Today I want to point out why there is such a huge difference when it comes to online shopping in Pakistan as compared to other countries and why our people do not trust Pakistani online shopping websites.
Certainly, the growth of globalization and information technology has opened new avenues for our businesses and entrepreneurs to a good extent.
And global eCommerce giants like Amazon, Alibaba, and eBay have successfully established their presence in international markets. However, in spite of its global appeal and massive growth, eCommerce sector is not emerging as a large industry player in Pakistan.
Why is that so?
As every market has its unique characteristics, what I witnessed is that there are several economic, social and cultural reasons behind the slow growth and less acceptance of e-commerce businesses here.
I have seen here that there is a culture of fraud and misrepresentation in our markets where sellers hide the weaknesses of their products.
This has been evident in several online shopping cases where color, size, design or form of the product is different from the picture displayed on the website. The overall culture of fraudulent marketing practices of the Pakistani businesses has affected the trust level of consumers.
Secondly, there is a lack of effective discounts on online sites. Globally, large e-commerce players have achieved growth by offering high discounts to their customers but sellers here do not understand this tactic.
As Pakistan has low per-capita income and high inflation, local markets are filled with low-priced, non-branded grocery and household items. But e-commerce businesses have yet to explore this segment on a large scale.
Also, why e-commerce has failed to gain widespread acceptance here is also because of the sole focus on urban upper-middle class consumers who are just one segment of the overall consumer base. And so, our existing e-commerce businesses are urban-centric, when it shouldn’t ignore the rural consumers who constitute the 60 per cent of the population.
In short, online sellers should focus on these social, cultural and economic issues and try to keep on moving with fair goal of long-term prosperity in mind. Just like every business, keep in mind that it’s the trust of consumers and ethical practices of businesses with respect to the fair pricing, acceptable quality, no hidden charges and efficient delivery that win the hearts of consumers.
Now here I leave question for you, why amazon is the trustable shopping source all over the globe and on what basis they achieved this position?
Credit: Saqib Azhar
