Black Friday Broke All Previous Online Shopping Records for Pakistan

I am going to call it a massive hit. Daraz — and other online shopping stores — broke all previous sale records, with Daraz standing out as a clear winner during the entire event for more sales than anyone else.

Before we get into statistical details for Black Friday, I am very clear about one thing: This black Friday was the best thing that has ever happened to Pakistan’s ecommerce industry since its inception.

Despite all the hiccups, down times, website sluggishness, out of stock and other related issues, I will say that Daraz successfully planted a seed that will help grow Pakistan’s ecommerce industry to the next level.

There were issues — technical and otherwise too — I can say this without any doubt, but let’s not compare Pakistan’s nascent ecommerce solution with established western standards.

Rather, we should gauge how well consumers responded to a call that was spread through digital mediums, how massively Pakistanis went to online stores when majority of them didn’t trust online stores just a few days ago, and by considering that how many of orders were paid in advance in a market where 95% plus consumers used to opt COD (cash on delivery) because they wanted to feel the product before they pay for it.

I would say that the the buzz I witnessed on November 27th, 2015 and then the way orders started to reach the buyers as early as Friday morning (with-in few hours of placing the orders) and the magnitude of sales that Pakistani online stores managed to achieve, is astounding, very significant and was unforeseen.

Daraz.PK’s Sales on Black Friday

  • Daraz received 1.5 million visits on its website on Black Friday
  • Daraz received 55 times more orders on Nov 27th than a regular shopping day
  • Shoppers enjoyed a total of Rs 132 million worth of discounts from the company – that only leaves one wondering how high their revenue for the day must have been with electronics being the highest selling category.
  • Daraz sold a large number of iPhone 6S handsets, which were available at 26% discount (Rs 18,000 off), within the first few minutes.
  • The number of men’s shoes sold on the day were equivalent to the sales made in three months even though men’s shoes is a strong category on a regular day as well.
  • Daraz.pk sold more fridges, washing machines and gaming consoles on Black Friday than it has in the history of Daraz.
  • 66.7% of the orders on Black Friday were from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad – 40.3%, 17.5% and 8.9%, respectively and the rest were all from other Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities.
  • Thanks to Easypay discount option – one third of the payments made on Black Friday were debit/credit card payments.
  • 25% of the total visits on Daraz.pk were on the Daraz app

Daraz_Black_Friday

This infographic has been provided by Daraz.PK

What Consumers Think About Black Friday?

Thanks to respondents of a ProPakistani poll, we have some idea of consumers’ sentiments for Black Friday. Poll results suggest that less than 8% people didn’t know of Black Friday, hinting that the idea that was floated just couple of weeks ago, penetrated well into the masses and more than 92% people knew about it, even if they didn’t buy anything.

A vast majority of respondents, i.e. more than 50% of individuals, said that they wanted to make a purchase on Black Friday but didn’t because either they didn’t find anything interesting or prices were not as per their expectation; hinting that these overwhelming number of consumers were just ready but didn’t make a transaction this time.

We anticipate that as ecommerce industry will mature in Pakistan, one should expect better prices and more variety of products during such shopping festivals and that’s when above mentioned sales’ numbers will get multiplied with at least 2 digit figure in just an year from now.

More details in below infographic:

Poll_Black_Friday_01

 

Tech and telecom reporter for over 15 years


  • 92% of people who knew propakistan. not 92% of pak population.. cuz poll was made at this site only

  • I am still waiting for daraz to send my things I purchased on Black Friday. The sluggishness is apparent. Aamir please ask them to deliver the packages asap. Cheezmall is the worst yet as it’s been 6 days I ordered a few things and still waiting for the call.

  • What ever it is, I hate to see black put before Friday. However propk can push WhiteFriday instead, it doesn’t make deals less attractive

        • An anime character (Renge from Non Non Biyori); well, if you knew that, you wouldn’t have made such an ill-informed statement.

        • @mysteryjeans:disqus: Tum jese logon ki waja se na humara mulk badnaam hai. Hadh hou gai, yaar. Aik tou tum urbandictionary se black ki definition bta rahay hou, upar se tumhe pata hai nahi ke “Black Friday” ka matlab kya hai. Plus, you just called this guy a “hypocrite” because he watches anime. Wow. Ya khud ko goli maar dou ya mujhe maar dou.

    • i am okay with this black friday name. it has nothing to do with religion. dont drag religion to everything and even black color doesn’t mean something curse, its tohamparasti of black color. get out of it.

      • May be you are right! but Friday has been drag on lot of places where it shouldn’t, anyways my point is not about curse but relates to sadness!

        I don’t want to drag religion or hurt other’s religion! so lets leave at that!

        PS: My favorite color is Black & Red, my current car has Black color!

        • hmmmmm i hope next time they will come woth new name. between u should write to rocket internet.

          • Rocket internet?
            Are you talking about the secret NASA’s program they kept secret from the ‘people’?

        • you better stop using none Muslims products if you have any problem. :) i bet you cant live without them. so stop crying on stupid things, friday and sunday has nothing to do with religion. only prayers on that particular days are associated with our religion.

          • Being a Muslim we cant. Because we cant even eradicate interest from our banking system. How being a Muslim we can do something that is non beneficial/Harmful for non-Muslim.

  • Did Rs 50,000 worth of shopping with great discounts and i got my things in time. So experience was good.
    Also EasyPaisa shops were not accepting money because they were not getting any commission on it.

    • dial 3737 and complaint right there standing in shop about such shopkeepers. They want 200rs commission from a 500rs sale. call charges 10paisas, only from telenor

    • Most easypaisa shops were not accepting because they had no idea about EasyPay. As the message sent by Telenor also read that please guide retailer about EasyPay. I told him thrice and he got it. He said it’s some new thing and I did not know before.

  • iPhone 6s was listed there on discounted price only for one minute and i wonder how much orders would have been placed in one minute while site already gone down. Fake

    • Exactly. I logged in at 12AM sharp and saw and iPhone 6s was being offered for Rs.62k but as I rushed down to place my order, an error appeared; item out of stock and I was like SERIOUSLY?
      In a nutshell iPhone 6s deals seemed fake to me!

      • No i dont think its fake cuz i experienced same error and after that was able to get my phone on big discount after trying alot.

      • Iphone 6 phr agle PooRey Din Milra tha or Stock Out Hora tha, Black Friday Sirf Friday k Raat 12 se 1 ko ni kehte.

    • And my cousin got it the discounts started to appear from 11:00and the iPhone and huaweis were all sold by 12:00

  • i would say for Daraz.pk, it was Black Fraud day……………..while on 11.11 ali express did so good, that was the real fun of shopping where i bought 128 GB usb just for Rs. 950/-

  • It’s been a while seeing ProPK advertising daraz. It’s less of a telecom related site and more of promoting what they are paid for. Sick of it like as much like advertising messages in my mobile. Should I quite visiting ProPK or what!

    • Kuch bhi likhtay ho bhai ? parh to lo pehlay article .. its about E-commerce / online shopping and new sale ideas .. Jo start karega usi ka naam aey ga na ????

      • Mazrat ke saath sir, upar article main daraz ke illawa aur kuch bhi nahi. Daraz sold this, Daraz sold this, Daraz sold this, even the infographics is for daraz only.

        Aisa lag raha hai Daraz wale apni sales ka overview de rahe hain ke un logon ne kia kia bech dia. baki tu kisi ka zikar bhi nahi.

        Also jin logon ko abhi tak order nahi mile uska kia? aur jin logon ko fake maal chipkaya hai uska kia? aur jin logon ko damage cheez mili hai uska kia? yeh sari chezain article main nahi likhni chahiye theen? just ek word ‘hiccups’ kafi hai in sari chezon ko describe karne ke liye?

        • ap paisa da da yeh ap ka nam b artcile likh da ga aur ap ko e-commerce ka pionerr b sabit ker da ga ap paisa da inhay aur tamasha dekhay

          • Boss aisa bhi nahi, aur agar aisa hai bhi tu yeh inki apni site hai is par jo chahen woh upload kar dain :-) Hum aacha/buda bol sakte hain but faisla nahi kar sakte ke kia upload hona chahiye aur kia nahi.

        • exactly brother, ye idea wohi leke aey t0 unhi ka naam aey ga na, her paper her emag n even websites mey #BlackFriday chalta rha, even twitter pe trend hota raha .. aap ko is mey boht kuch galat mil jaeyga magar mjy to E-commerce / online shopping k farogh k liye boht acha step nazar ata hy ye black frida sale event .. Propakistani ik concept ko promote kr rha hy, mujhay ye dikhaii deta hy brother.

          • Aap ka last line wala point samajh aata hai, ke ProPakistani is concept ko promote kar raha hai aur woh baat tu sahi hai start tu kahin na kahin se hona chahiye. Magar uske masail bhi likhte tu ziyada behtar hota kia khayal hai?

  • I got some really good deals at daraz.pk .. got hot2 with 2400 discount, got cordless fone for atleast 700 less than market price and some mobile accessoriex and lawn shopping for family, so my experience was suuuuperb.. i really appreciate daraz for introducing these sale ideas in pakistan nI really liked the easypay method, it was fast n easy ..

  • I ordered 4 items from daraz.pk , three of them were Zainab Market quality at very high price even after discount. and two were sent wrong .

    Now when i wanted to return this , no one is picking up their UAN .

    In my opinion i will never recommend daraz.pk to any one

    • Once I ordered a ladies wallet, it was shown very attractive in image but when I received, I was shocked. For Rs. 1150, I got worse than Rs. 50 item from LANDA BAZAR. When I sent the product back for refund, they accepted on phone but upon reaching them they refused refund. After struggles, I was refunded in the form of coupon, another injustice

  • How to Pay from Pakistan While purchasing anything from Ali Express, I tried Using Western Union Method but the western union centers here says we dont do person to company Transfers and Our Debit cards are international So what to do.

  • Well the CEO of Daraz.pk is not Pakistani, so what type of progress you expect with this so called Hit Black Friday for Pakistan?

      • You must be kidding. Did you even check their White Friday deals page? Daraz’s looked like a joke in comparison. They had some of Samsung’s latest led tvs, including the curved 4k one, for as low as 35k below market price. I got a 40 incher myself, can’t be more happy with the purchase.

  • Sorry to burst your bubble, but that 128GB USB stick is fake. It will show 128GB when you plug it in but all of the 128GB won’t work.

      • In 2007, I bought a 32GB USB from Ebay at a ridiculous price and I couldn’t write more than 100mb on it. Unless the USB stick is from a reputable brand, it’s most probably a fake.

      • Don’t worry. If it isn’t 128GB claim refund from AliExpress. You’ll get your money back easily.

          • It’s extremely easy with AliExpress. The actual seller won’t get the money by Aliexpress until the buyer marks the order as received. Hashim just has to dispute the order and provide proof that it isn’t 128GB. The seller will then refund him. I have done this multiple times.

            • ahaan but u have to do it before confirmation of the payment. let suppose if u get your thing late and seller didn’t extend the protection time payment will released automatically what would u do then.? it happened with me i purchased one led of my laptop from there , my led held by custom when it got relased my protection time was getting out and when i requested he didnt extended the time and even that led didn’t work :S so i got baba ji ka thalo. lost pkr 10000

              • lol that’s why I never buy expensive stuff from there. I’ve had to extend protection multiple times and the seller complied no questions asked.

  • how do daraz make sure that the electronics products on its site are genuine and not refurbished ?
    because even in countries like UAE , Kuwait etc people are having this problem that the product they got appears new but its refurbished

  • Is it just me, or does the whole article read like an ad for daraz? There’s not a single mention of any vendor other than daraz, nor any sales statistics even though the title states they all did great. I have to ask, does ProPakistani have any stake in the company?

  • ordered two shoes two pajamas one trouser and one mobile phone, got one pajam very next day other is being shipped and mobile is still under processed, discount was awesome plus couldn’t feel any difficulty in shopping from them. which phone i ordered were out of stock then they updated the stock and i would be able to cart it.

  • Absolute FRAUD! Anyone who is supporting this crap and calling it the birth of e-commerce in Pakistan is probably on DOPE! Never ever recommending this crap to anyone again!

    • Bus Raat 12 Baje ae, Site Down Mili to Buraian Shru kardi, Bhai BlackFriday Poorey Friday Hota ha, Subah Uth k dekh to lete sab Set tha or Stock b are the.

      • Haroon sahab, Zubair bhai specifically iPhone 6 wali deal ki baat kar rahe hain. Woh shuro ke ek do minutes baad hi end hogayi thi :-)

  • If you place an order with Cash On Delivery option, does the delivery guy let you check the items before you pay him? Please share your experience. Thanks.

  • I even didn’t get my order confirmed on the website let alone receiving the product despite paying the payment in advance at easypaisa shop and within the time limit given by Daraz. They are only saying we are reviewing your order. Its seventh day now.

  • correct first sentence from ‘during the entire event for more sales than anyone lese.’ to ‘during the entire event for more sales than anyone else.’

  • i got my order on Infinix Zero 2 next day. quick service , awesome phone,Super amoled, light weight, Antutu result 37k plus

  • i ordered a laptop on friday and it was dispatched on monday but not yet recieved!!! and i live in Karachi :(

  • “Daraz received 55 times more orders on Nov 27th than a regular shopping day”
    How cool it could be if they would have shared exact number? & exact number of iphones sold instead of saying a large number? because this gives no information, if every day they get 5 orders then it means they only got 275 orders that day.

  • Since lot of people thinks they are intelligent starts bashing me for asking not use Black with Friday! and what it seems moderator hide that comment. Why you don’t object about Black when used in following contests….? and these are just few

    ProPakistani – Pakistani Websites Blackout in Protest against Internet Taxes: http://propakistani.pk/2015/06/08/pakistani-websites-blackout-in-protest-against-internet-taxes/

    Tribune – Complete Shutdown: Black day observed by Kashmiris: http://tribune.com.pk/story/980393/complete-shutdown-black-day-observed-by-kashmiris/

    Wiki – Black World Wide Web protest: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_World_Wide_Web_protest

    UrbanDictionary – Black refers as Darkness: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=Black

  • Have you actually looked at their facebook page. Its full of complaints and negative comments. Everyone is complaining. They sold more then they could actually handle and now they are having problems in delivering and ontop of everything they took advance payments.

    What good are discounts if the item doesnt get delivered. Or there is no support if there is any issue in the delivered item. They send it via courier and dont even let you check the item before accepting.

  • i think we need a another pool , in pool we discus Cash on delivery, Easy Paisa or others just likes and VISA/Master Debit or Credit card payment option to buy online products, i think easy paisa is not good option, Cash on delivery is much better.

  • While this certainly has laid the foundation of e commerce and big e-sales in Pakistan, I would like to share the attitude of conducting such business. The official fulfillment rates are from 5-10% daily which is astonishingly low and the customer support has always been bad. The sale day has certainly brought great flashy numbers but no one has looked at the piling complaints and disgruntled customers. If daraz’s customer support and attitude is the same as a local retailer, it is better to argue with him for 15 mins or more to get more discount and a fair price! Shame on daraz and shame on these fake numbers.

  • Did any one one see complaint status on each post by Daraz Shopping Facebook page. Most of the people are unhappy because of Delivery, refund and Wrong Items.
    Now they end customer service on their help line.


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