerly known as Food Connection Pakistan, is the largest online food portal so far with more than 700 food retailers registered and countless cuisines and deals. You can order food online, get in touch with your favorite restaurants, reserve a table as well as check customer reviews. It operates in 8 different cities targeting young people between ages 20 to 35. What highlights EatOye is its innovative approach towards facilitating its customers.
The website has exciting deals to offer and the same can be accessed using a mobile application which is the first food app that also works offline using SMS services. So, if you are ever using the EatOye mobile app without wifi coverage, your orders will still be placed using SMS. It is accessible both online and offline and it is the first of its kind in Pakistan. None of the technologies implemented at EatOye are being outsourced. It’s a self-sustaining project being mentored by ArpaTech – and its success largely depends on how efficiently the systems are operated.
“You have to sell the concept of being online. That’s the challenge itself. We might be living in the digital age, but not a lot of people or restaurants are digitized as yet. As compared to other economies we are not even eating out as much compared to them by any measure. However, we showcase all restaurants on our food portal. That way those restaurants lagging the digital imprint stand to benefit with greater digital visibility, at home and abroad, thus making for a ‘win-win’ situation for all.”
Rai Umair, Chief Technology Officer says
FoodPanda: Your Virtual Subway for Food Orders
FoodPanda is another leading online food service where users can simply place their food orders online instead of calling different restaurants. It has 300 restaurants onboard with countless cuisines, deals and exclusive packages where you can browse online or via the FoodPanda mobile application. It has an extensive customer relation management protocol which records your preferences and creates your profile based on your orders, making it easier to choose from the filtered results with basic needs fulfilled. Additionally, it also makes it easier for the customers to try new restaurants and cuisines by providing them with user reviews.
FoodPanda is operating in 36 countries with a huge database of restaurants and customers. Starting in Pakistan was however very much different from the rest of the world. The founding team members had to figure out different ways of communication between FoodPanda and its restaurant partners as well as FoodPanda and its customers. It started with a team of 4 to 5 people from Karachi who went to almost every restaurant and promoted the concept of FoodPanda.
“The whole idea was to gather a very selective list of restaurants who are delivering in different areas of Pakistan because we are creating a small eco system where not only you can order food online but also talk, comment, review cuisines and restaurants.”
Amin Ur Rehman, Co-Founder FoodPanda Pakistan
Daraz – Re-tweaking Marketing Trends with User Data
Daraz is one of the first Pakistani e-commerce ventures that sell fashion online. It is funded by Rocket Internet, the largest venture capital e-commerce incubator in the world that raises more money globally for e-commerce ventures that any other company. You can find clothes, shoes, and fashion accessories using a customized search depending on your interest. You can adjust price limit, choose color combination, size as well as brands. It has a huge list of items that you won’t find in any local store on one platform.
What makes Daraz exciting and reliable is its customer support service and user data. You can place orders online which are delivered at your doorstep along with a free return form in case if they do not fit your desired preferences. Moreover, it keeps a history of what you click and browse on Daraz and based on that information, it creates your profile which has stored information about your location, preference and style. This is the key factor for boosting Daraz’s sale because as an emerging online market, consumers are just adjusting to online shopping and usually weighing it with a sense of risk attached.
“We keep a record of our users and we know exactly where you are coming from, your location, email address; we know where you have clicked; we know what product you have viewed and purchased. There is a huge data generated everyday which we then use to provide better products and services using different models. That’s the beauty of the online markets– everyday you go back and re-tweak your business from what you have seen the day before. You have the propensity to tweak and make changes according to consumer behavior.”
Muneeb Maayr, Co-founder of Daraz.pk
KhaoPiyo – Creating a different menu for each restaurant
The major difference you see at KhaoPiyo is the way menus are created. Every restaurant is an individual website and this portal is making good progress without advertising much. It’s a self financed small company that has emerged on such a big scale.
The system installed at Khaopiyo generates SMS which are sent with every order to the restaurant along with the details of the customer. A reverse SMS goes to the customer with update. The company is primarily focusing on on-time delivery and is selectively registering partners that are keenly focused and committed.
“I think I am extremely optimistic about e-commerce business in Pakistan and I think we will have credit card integration for further growth in the industry. I’m glad that there is a good competition. The brands will come and leave, but only those people who can survive will eventually create new business markets for Pakistan. You just need to deliver quality products and be reliable – that is the key for growth in online businesses.”
CEO KhaoPiyo, Riaz Salim
DealToday – With a Women Specific Audience
DealToday is one of the most popular e-commerce platforms in Pakistan that provides exciting new deals for its customers. Everything on DealToday is sold on a special discount. In more than 80% of the cases, deals are offered at 50% discount. In some cases however there is a lesser discount as well.
These deals offered by different retailers are placed on the DealToday website. The customer places the order and provides his, or her, phone number and address. In response, he gets a phone call from the DealToday call center for confirmation. Since the credit card system in Pakistan is not very popular, cash is collected on delivery.
Unlike other e-commerce websites that are selling their own products, DealToday only focused on Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. It has more than 15 thousand customers in Karachi and on an average it sells 200 deals everyday. It is very popular among women as most of its deals are beauty products, saloon deals and cuisines.
“We are the only e-commerce platform which has a women specific audience. We focus on providing more deals that are basically for women. Though we have restaurant and product deals available, but most popular deals on our website are always the discounted saloon deals – women want to go to saloons. We have had a lot of men’s saloon deals as well but surprisingly a lot of women are buying these men saloon deals for their husbands.”
Shahrukh Chaudhary, CEO at Dealtoday.pk
Easy Taxi – Keeping Track of Your Cab
With EasyTaxi you can order a cab anytime from anywhere. It is feasible for everyone as you can get the nearest available cab in your location when you make a request. You can order a cab following a simple process via mobile application, website as well as by making a phone call. The mobile application has added features and you can see the driver coming towards you on Google Maps, which is also a part of the application. When the driver reaches you, you press the Customer Boarded button and drive to your desired location.
“You can order a cab using the Easy Taxi app by simply pressing the button which says ‘Request Taxi’. It searches for drivers nearby your location and pings them. Then it’s the drivers’ choice to accept or reject a ride. When the driver accepts the ride, the customer receives a confirmation message saying the ride has been accepted and the driver is coming to you. This service is not available anywhere else in Pakistan and currently we do not have any competition. It is exciting; it’s brand new.”
Adam Ghaznavi, Venture Leader for Easy Taxi
