Pakistan’s E-Commerce Market to Cross $1Billion this Year

The size of Pakistan’s e-commerce sector is expected to cross the $1-billion mark in fiscal year 2017 coveted-18, this surprising development is disclosed by an industry official.

The increase in broadband penetration along with a rise in the number of online payment merchants, the six-month data of the central bank indicates that Pakistan will cross the threshold in FY18.

Pakistan’s E-Commerce Market will Cross $1Billion

Strong growth during the current fiscal year will push annual sales beyond $1 billion said by Adam Dawood, head of Yayvo, the online shopping portal that is part of TCS E-COM (Pvt.).

Adam Dawood also said that:

If we believe that 85% of the market is based on cash on delivery (COD) payments, then the fact that we have already achieved Rs9.3 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. According to market practices more than four out of five orders have been reported to be cash on delivery. Based on this assumption, total e-commerce sales during the first two quarters have already reached Rs65.3 billion. 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

During the previous fiscal year prepayment sales amounted to Rs9.8 billion. According to the Payment System Review published by the State Bank of Pakistan (SBP), during the first half of the current fiscal, sales of Rs9.3 billion have been made.

Mr. Dawood stated that the cash on delivery mechanism is a major blessing for the e-commerce sector. We have more than five online payment gateways and our logistics companies can reach practically every Pakistani and offer them products through COD.

He also said that the number of online payment merchants the Broadband penetration have both witnessed a massive increase within the year. Number of subscriptions has increased from 44.5 million to 52 million subscribers while the number of merchants has gone up from 571 to 905 by January.

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