JINNAH UNIVERSITY FOR WOMEN

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE & SOFTWARE ENGINEERING

BATCH: BSSE 2019/FALL SE-18
ENTREPRENEURSHIP

ASSIGNMENT - 2 [Marks 10

Table of Contents

I. Instructions: Executive Summary........................................................................................................................4

Executive Summary................................................................................................................................................5
II. Instructions: Company Description....................................................................................................................6
Company Description Worksheet...........................................................................................................................7
III. Instructions: Products & Services.....................................................................................................................8
Product & Service Description Worksheet.............................................................................................................9
IV. Instructions: Marketing Plan...........................................................................................................................10
SWOT Analysis Worksheet...................................................................................................................................11
Competitor Data Collection Plan.........................................................................................................................13
Competitive Analysis Worksheet..........................................................................................................................14
Marketing Expenses Strategy Chart.....................................................................................................................16
Pricing Strategy Worksheet..................................................................................................................................18
Distribution Channel Assessment Worksheet.......................................................................................................20
V. Instructions: Operational Plan..........................................................................................................................22
VI. Instructions: Management & Organization...................................................................................................24
Management Worksheet.......................................................................................................................................25
Organization Chart..............................................................................................................................................26
VII. Instructions: Startup Expenses & Capitalization.........................................................................................27
Business model........................................................................................................................................................28
Lean Model..............................................................................................................................................................28
Business tree............................................................................................................................................................28
Poster.......................................................................................................................................................................28
IX. Instructions: Appendices..................................................................................................................................29
I. Instructions: Executive Summary

I. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
1. Overview
She’sMart is basically a private group restricted only for ladies of ALL ages. It is created to encourage,
influence and uplift women skills and built their confidence. This provides you a platform not only to post your
opinions and thoughts on certain topics but also to provide them a community to elevate their business plans
and their ideas. Be it related to buying and selling or to promote their newly started businesses.

2. Description
In this 21st century, Women’s empowerment and promoting women’s rights have emerged as a part of a major
global movement and is continuing to break new ground in recent years but despite a great deal of progress,
women and girls continue to face discrimination and violence in every part of the world. They are not given
equal opportunities as men and still in Pakistan, many women are not allowed to go outside of their houses for
job and businesses. Here we provides a platform for women of all ages to build enough confidence and start
their business online and are also allowed for the self-promotion through us.

3. Goals
Our goal is to be known by majority of the women in our Country for their business purposes. Within 4 to 5
years, we are expecting to become one of the safest platform, with the community of thousands of members,
uplifting each other and earning good profits through their respective businesses from their homes. This will
help us to earn commission from the sellers.

4. Target market
Since, we are restricted to ladies only so, our target market is specifically ladies who wanted to promote their
business or wanted to buy or sell any of the goods offered by any of member and not only this but also those
girls who are just interested in joining the group because of someone’s recommendation are also welcome in
She’sMart.

5. Competitors and What makes us different

There are few groups who are working on this purpose but we are giving our members many more services
which not all of the other groups are granting for example, our members are allowed to promote their business
and its related pages, they are allowed to give honest reviews of the product or service whether they have
earned that through our platform or not. If they are unsatisfied or are tricked by not getting what they ordered
within our community, we’ll take strict action against that seller who cheated and we’ll try our best to help that
customer because our members are our first priority.

6. Management team and their experience

Our team is and will always be available for our community members, we’ll not only take responsibility for
their secure business but also we’ll be active any time when we observe any complaints against someone

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 breaking our rules and guidelines or is not sincere with our group. Authenticity is very important so, only the
approved members by our management will be able to do business in our platform.

7. Financial Outlook for the business

We are starting this group for free because firstly, we wanted to achieve trustable members and to give women
an opportunity to stand on its own. Once She’sMart will get more fame and we’ll be known by many other
social media users plus influencers and also when good amount of successful businesses will start to take place
here, then we’ll start to take commission from the approved sellers according to their business type. Also, we’ll
make the promotions paid. This will help us to do a lot more for our community and try to reach international
levels as well.

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II. Instructions: Company Description

II. Company Description

1. Company mission statement

Our mission is to support women and give them a platform where they can promote their ideas and show their
skills. The team we have created stands behind the idea of supporting women and innovation.  We want to
change the way the professional world views women, especially the youth that are leaders of our future.

2. Company philosophy and vision

Our business lives by some of these values:

 Innovation
 Community
 Support
 Respect
 Women empowerment

Basic vision of our team is to be a place where every woman who has a talent to show can represent their ideas
here and slowly, but surely to become a national platform for women to develop their skills and to enhance
their confident and to become a role model for other women.

3. Company goals

In today’s world, we know the importance of women in work places. But what about the women’s working
from home they also want their work to be promoted and to be in highlights. And this is our progress when
working from home women from different cities present their skills here using our platform and be a part of our
mission to empower each other.

4. Target market

Our target customers are women. Especially women’s working from home. Women that are entrepreneurial and
want their business to grow and they don’t know how to present their work or to show people what services
they are providing or what they are offering and they want their business to be in front line so this is the
platform for them.

5. Legal structure

Our business is a corporation. We choose this particular form of businesses so that we can reach any substantial
size, it's advantageous to arrange as an organization in order that its owners can limit their liability.
Corporations, then, tend to be far larger, on the average, than businesses using other sorts of ownership.
This platform is owned by 14 members. Ownership is divided equally for each 14 members. We own this as a
mission which is women empowerment and our team’s interest is what makes us more interested and dedicated
to this project.
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6. Vision
She’sMart’s goal is to reinforce the knowledge and supply the opportunities for ladies to develop their
entrepreneurial skills. We'll host speakers, panel discussions, small group talks, and networking opportunities
for ladies to extend their professional capacity and develop a network. We'll provide cross disciplinary
perspectives for collaboration to require flight. Women who own small or large businesses and are entrepreneur
there strives to become a model for other universities and a resource for all women entrepreneurs.

7. Mission
She’sMart mission is to provide a platform and to build a community where women support women through an
innovative, collaborative and empowering network.

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Company Description Worksheet

Business Name She’sMart

Company Mission Our mission is to provide a platform and to build a community where women support
Statement women through an innovative, collaborative and empowering network.

1. Innovation
Company 2. Support
Philosophy/ 3. community
Values 4. Respect
5. Women empowerment

Our vision is to reinforce the knowledge and supply the opportunities for ladies
Company Vision to develop their entrepreneurial skills.

Goals & Milestones 1. Platform for women

2. To become a national platform for women
3. Empower each other

Target Market Women of all ages.

Industry/ 1. Sheops
Competitors 2. Women In Tech
3. Super Women of Pakistan

Legal Structure/
Ownership Our business structure is corporation.

III. Instructions: Products & Services

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III. Products & Services
This section expands on the basic information about your products and services included in the Executive Summary
and Company Description. Here are some items to consider:

1. Company’s products and/or services

She'sMart is essentially a private gathering group uniquely for women. It is made to support and inspire ladies’
abilities and assembled their certainty. She’s mart is a group for ordinary Facebook Women clients to make a
community in which individuals can purchase and sell niche category of item or to promote their newly started
businesses or discuss their strategies and their thoughts.

2. The Problem the Product or Service solves

Women’s empowerment can be defined to promoting women’s sense of self-worth, their ability to determine
their own choices, and their right to influence social change for themselves and others but women and girls
continue to face discrimination and violence in every part of the world. They are not offered equivalent
chances as men and still in Pakistan, numerous ladies are not permitted to go outside of their homes for work
and business. Here we give a platform to women of any age to assemble sufficient certainty and start their
business online on our group. One of the most obvious benefits is the fact that you don't have to leave your
home to work. This leaves you with more free time to spend with your family, and it cuts down on travel time.
It allows mothers with small children to spend time watching and taking care of their children while at work,
so it saves them money on daycare costs.

3. Any Proprietary features that give you a competitive advantage

Our group members will consistently be accessible for our community member, and also remove posts if
unnecessary or and remove or ban members from the group if some member is misbehaving with other
members. The main feature of our group is that there are not many groups who are dealing with this reason yet
we are giving our members some more services for example our members are allowed to promote their
business and its related pages, they are allowed to give honest reviews of the product or service whether they
have earned that through our platform or not. If they are unsatisfied or are tricked by not.

4. How you will price your product or service

We are beginning this group She'sMart free of charge in light of the fact that right ladies’ members will come
and use out platform for their online business. We needed to accomplish trustable members and to give
women an opportunity to stand on its own. When She'sMart will get more popularity and we'll be known by
numerous social media users plus influencers. And when great measure of effective business will begin to
occur here, then, at that point we'll begin to take commission from the approved sellers according to their
business type.

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Product & Service Description Worksheet

Business Name She'sMart

Provides a platform for ladies of ALL ages to buy and sell or to promote their newly started
Product/ businesses.
Service Idea

1: Secure platform for ladies

Special 2: Promote their business online
Benefits 3: Self-promotion are allowed

Unique Our members are allowed to promote their business and its related pages
Features

Production and
Delivery

We are not supplying any type of product we are providing platform for our community
Suppliers members to buy and sell their products.

Intellectual
Property
Special Permits

Product/ She’sMart is basically a private group restricted only for ladies of ALL ages. She’sMart
Service provide them a community to elevate their business plans and their ideas. Related to buying
Description and selling or to promote their newly started businesses.

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IV. Instructions: Marketing Plan
She’smart is actually a Facebook group in which we provide a platform where the housewives or other
females show their skills and we suggest them the way through which they can do their jobs from their
home.

1. Market research
As mentioned above, this is a simple Facebook group and we target all the female Facebook’s user. It
is increasing day by day. Our target market are the females who work or get money from online
businesses. Our group members want some responses which are quite low as compared to the
members population.

2. Barriers to entry
The market of groups on a huge social media platform like Facebook has grown bigger and became so
vast therefore penetration into such vast market we have faced allot of barriers such as tough market
competition since a lot of groups has gained much larger fan base already. Also another barrier was
the fraudulent activities running through social media platform scares the audience much enough that
they are resistant to shop from certain small businesses.

3. Threats and opportunities

Opportunities:
There are still many women in our society who are only restricted to homes chores and are not allowed to
work outside. Here we are granting them many more opportunities to startup their business from their
respective home.

Threat
Most common threat of our group is that there are a lot of competitors in this field competing with others
which is the biggest threat for our group

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4. Product/service features and benefits
According to our facebook group, “She’sMart”, there are multiple sellers as well as buyers.Whereas, the
group admins/moderators provide the surety that the people selling their products are authentic buyers or
not, that whether to buy from them or not. As, its our responsibility to provide guarantee whether they are
Serious sellers or fraud.
Anyone can ask for any type of recommendation, common personal questions, and can promote their
personal business.Benefit is that owners get paid from those members who make per post/live to sell their
products , more people will get engage through them, group members will increase.

5. Target customer
Our target customers are basically, the females who buy or shop online and get or pay money from it.

For consumers:

Age, occupation, education level, income are not are

not specified only females are allowed who want to
do any kind of online business in their spare time.

For businesses:

She’smart is a small industry which work online. Basically, it is a small Facebook group which is just a
startup.

6. Key competitors
There are lot of competitors, without a doubt one of the strongest She’smart competitors is slay all
day.
Where women promoting their businesses and audience are more likely to get engaged with it.
Since other groups that has celebrity collaboration and also influencer’s engagement will make them
more appealing to audience.
Top She’smart competitors are:
 She’scorner
 Fix her crown
 The misfits and so many.

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7. Positioning/Niche

Product positioning is the process of deciding and communicating how you want your market to think
and feel about your product. Successful product positioning requires your team to articulate: How
our product can solve our customer's problem. Why it is a better solution than its competitors.

We have positioned our product especially for those females who want to run small scale business to
earn livelihood. We had provided them platform to fulfill their requirements. Housewives, schools,
college’s females who are capable to run their business, to earn for a living the one who wants to
update their way of living, providing them platform to meet their desires, needs.

8. How you will market your product/service

We market our product by sharing group link and invite people in our group.

Advertising may include:

 Online
 Perform different activities

Which media will you advertise in, why and how often?
The media we will use to advertise our product us content marketing, because by writing content we
motivate many house wives to show their skills also we use our network our network to encourage
women.

What image do you want to project for your business brand?

We design logo through which market ourself as a separate entity type.

9. Promotional budget:
Selecting the adequate method for promotion has a huge importance in increasing business’s
performance. Selecting the method of the budget depends on several factors The formulation of
budget is known as the most critical period which requires special analysis from marketing’s
managers. The expenses for promotion are usually high, and every investment made in the field of
promotion directly influences in the business situation. Thus, the selection and adequate formulation
of budget methods for promotion influences the growth of profit. The allocated amount for promotion
depends on several factors, such as: the size of the firm, the sector in which it operates, competition
etc. After planning the budget, we must do the budget allocation to select the promotional form which
is successful by the firms in promoting the products and services and that will help the company to
connect with its clients.
As concerned to our project She’s mart, the budget was quite compatible. We had developed posters
and had circulated in different groups. We had made our posters to appear public ally, to grab
viewers’ attention.

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10. Pricing
Pricing depends upon the reach of our group, number of members it has.
Per seller have to pay according to per post/live a month. Live charges will be high as compared
to per post.
1. Per month( 10 live sessions, 5 posts)= 3500pkr.
2. Per month( 15 live sessions, no posts)= 4000pkr.
3. Per month( 30 posts only)= 3000pkr.

This is our package list according to which sellers will accommodate with the admins.

Pricing Strategy Worksheet

Business Name Facebook group “She’sMart”

Which of the following pricing strategies will you employ? Circle one.

Cost Plus Value Based Other:

The costs of making/obtaining your
product or providing your service,
plus enough to make a profit
Based on your competitive
advantage and brand
(perceived value)
Providing a platform to
females to sell and buy All
type of authentic products and
charging from them
according to their selected
pacakage.

Provide an explanation of your pricing model selection.

Their will be a discount on the packages as well so that all the sellers those who can not afford can also
sell their products and can fully take the advantage of the available discount.

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11. Location or proposed location
Our group is for the females of Pakistan without any age restriction. Females above 12+ and
onwards can join our group, can sell products, can ask for recommendations, personal promotion
is allowed. Other country members are strictly not allowed. In short, this platform is basically for
the females of Pakistan only.

12. Distribution channels

A distribution channel is a chain of businesses or intermediaries through which a good or service

passes until it reaches the final buyer or the end consumer. Distribution channels can include
wholesalers, retailers, and distributors.

She’s mart has provide its members platform where many females sellers have sold their products
according to wholesales price which has increase their business. Their demands increase day by day
and they had grown yet so far.

Next come the demand of most wanted Ecommerce. Now in the world of technology many people
preferred Ecommerce, thus fulfilling their demands online. Furthermore, its easily to use it, internet
has become component of existence, widely used by people so as our members selling their product
through Ecommerce. They have sold bakery item, desi dishes, continental foods, clothes, handbags,
purses and many more.

13. 12-month sales forecast

MONTHLY
MONTH FORECAST CUMULATIVE
Jan-22 10,000 10000
Feb-22 12000 22000
Mar-22 12500 34500
Apr-22 10000 44500
May-22 7000 51000
Jun-22 9000 60000
Jul-22 10000 70000
Aug-22 7880 78380
Sep-22 4560 82940
Oct-22 11000 93940
Nov-22 5690 99630
Dec-22 9600 109,230

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V. Instructions: Operational Plan

1. Production
The product we offering is based on multiple product. Because we’re offering a single platform to the women who
can sell different items related to household, accessories, customization and other art and crafts. Based on this
overview everyone will self-offering deliveries. The method which is frequently used was COD or an advanced
payment etc.

1. Suppliers
List your key suppliers, including:

 Names, addresses, websites

Pakistani’s mostly dealer will deals supplies to Alibaba, AliExpress, Amazon Ebay and Shopify etc.
Because they are offering in bulk and also in cheap price. But For delivering the source we have to contact
on our agent to handle our resource for safely arrived its destination.
Names Websites Addresses
 Alibaba https://www.alibaba.com/ China
 AliExpress https://www.aliexpress.com/ Pakistan
 Shopify http://shopify.com/ Ottawa
 Ebay https://www.ebay.com/ American
 Amazon https://www.amazon.com/ American

 Type and amount of inventory furnished

All This supplier was offering their own inventories like FBA FBM FBD etc. in their own region. Where
they can deal with QA and manage Delivering Service
 Their credit and delivery policies
All these websites dealing deliveries with credit card, Bank payment and with PayPal Payment.
 Do you expect any supply shortages or short-term delivery problems? If so, how will you
handle them?
First of all Shortage of supplies will not happen because the quality assurance team will manage our
inventory and give notice about the product shortage before they run-out of it.
 Do you have more than one supplier for critical items (as a backup)?
Yes why not every dealer can deal and supplies more than one supplier because they do not want to face
the shortage of stock so before the products was ran-out they already arrange and filled their inventory.
 What are your suppliers’ payment terms?
Bank Payment, Credit Payment, Debit Card, PayPal and etc.

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VI. Instructions: Management & Organization
Operations management is the administration of business practices to create the highest level of efficiency possible
within an organization. It is concerned with converting materials and labor into goods and services as efficiently as
possible to maximize the profit of an organization. Operations management teams attempt to balance costs with
revenue to achieve the highest net operating profit possible.
1. Biographies

OWNER:
After earning my bachelor’s degree in BS from Jinnah University for women, I entered the SHE’SMART world to
explore my passion for online business and e-commerce. In addition to my primary job functions, I was recognized
by trustworthy attitude for my commitment to my work.

KEY EMPLOYEES:
Creative director:
Rumaisa is an accomplished explorer, speaker, and creative director. Her visionary perspective has
earned her opportunities to work on global, educate and design product line.
Vice president of marketing:
Humna is vice president of marketing and sales for SHE’SMART. She directs all marketing and
sales strategies, overseeing the public relations and consumer and filed marketing activities.
Consultant:
Yousra is management consultant, specializing in the professional services sector. She advises on
and provides training and coaching in the strategic and operational aspects of management, change,
marketing, and selling and client relationship management.

2. Gaps

When to conduct a skills gap analysis How to respond to skills gaps

 Changes in employee’s duties  Training
 Poor performance reviews  Succession planning
 Need for new skills for a promotion or new  Mentoring initiatives
project
 Problems meeting business goals  Hiring, training programs

3. Advisors
List the members of your professional/advisory support team, including:
a. Attorney: Hiba Hanif
b. Accountant: Anousha Asfar, Areeba Ali
c. Board of directors: Atika Saeed, Naimish,
d. Advisory board: Sana Ejaz, Roheen Arshad
e. Insurance agent: Ifra Naeem
f. Consultants: Yousra Subhan
g. Banker: Rayeha Raffaq
h. Mentor: Hira Mirza
i. Photographer: Safa Khalid
j. Creative director: Rumaisa Dilshad
k. Vice president of marketing: Hamna Amanullah

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16
Management Worksheet
OWNER:
After earning my bachelor’s degree in BS from Jinnah University for women, I entered
the SHE’SMART world to explore my passion for online business and e-commerce. In
addition to my primary job functions, I was recognized by trustworthy attitude for my
commitment to my work.

KEY EMPLOYEES:
Bio/s
Creative director:
Rumaisa is an accomplished explorer, speaker, and creative director. Her
visionary perspective has earned her opportunities to work on global,
educate and design product line.
Vice president of marketing:
Humna is vice president of marketing and sales for SHE’SMART. She
directs all marketing and sales strategies, overseeing the public relations
and consumer and filed marketing activities.
Consultant:
Yousra is management consultant, specializing in the professional
services sector. She advises on and provides training and coaching in the
strategic and operational aspects of management, change, marketing, and
selling and client relationship management.

When to conduct a skills gap analysis How to respond to skills gaps

 Changes in employee’s duties  Training
Gaps in  Poor performance reviews  Succession planning
Management or  Need for new skills for a  Mentoring initiatives
Experience promotion or new project
 Problems meeting business goals  Hiring, training programs

l. Attorney: Hiba Hanif

m. Accountant: Anousha Asfar, Areeba Ali
n. Board of directors: Atika Saeed, Naimish,
Advisors o. Advisory board: Sana Ejaz, Roheen Arshad
p. Insurance agent: Ifra Naeem
q. Consultants: Yousra Subhan
r. Banker: Rayeha Raffaq
s. Mentor: Hira Mirza
t. Photographer: Safa Khalid
u. Creative director: Rumaisa Dilshad
v. Vice president of marketing: Hamna Amanullah

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Organization Chart

CEO
HIBA HANIF

Vice president of Accountant:

Creative director: Board of directors:
marketing: AREEBA ALI,
RUMAISA DILSHAD ATIKA SAEED,NAIMISH
HAMNA AMANULLAH
KHAN

Advisory board: Consultant: Attorney:

ROHEEN ARSHAD YOUSRA SUBHAN ANOUSHA ASFAR

Banker: Insurance agent:

Advisory board:
RAYEHA RAFFAQ IFRA NAEEM
SANA EJAZ

Photographer:
Mentor:
SAFA KHALID
HIRA MIRZA

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Business model:

The Market
The ‘dot com’ culture had taken off in Pakistan over the last decade with a significant growth in commercial
websites and Facebook groups. This boom in e-commerce had occurred subsequent to a rising internet penetration.
In 2015, there had been 31 million internet users, translating to around 16.6 per cent penetration (percentage of
population), which had more than doubled since 2010 (Internet Live Stats, 2016; Figure 1). One of the stepping-
stones for internet access and e-commerce had been the introduction of 3G and 4G mobile network services in the
country in 2014 when the total number of cellular subscriptions were around 120 million (Figure 2). By the end of
2015, the number of 3G/4G subscribers had exceeded 23 million in Pakistan (Pakistan Telecom Authority [PTA],
2017); the number was growing at a rate of around 1 million users every month (The Express Tribune, 2015b;
Figure 3).
The country’s e-commerce market was expected to surpass US$100 million in 2015 from US$60 million in
2014 (The Express Tribune, 2015a). The increasing use of social media also played a crucial role in the evolution
of the e-commerce industry that had capitalized on using it as a tool for engaging with customers and for
advertising (The Express Tribune, 2013). The most frequent online visitors and buyers fell in the 18–34 years age
group (A Report on e-Commerce Trends in Pakistan). In terms of geographical distribution, more than 50 per cent
of the e-commerce activity in the country was

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Concentrated in the three major cities Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad, owing to the comparatively high rates of
internet literacy.
E-commerce in neighboring country India had also witnessed a boom in the past years. India’s online retail
market had tripled from US$4.4 billion in 2010 to US$13.6 billion in 2014 with an expectation to reach US$38
billion in 2016 and US$1 trillion by the year 2020 (Gadgets 360, 2016). The key driver of Indian e-commerce had
been the rapid boost of broadband internet penetration (The Economist, 2016a). The gross merchandize volume of
the top three e-commerce companies exceeded that of the top ten offline retailers (The Economic Times, 2016). E-
commerce in India had a big impact on shopping malls and chain stores and it was expected that malls and chains
will not become as prevalent there as they had been in the West (The Economist, 2016b). Being on a similar digital
trajectory that India was on a few years ago and with its strengthening internet backbone, highest mobile phone
penetration in South Asia (with 90 per cent geographical coverage), and malls that still had a low customer reach,
Pakistan was expected to follow the Indian trend (Dawn, 2015).

SHE’SMART: Company Background

SHE’SMART was incubated by university group, a company based in Pakistan, which provided the initial angel
investment and oversaw the business performance. Invested in internet start-ups in newly emerging and fast-
growing markets and transferred proven business models there. The first e-commerce shopping portal in Pakistan
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for women is launched in 2021 with just fourteen employees. It started as an online fashion retailer, crockery and
appealing items selling apparels (clothes, footwear and accessories) from the inventory it owned.
One may think that the online content may not be sufficient for apparel purchase decisions as the feel of the
product is important. Contrary to this, the highest sale through e-commerce is that of clothes. … One reason is
the trust in the brand. Secondly, customers know that if the apparel doesn’t fit well, the e-commerce venture will
accept the return or an exchange. … The first online purchase of a customer is most likely to be that of clothes,
not a phone. A fashion item is a much easier online purchase than electronics.

Nevertheless, there were limitations in the apparel business primarily because the target audience was very small—
it consisted of only those people who wore readymade outfits from within a population that predominantly bought
unstitched clothes of several types, qualities and brands.
But with a condition to grow its market. It subsequently changed the online platform to add General Merchandize
(GM), mostly consisting of higher value electronics. The electronics inventory; though, had a high risk of
depreciation and was expensive to maintain. To mitigate against the financial burden of owning the inventory,
SHE’SMART restructured its business model to operate as a ‘marketplace’ where sellers could set up virtual stores
at SHE’SMART by listing their products and setting prices. What served as a bargaining chip for large brands was
that instead of getting commission discounts, they were offered online advertisements and promotions for their
products.

Customers
SHE’SMART considered all internet users in the country as potential customers. Majority of the customers;
though, were concentrated in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The proportion of female customers is high;
however, the proportion differed from segment to segment. For example, there were more women keen on buying
fashion products. According to a survey, convenience was the biggest factor for the customers to shop at
SHE’SMART followed by the prices and varieties.
Broadly, SHE’SMART had five types of customers. There were people for whom the prices were the driving
factor to visit SHE’SMART as wholesalers, importers and brands were directly selling on SHE’SMART, the prices
were generally low. SHE’SMART actively monitored the listed prices to ensure that the prices remained
competitive. Customers were also able to compare the prices offered by different sellers of a product on the website
and facebook group. The second type of customers comprised people who were attracted by the assortment.
SHE’SMART could be seen as a virtual mall. ‘Customers are able to find more products on SHE’SMART than
they are able to find in a major city mall’, The third category of customers were the ones who did not live in
Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad Fourth, there were customers who were interested in getting the desired product
before it was available in the market. For example, if KHAADI had released a new collection, the customer could
get it through SHE’SMART before it was available elsewhere. Finally, there was a class of customers who wanted
to avoid the hassle of purchasing items on sales and launch events at stores. Some recent sales and launch events of
female apparels at stores had been very disorderly. When Sana Safinaz, a prominent women apparel brand,
launched its lawn (type of apparel) collection, the online sales of that very collection on SHE’SMART exceeded
Sana Safinaz’s own sales.

Product Selection
‘Only an authentic product qualified to be sold on SHE’SMART,in contrast to what was being sold in most of the
online markets in the country, which, SHE’SMART differentiated itself by offering only the genuine and non-
smuggled products with warranties from the brands or the official distributors. A potential seller offering authentic
products could register on the group and go through the vendor management procedure for induction. We also
closely followed the trends to decide which product categories should grow or be added, and targeted sellers,
accordingly. From time to time, sellers were encouraged through vendor management teams to sell those items and
products that made it to the topselling categories. There was also a preference for sourcing products exclusively on
our groups.

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SHE’SMART Management and Marketing:
The basic online system which was the core infrastructure of the group came as a standard form however, there
was no strict framework that SHE’SMART had to follow to build on. We acquired the services of for the
development and maintenance of its online system. The content and product descriptions on the website were
looked after by an in-house content team controlling the online content quality.

Search Help Account Basket

Access to
product Payment information, information
categories for potential sellers and mobile
Promotions application download
Latest offerings, brands and signup option

Recommended products

Women’s fashion

Men’s fashion

Phones and tablets

TV, audio and gaming

Home products and appliances

Computing

Beauty products and fragrances

Kids and baby products

Watches

General company information, contact and customer service chat option

Keen on its ‘fashion identity’. Services of the stylists with authority in fashion were acquired to recommend
fashion trends and combinations to the customers. Though, the seasonal factors were accommodated on the group,
frequent and radical layout changes were avoided to maintain consistency.
With less than 5 per cent of the marketing effort offline, SHE’SMART marketing push is online, enabling it to
keep a detailed track of the marketing impact. For example, it could know how many people saw an advertisement
and like how many to visit the page and group. Social media marketing is the main component of online marketing.
Social media account holders were targeted by showing online ads based on their personal interests and search
Histories. If a user had only searched for a product, the searched product was advertised to the user;

Vendor Management
Interaction with a typical seller started from the acquisition stage, SHE’SMART conducted customer and employee
surveys to gauge brands and products for inclusion in the online listing. An acquisition team was then responsible
for getting the new sellers on board. The established brands were approached for business by the acquisition team
with information on the logistics models, payment and return policies, and commission structure and, in order to

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highlight business potential, the sales data. Getting the well-known brands on board was considered more
important because ‘when the tier 1 brands are on-board, the tier 2 brands automatically follow
The role of incubation team started once the seller signed the contract. The incubation team was responsible for
the sellers’ training over 4–8 weeks to operate on SHE’SMART platform and to facilitate the synchronization of
the sellers’ operations with that of SHE’SMART. The sellers were trained in order to familiarize them with
SHE’SMART system and policies. The key component of the incubation phase was the training given for using the
seller center Seller center is anenterprise resource planning (ERP) system that provided an end-to-end seller shop
management system—a virtual shop for each seller on this group. The seller center allowed a seller to list products,
view and take orders, set product prices, view sales summaries, generate account statements and update stock
levels.
How a particular seller was supported after the incubation period greatly varied, depending on whether the seller
was classified as strategic or non-strategic based on the revenue contribution. The non-strategic (or long-tail)
sellers comprised around 80 per cent of the total sellers and contributed merely 20 per cent to the revenue. The rest
were considered as the strategic sellers. Once a strategic seller was self-capable in terms of processing orders with
appropriate speed, the seller’s point of contact was established within the vendor management team, which
included vendor managers, each liaising with nine to ten strategic sellers. The team’s role was to build relationships
and to create opportunities of mutual benefit by emphasizing SHE’SMART and its sellers’ strengths, respectively.
They focused on utilizing the potential of the sellers, for example, by getting the right products and promotions and
taking value from SHE’SMART for the sellers, for example, by online marketing promotions or by providing
logistical services. The 3,000 or so non-strategic sellers, on the other hand, were supported by a call center setup,
where they could call for a consultation in case of an issue.

The fourth team in the vendor management was the vendor operations team. This team monitored operations
(service delivery) in the whole chain, from order generation to the order processing. The team made sure that
orders were picked up and delivered to customers in a timely manner, and in the case where an order was returned,
the team monitored reverse logistics. If the delivery process was affected by an abnormality in the chain, the
vendor operations team took up the matter with the seller, logistics provider and/or the warehouse, for a resolution.
The core focus was on fulfilling the orders in a timely manner and strictly avoided order cancellations.
Sellers could be delisted based on constant delays and order cancellations. Order cancellations stood at 3 per
cent of the orders which was the orders, were the major reason for a drop in customer satisfaction. The risk of
being delisted, which could happen after five order cancellations, made the small (non-strategic) sellers update
their stocks to prevent cancellation. With the strategic sellers, the second major reason for customer dissatisfaction
was a delay in order fulfilment. To control this, we cancelled an order if it was not dispatched within 2 days,
providing the customer with benefits such as discount vouchers or a better replacement of the ordered item without
an extra charge. Though, we did not place rigid criteria for sellers to start selling on SHE’SMART, the sellers were

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strictly monitored and the underperformers were constantly delisted. On an average, four to five delisting took
place on a daily basis.

Logistics Models
After an order was placed at SHE’SMART, the package had to be prepared at one or a seller’s facility depending
on the particular logistics model that applied to the corresponding seller.

A slight variant of the drop-ship model was the managed drop-ship model in which, as an added service for
strategic sellers,
Source: Company records.

Items received upon delivery, and further delisting them after a certain threshold of rejections. In some cases, the
drop-shipping sellers who could not control the return rates were asked to adopt the crossdocking model.
WE preferred the drop-ship model and was seeking to fizzle out the consignment model. The target was to
delegate the stocking and quality control responsibilities to the sellers while focusing on the online monitoring of
the fulfilment chain. As of now, 35 per cent of the number of orders were being fulfilled through consignment,
around 50 per cent through cross-docking and around 15 per cent through drop-shipping (percentages around the
same in terms of value). Overall the factors that influenced the selection of a logistics model included fulfilment
reliability,
The Last Mile
For the last leg of the delivery to the customer, the riders decided the delivery routes on their own, considering the
timing and location requirements of the customers. Close to the expected delivery time, the customer was sent a
text message that they should expect their delivery and have the payment ready. The rider stayed in touch with the
customer through his mobile phone while delivering the order. Special training on customer dealing was provided
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to the riders from SHE’SMART to emphasize the priority of customer satisfaction. Customer satisfaction was
measured through an SMS service called ‘DSat’ (delivery satisfaction) in which a message was sent to customers
asking about their delivery experience. A customer submitting a poor DSat score was contacted by SHE’SMART
to determine and establish whether the dissatisfaction was due to the delivery person (identifiable against the order
number), or the overall experience.
. Payments
The payment methods accepted by SHE’SMART IS cash on delivery (CoD), swipe on delivery (credit or debit
card swipe on a handheld device), online payment via credit or debit cards, payment through Easypaisa online bank
transfer and payment through ATM .A payment, through any method, was passed on to the seller.
Owing to only 7 per cent of the population having a debit or credit card and lower levels of online fraud
protection and transaction flexibility, around 97 per cent of the payments were through the CoD method. CoD
resulted in a higher cost, a higher supply chain complexity and a safety risk, as the riders had the extra
responsibility of collecting the cash, keeping the change and depositing the amount.The revenue realization time
was longer, unlike the electronic payments, the amount of transfer was not instantaneous.
Returning/Rejected Orders
If the customer did not open the item at the point of delivery and refused to accept it, the item was taken back by
the rider and returned to the source to the seller through the delivery cycle in reverse. Otherwise, the customer had
a 7-day window to return the purchased item by informing the customer service. The item to be returned was
picked up by a SHE’SMART rider in Tier 1 cities, whereas in other cities, it had to be dropped by the customer at
one of the more than 800 TCS outlets for TCS to handle the return.

There was a 30-day window for the returned item to reach the seller. With regards to the return of an item that was
already paid for, the customer could get a refund (through vouchers or a bank transfer), or a replaced item
delivered instead.

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 Returns were a minor issue at SHE’SMART. ‘An overwhelming percentage of returns were genuine; a lot better
than in the comparable countries’. Due to this reason, returns, which were allowed within 1 weeks’ time, were
accepted without the customer’s need to pay any extra charges. However, SHE’SMART was reconsidering this
approach and was deliberating on introducing an inspection process to determine whether the reason for return was
genuine or not.
Decision
There was an influx of online businesses in Pakistan and an expectation that the internationally established players
would soon join in with their wide assortment. There were already several social media groups and web pages
selling imported items. Recently, one of SHE’SMART had also launched an online retail platform website. The
name suggested that a customer could either get the products directly from the website listing or get any non-listed
product sourced locally or internationally. The interplay of options for this and the logistics models at hand had
several implications. Logistically, the push was for the drop-ship model, which was cost efficient and passed on
several responsibilities to the sellers. The other extreme was the consignment model from which SHE’SMART
was moving away, although it provided a higher level of control over quality and responsiveness. If SHE’SMART
as to directly import from the international brands, then it would have to pay the duties and own the inventory,
incurring significant financial strain. If the brands hired local distributors who imported the items

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