In what is a first for ecommerce, Daraz scored Pakistan’s first 3 billion rupee sale in revenue, securing 4 times more orders compared to last year’s sale, powered by 3 times more traffic on the ecommerce portal.
The high stakes behind Big Friday
What makes Big Friday, big? While this might sound an obvious question, it is a no less instructive one to consider when reviewing the year’s single biggest sale phenomenon. Daraz’s annual sale is best seen as a tent pitched to attract not just millions of digital-savvy prospects, but a consortium of top brands and thousands of sellers across the country. Introduced by Daraz in 2015, the sale has now become a nationwide phenomena, with malls being jam-packed during this period as all retailers go on sale. By 1:45 AM on Friday, Daraz had already gone past its PKR 1 Billion sales milestone from last year.
Bjarke Mikkelsen, CEO Daraz commented, “Whenever we mount a sale of this magnitude, its a huge effort to make the ecosystem of customers, sellers and partners to come together in a coordinated effort. This year the result was beyond all expectations and we are thrilled to have broken new ground in Pakistan e-commerce.”
Digital rush-hour as never seen before Millions of shoppers thronged the online marketplace during Big Friday – the event clocked in 17 million sessions during the week-long sale compared to 6 million sessions from the year before. 76% of this traffic was mobile, compared to 55% in 2016, attesting to the increasingly mobile-first nature of Pakistani e-commerce. Over 60% of transactions were made using the Daraz app, vindicating the continuous investments the company has made in improving their app experience.
55% of transaction volume came through prepayment methods, with customers utilizing Daraz’s broad portfolio of payment offerings spanning mobile wallets, debit/credit cards, and bank transfers. Customers were able to enjoy additional discounts through EasyPay, JazzCash, Allied Bank Limited, Habib Bank Limited, Standard Chartered Bank, Muslim Commercial Bank, Bank Alfalah, SilkBank and Keenu Rewards. Higher prepayment penetration indicates a key inflection point in the ecommerce scene, with customers showing increased trust in online payments.
A bonanza of top brands, exclusive product launches and breathtaking deals
2017 has proven to be a breakthrough year for FMCGs on Daraz. One needs look no further than the numbers turned up by brands in the FMCG space this Big Friday, with 40% of the volume being generated by customers ordering beauty, grocery and other household products.
Industry leaders like Unilever sold the highest number of items during the sale, with Nestle and L’Oreal prominent amongst top brands generating millions in sales. L’Oreal exclusively launched NYX during BIG Friday and Nestle EveryDay bundle was amongst the top highest selling products.
A series of exclusive launches accompanied the year’s biggest sale. Xiaomi launched their highly anticipated flagship phone Mi Mix 2 – selling hundreds of phones. iPhone X was exclusively launched on Daraz for the first time in Pakistan – with a special discount for HBL card holders. OnePlus 5 was another exclusive launch being offered at a special price in a VEON flash sale – all phones were sold a few minutes into the flash sale.
Cutting-Edge Collaboration with Veon
Daraz, the leading ecommerce platform and VEON, Pakistan’s leading communications app, came together for an innovative collaboration. The partners added a star-studded element to the sale by collaborating on a series of interactive Facebook Live Videos with Ali Noor and Mira Sethi engaging with customers through games and other fun challenges. The highlight of this partnership were the daily VEON Flash Sales, Vouchers and Crazy Deals that had everyone glued to their phones in a race to secure the best deals. The ORIENT 32’’ TITANIUM SERIES was offered as a VEON Crazy Deal at 86% off with an astounding price of Rs 3,149, selling out within a second.
Massive Investments in Customer Experience
In the runup to Big Friday, the Pakistani ecommerce giant lined up a major logistics investment to streamline deliveries across the nation, devoting a large slice towards new fulfillment centers in Karachi and Lahore with 100,000 sq. ft. of space. The brand new Fulfillment Centers are booming with more than 400,000 items, and excellent new technology. Daraz continues to work with all third party logistic companies and has also expanded its own delivery fleet with hundreds of riders in major cities. The investments have paid off with 85% of orders shipped already, with 43% of items shipping through Daraz Express, the e-retailer’s premium fulfillment solution.
Great deals to continue throughout the week
What began in 2015 as a daring gambit has now become a bona-fide retail trend – in 2017, Big Friday marks a new epoch in Pakistan retail with online retail standing head-to-head with brick-and-mortar across all verticals. To celebrate the 3 billion rupee milestone, Daraz has announced that it will be providing special deals throughout the week to meet the continued demand from its customers.
