AKD | Pakistan’s Exceptional Growth in E-Commerce Sector

March 27, 2018 / BY Faizan Shahzad

Pakistan’s Exceptional Growth in E-Commerce Sector

It may not be apparent on the international platforms but Pakistan is an ideal country to evaluate lots of sectors in the corporate world. Real estate is the biggest example of this as Pakistan is considered to be one of the most suitable countries for investment in real estate. But now there are other options available as well. According to the revised report of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Pakistan has made tremendous growth in the e-commerce sector and is about to cross the border of 1 billion in regards of profits. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority conducted the same research and predicted this margin of one billion to be crossed by e-commerce sector in the year 2020. But the sector showed extreme progress and hence, is believed to cross 1 billion point right this year. However, it is not surprising, considering the growing amount of awareness professionals in marketing sector are having regarding to e-commerce. Although e-commerce is as delicate as stock market exchange, one shift and the situation is changed. But regardless of the complexity of this business, Pakistan is real closed to achieve the milestone. The rise of e- commerce platforms and online shopping platforms are the clear indicator of further growth which is indeed a good sign for the country. Moreover, the online payment space in Pakistan will be improved as the State Bank of Pakistan’s data clearly indicate the strong chances of beneficial growth in this regard. Adam Dawood, head of the online shopping portal Yayvo said, “If we believe that 85% of the market is based on cash on delivery payments, then the fact that we have already achieved Rs 9.3 billion of prepayment sales within the first six months of FY18 puts us on a fairly easy course to hit $1 billion in e-commerce sales this year.” He further added, “Data of the last seven quarters shows that total volume of e-commerce sales has risen every quarter except for the second quarter of the current financial year. Assuming the trend stays the same we are sure to cross $1 billion in sales,” The growth is depending upon the golden rule of ‘Demand and Supply’ in which many business tycoons still believe. Both, the demand from customers for online trade and the availability of platforms to do so is growing in the country. Financing also plays an important role in this regard. Dawood explained it in this way. “Opening up their debit and credit cards to be used online as they implement 3D securitization, making transacting online a much more seamless journey than before”. Despite of the fact that it is indeed a big achievement, there is still a lot of space for improvement as Pakistan still lags behind from India and China. According to market research portal Statista, Pakistan’s e-commerce sales amounted to $622 million in 2017 compared to India’s $20.05 billion and China’s $1.2 trillion. But the factor of competition is a motivation itself to encounter the problems which comes in between to acquire a greater status in e-commerce.