Daraz.pk is Your Gateway to Online Fashion in Pakistan*
Stumbling across daraz.pk wasn’t accidental, I had heard of this growing online venture since the past year but had always been hesitant to peruse through the site, mainly due to my own misguided notions of e-commerce ventures in Pakistan. I was convinced that they were all scams and the products that they sell would be different than those advertised on the site.
My prejudice against online shopping only initially started to break when my wife ordered an EGO kurta for herself on daraz.pk and it came a couple of days later; beautifully packed, sealed, and with a 10% complimentary discount for being a first-time customer. However, I remained skeptical for a variety of reasons. Firstly, it has always been my preference to use a credit card for all fashion and apparel shopping, as it racks up points which I can redeem, gives me surprise discounts, and I have the freedom of converting the payment into easy installments. E-commerce websites in Pakistan usually offer cash-on-delivery, and I wasn’t sure whether I could trust those who offered an online payment option. Furthermore, I require my clothes to be a certain fit and I reject those that do not meet my very stringent requirements. I was uncertain whether a purchase online would satisfy these conditions. However, the clinching factor behind my decision to try daraz.pk was that they offered a 7-day, unconditional return policy. If for whatever reason I was unsatisfied with my purchase, they would give me a full refund, no questions asked.
The most striking and impressive part of the Daraz website is its incredible attention to detail, vast product and brand suite, as well as other convenient features like currency converter (for international customers), size charts, as well as SSL encryption for secure credit card purchases. I was simply blown away by the vast range of products available on the website (over 400 clothing brands alone), the easy to navigate menu, as well as the guarantee to ship to even the remotest areas of the country. All my fears about shopping online in Pakistan were quickly laid to rest, as this website was comparable to most international fashion websites that I had seen. I ended up purchasing a pair of Stoneage jeans, which arrived in pristine condition and fitted perfectly. Never again would I have to invest time, effort and resources to find my way to a mall. Daraz.pk gave me everything I needed.
I am also convinced that as delivery and payment methods become more sophisticated and ubiquitous, the largest players in the industry will develop scalable models to replicate the successes of online retailers like Amazon. Eventually, there will be no divide between rural and urban centers, in terms of consumer products, offerings, as well as reach and accessibility
*This experience has been shared with us by a first time shopper on daraz.pk