F.P. Report
KARACHI: Daraz is the leading online marketplace in South Asia, empowering tens of thousands of sellers to connect with millions of customers. “Daraz is a mall, a marketplace, and a community in your pocket,” said Bjarke Mikkelsen, CEO Daraz, at a Press Conference on Friday. • We provide immediate and easy access to 4 million products in more than 100+ categories.
• More than 2 million Pakistanis use Daraz every day
• We deliver more than 1 million packages every month to all corners of Pakistan.
• We have created 50,000 jobs in Pakistan, and every month 2,000 new sellers are educated through our university.
Mikkelsen spoke about how everything changed for the company in 2018:
• A new and Personalised App giving each user a unique experience
• DarazMall was introduced for users to follow their favourite brands with premium quality and service level.
• Global Collection for our customers who like to shop from abroad.
• Top-ups & E-store for convenience and a Voucher Module for the deal hunters.
• Daraz Wallet for easy payments and instant refunds.
• Message Center to keep all your information in one place.
• Q&A feature to allow customers and sellers to interact freely and many more innovations to come in 2019.
Mikkelsen spoke about the efforts that are being made for seller empowerment, “Daraz is a university for entrepreneurs. Our education is free of charge and anyone who has a smartphone can start a business.”
20,000 sellers have been educated on ecommerce operations through Daraz University. Every month, Daraz educates 2,000 new sellers and provides advanced online and offline training courses to its existing sellers.
Daraz is making constant efforts to fully digitize and improve the delivery experience.”Logistics is a challenge because the ecosystem in Pakistan is not digitalised and integrated. To overcome this challenge, we have built Pakistan’s first logistics company specifically designed for ecommerce operations,” he said.
DEX already has ~1,000 riders in 30 cities for faster and better delivery service (including much better tracking and visibility). Daraz does more than 55% of all Daraz deliveries through DEX and delivery time is 1-2 days faster than with external partners. Daraz is helping existing and new logistics providers digitalise (large and small).
Daraz offers same day delivery on a selection of products. For example, grocery products that are needed instantly, Daraz operates 30 hubs across the country that provide a One-Day Delivery service. Customers can use the City filter to find products available for One-Day Delivery in their city – more cities will be added over the next few months. The Hubs are also customer experience centers for easy pick-ups and returns, for personalized customer service and to build a friendly community for Daraz.
For its Premium Service ‘Fulfilled by Daraz’, Daraz operates 4 major warehouses in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, covering an area of more than 200,000 sq.ft and has employed more than 500 people at these warehouses. “Fulfilled by Daraz” means that the product is shipped from one of our own warehouses. For fastest delivery and quality assurance, we always keep the top ~30% selling products in our KLI warehouses. Customers can use the filters to select the service level designed for your needs.
Daraz also launched DarazMall on its App last year. “DarazMall is the doorway to our top trained sellers that are committed to top-quality products, express shipping and a 14-day return policy,” said Mikkelsen.
Mikkelsen also spoke about how Daraz makes sure the customer is protected in all of what they do, “With thousands of marketplace participants, our most important job is to make sure the customer is always protected. We work hard to minimise mistakes, but when they do happen, we make them 100% right!”
Technology and Seller Education are the keys to create a safe and happy shopping experience for our customers. All of Daraz sellers are educated through Daraz University where big weight is put on appropriate pricing, product quality and service levels. Daraz technology allows them to monitor price inflation and irregularity instantly. Sellers that falsely increase prices are strictly penalised or delisted. The App is designed so that Sellers that offer the best prices, best customer service levels, and fastest delivery automatically get the most visibility.
Mikkelsen also spoke about the newly introduced Daraz Ratings & Reviews that give customers additional product and seller information before the purchase. He also spoke about the developments in the return and refund process. “Refunds for returned products have always been one of the major pain points for customers because funds have to go through multiple banks to reach the customer’s account. With the Daraz Wallet, we have made the refund process instant and convenient,” he said. Customers can also use the wallet to collect vouchers and make online payments with maximum security and convenience.
At the press conference the Daraz company mission, ‘Make it easy to do business anywhere in the era of the digital economy’ was announced.
“We firmly believe that the digital era is on par with the Industrial Revolution. In the coming 10-20 years, digital technology will fundamentally alter many parts of society from commerce to politics to culture,” commented Mikkelsen. “Our purpose is not only to embrace this change, but to proactively create change and welcome a better future for Pakistan.”
“Progress is not without challenges, but we are ready to be the innovator in this era and we are dedicated to overcome any challenges on the way,” he concluded.
