With offline sales are taking a severe hit due to the Coronavirus pandemic and subsequent restrictions, online sales in Pakistan have surged significantly during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
In a recently published article in the China Economic Net, Cheng Xizhong, a professor at Southwest University of Political Science and Law, asserted that Pakistan can create 780,000 employment opportunities if the country pursues the development of logistics services and instant delivery services. The number could rise to 1.56 million in the years to come.
While some small and medium-sized enterprises faced existential challenges during the COVID-19 lockdown in Pakistan, many small to medium scale businesses turned to e-commerce and started online buying and selling.
Online sales have become an imperative mode of business during the lockdown period and will remain the business trend in the future.
In Pakistan, the e-commerce industry has developed rapidly, but lack of logistics services and instant delivery services in remote areas impede e-commerce to digitally penetrate into the length and breadth of Pakistan.
Moreover, many Pakistanis, despite having the facility of online service delivery at their disposal, have a predilection to go out and shop by paying cash.
On the other hand, China has well-developed e-commerce, logistics, and delivery service industries regardless of urban-rural settings. From January to April this year, online sales in China have increased by 6.1% against the same period of last year.
China employs 5 million people alone in the logistics service industry and the number is going to exceed 10 million in the couple years’ time.
Therefore, if Pakistan continues to develop the logistics service and instant delivery service industries, it can employ 780,000 people across the country, concluded Cheng Xizhong.
