ROLE OF IT IN DARAZ

COURSE TITLE: IT IN BUSINESS

INSTRUCTOR: MA’AM KOMAL KINZA

DATE OF SUBMISSION: 14th June 2023

GROUP MEMBERS:

Izza Sheikh (01-111212-100)

Awais Ahmed Khan (01-111231-039)

Abdullah Shakeel Satti (01-111231-009)

Aimen Abbas (01-111231-021)

 Role of IT in DARAZ

Table of Contents
HISTORY:................................................................................................................................................................................ 2
ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW:...........................................................................................................................................2
MISSION STATEMENT.........................................................................................................................................................4
ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:....................................................................................................................................5
SWOT ANALYSIS................................................................................................................................................................... 7
STRENGTHS......................................................................................................................................................................... 7
WEAKNESSES:.................................................................................................................................................................... 7
OPPORTUNITIES:...............................................................................................................................................................8
THREATS:............................................................................................................................................................................. 9
HARDWARE......................................................................................................................................................................... 9
1. EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE....................................................................................................................................9
2. DESKTOP/LAPTOP COMPUTER..........................................................................................................................9
3. NETWORK SERVER................................................................................................................................................9
4. MOBILE DEVICE.....................................................................................................................................................9
SOFTWARE........................................................................................................................................................................ 10
What is Microsoft Dynamics 365?...................................................................................................................................10
What are the Uses for Microsoft Dynamics 365?............................................................................................................10
Dynamics 365 Modules and Applications:......................................................................................................................11
Other Integrated Applications on Website:.....................................................................................................................12
NETWORK TYPE BEING USED IN DARAZ PK:............................................................................................................12
What is the Difference between WAN and LAN?........................................................................................................12
TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS BEING USED:...................................................................................................13
3 DIFFERENT SOFTWARE THAT DARAZ USES:.....................................................................................................14
Content Management Systems:.............................................................................................................................................14
Server Side Programming Languages:.................................................................................................................................14
WORKFLOW:....................................................................................................................................................................... 15
BENEFITS OF USING THESE SYTEMS:..........................................................................................................................16
PROBLEMS FACED BY CURRENT STAFF:....................................................................................................................16
RECOMMENDATIONS:......................................................................................................................................................17
CONCLUSION:...................................................................................................................................................................... 17

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HISTORY:
Three siblings, Marc, Oliver and Alexander Samwer, formed Rocket internet in 2007 and it’s headquarter is
situated in Berlin. The firm develops online startups and asserts shareholdings in various types of retail companies.
Their business model is referred as being a venture developer. In more than 50 nations, they operate with their
venture. It is one of the highest incubators of internet companies, invested in start-ups in newly emerging and fast
growing markets and transferred proven business models there. In emerging nations, some of the companies that
Rocket Internet undertook were Hello food, food panda, Daraz etc. it has split its operations into three areas e.g.
Asia web group, Africa Web band, Middle East web group etc. Daraz.pk was the first e-commerce shopping store
in Pakistan launched by RI in 2012 with just five employees. RI and its two main investors, Oredoo.com and CDC
Global which is a UK government investment bank had an equal percentage ownership of Daraz which started as
selling apparels, clothing, footwear and accessories online from the inventory it owned as the highest sale through
e-commerce is of clothing as it an easier item to purchase as compared to electronics.

ORGANIZATION OVERVIEW:
Daraz is an e-commerce venture which started in Pakistan in 2012. Daraz was originally founded by Muneeb
Maayr and Farees Shah as an online fashion retailer in Pakistan in 2012. Its initial funding came from Rocket
Internet and focused on the fashion sector but shifted to being a general e-commerce marketplace in 2015.

Daraz group was formed in 2015 as the parent company of Daraz’s operations in Pakistan, Bangladesh and
Myanmar. In July 2016, Daraz acquired Kayum, a consumer to consumer online marketplace in South Asia and
with this acquisition is began operations in Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Daraz secured €50 million in its Series B funding to support the expansion of operations across its markets in
September 2015. CDC Group, a state-owned Development Finance Institution (DFI) in the UK, invested €20
million alongside a €30 million investment from Daraz's existing majority shareholder, Asia Internet Holdings. In
May 2018 Alibaba Group acquired Daraz as a wholly owned subsidiary as part of Ali Baba’s expansion plan into
South Asia. Following this acquisition, Daraz Express which is Daraz’s in house digitalized logistics arm was
launched in September 2018 in order to support its growth into strategic markets. Today, DEX delivers over 60%
of all Daraz orders.

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In 2021 Daraz expanded into the food delivery and hyper local grocery sector through purchasing the Bangladeshi
startup HungryNaki. It also organizes live streams which has provided its customers with the opportunity to engage
directly with the sellers through livestreamed interactive sessions.

Daraz secured a re-capital in 2014 based on its KPI performance but with the condition to grow its market. It later
on changed the online platform to include General Merchandize mostly consisting of higher value electronics. The
electronics inventory was at a risk of depreciation and was really expensive to maintain so to diminish the financial
burden of owning the inventory Daraz restructured its business model so that it could operate as a marketplace
where sellers could set up their stores virtually by listing their products and setting prices which allowed Daraz to
charge commission for every sale that was made through its website without having to keep an inventory. The
commission rate was strictly followed and it varied from one category to another e.g. 5% for mobile phone and 30
per cent for an apparel product while the delivery charges were paid separately by the customer. What persuaded
large brands to sell their products through Daraz was the fact that instead of getting discounts on commission,
Daraz was offering them free online advertisements and promotions for their products which would help attract
customer. In 2016, Daraz’s man focus was on customer penetration and there were around 500 people employed at
Daraz at that time and its sales increased greatly within 2 years. Daraz had a huge range of customer and roughly
250,000 visits on the website everyday which were converted into 1500 or more daily sales in more than200 cities.
At tha time, Daraz also faced intense competition from new entrants in the e-commerce industry, including one of
Daraz’s third party logistics (3PL) partners. Daraz considered all internet users in the country as potential
customers with majority being situated in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad. The proportion of male and female
customers was around the same; however, the proportion differed from segment to segment. According to a survey,
convenience was the biggest factor for the customers to shop at Daraz, followed by the prices and varieties.

Daraz had five types of customers, first type was the people for whom the prices of the product was the motivating
factor for them to make a purchase through the website because wholesalers and retailers were directly selling at
Daraz so the prices were lower as compared to other stores. They had wide range of sellers and could compare the
prices offered by them and choose the one which was best suited for them. The second type of customers were the
ones who were attracted to the product range offered by Daraz as Daraz was seen as a virtual mall having every
kind of product in stock ‘Customers are able to find more products on Daraz than they are able to find in a major
city mall’, according to Muneeb. ‘Inevitably, Daraz is competing with malls,’ he added. Daraz had thirteen major
product categories, 1,200 or so subcategories, and, in total, around 80,000 stock keeping units (SKUs), out of
which around 20,000 SKUs were related to fashion. The third category was the ones that weren’t living in Karachi,
Lahore or Islamabad and had no access to the product range that customers in these big cities had through large

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malls and physical retail stores so people living in the outskirts and small cities/towns were able to make purchases
easily through Daraz. Fourth type was the customers who were eager to purchase their desired product before it
became available in the market for instance, Samsung has released a new phone model so the consumer had the
chance to purchase the phone through Daraz before it could be made available anywhere else. Lastly, the fifth type
was the customers who wanted to avoid the hassle of purchasing items on sales and launch events at stores, they
didn’t want to wait in line only to find out that the product they wanted was out of stock leading to customer
satisfaction. When Sana Safinaz, a well-known women apparel brand launched its lawn collection the online sales
of their lawn collection at Daraz exceeded Sana Safinaz’s own sales.

MISSION STATEMENT
Daraz’s long term vision was to become the perfect and go to place for the customers to shop from. It aimed to
gain customer loyalty and trust from the customers that they would get access to quality information regarding any
product. The CEO Muneeb had a vision that ‘when Daraz becomes the destination of product information even if
one out of a hundred visitors purchases, that would be sufficient’.

Daraz provides immediate and easy access to 10 million products in more than 100+ categories and delivers more
than 2 million packages every month to all corners of its countries.

Daraz is a mall, a marketplace and a community for its customers. It is also a university for to overcome the
logistics challenge in its markets, Daraz has built its own logistics company specifically designed for e-commerce
operations - Daraz Express (known as DEX) - to raise the standards for the industry. Daraz is also helping existing
and new logistics providers digitize. In 2018, Daraz was acquired by Alibaba Group, and is proud to carry its part
of the mission to 'make it easy to do business anywhere in the era of the digital economy'. As part of the Alibaba
ecosystem, Daraz is leveraging Alibaba's global leadership and experience in technology, online commerce, mobile
payments and logistics to drive growth its markets entrepreneurs, and every month it educates more than 5,000 new
sellers on e-commerce operations.

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ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE:

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SWOT ANALYSIS
STRENGTHS
1. Easily and highly accessible:

Daraz is an online platform so you can have easy access to variety of products. The buyers and sellers
communicate with each other which leads towards purchases. There is no need to take out time from your busy
schedule just to buy one product which makes life easier.

2. Provides Ubiquity to customers:

E-commerce solution is available for the customers as Daraz operates in 5 countries so their presence is provided
through their website. The purchaser can place their orders from anywhere just by using their mobiles or laptops.
This becomes the reason of their huge customer base as it is not necessary to visit the stores to make a purchase.

3. Extensive variety of goods:

There is a huge variety of products available belonging to different categories. It includes electronic devices,
Women’s and Men’s Fashion, Health and beauty, TV and home appliances, and groceries and automotive is also
added to the list now. This allows the customers to fulfill their needs and wants as they can get each and every
product from all the leading brands which adds up to the value for customers.

4. Massive Investors:

Rocket Internet which is a famous venture builder previously had control of Daraz but then Ali Baba acquired it.
This indicates that continuous uninterrupted stream of funds is being provided to Daraz in order to run smooth
operations. Huge investments are being made which means that there is a lot of potential of growth and expansion.

WEAKNESSES:
1. No refund policy on specific products:

There are some products including books, auto motives, medical equipment, etc. on which the refund policy is not
applicable. This results in customer’s dissatisfaction because the product they purchased is not usable.

2. Low brand recognition:

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Brand awareness is another issue for Daraz because it is an ecommerce business which needs network connectivity
for the access. There are many areas in which there is lack of network coverage so the people living there are not
familiar with the services Daraz is providing.

3. Lack of trust among people:

There are many previous cases reported in which fraudulent sellers were called upon. Many customers faced the
issue of ordering from the fake seller which ended up making huge losses. This became the reason behind people
not relying on this website.

4. Low quality products:

Previously, many customers complained about the quality of the products available on the website. There are many
reviews from the disappointed customers who are not satisfied with the quality Daraz is providing. This proves to
be a major problem for Daraz and it can further make it difficult for it to survive in a competitive market.

OPPORTUNITIES:
1. Rapid growth in internet users:

With time, the growth of internet has increased massively and almost every business has realized the importance of
Digital marketing. Similarly, the rising number of users of internet serves as an opportunity for a business like
Daraz which is a leading ecommerce business. It can provide the customers with more categories and a wide range
of products in order to gain higher profit margins.

2. Growing E-commerce sales

The Pakistani ecommerce market is playing a major role in increasing the growth rate of ecommerce. Existing
markers have the potential for further development and new markets are also emerging. This excessive growth in
businesses is increasing the revenues as a whole. Moreover, in the next few year it is expected for the global
growth to continue. Therefore, daraz can also build a stronger customer base as more people will be familiar with
the brand and this will also contribute in increasing the sales and revenues.

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THREATS:
 Security issues : chances of data getting breached
 Political instability affecting the sales
 Lengthy buying procedure
 Increase in online retailers, hence more competition

IT COMPONENTS OF DARAZPK

HARDWARE
Daraz uses quality equipment to successfully run the business. Daraz uses multiple of these hardware devices as
the company has grown so much that it is needed. This is a Breakdown of the basic components that Daraz uses
more and more on a daily basis.

1. EXTERNAL HARD DRIVE

Given that most things are done online these days it’s important to have some kind of hard drive to store
information in. External hard drives keep your business organized and your information in a secure place.

This is especially beneficial for those who are afraid or don’t like to store information in the Cloud or directly on
their computer’s hard drive. These are also used as back up for any accidents that may occur. You want to make
sure you invest in security for theft cases.

2. DESKTOP/LAPTOP COMPUTER

Everyone has one these days and it is crucial for any business who wants to grow and thrive to have a designated
computer system.

3. NETWORK SERVER

Network servers are highly important for fast and easy speeds and databases. You will have access to more storage
capacity and higher security. For your business, you want to stay away from using your computers network server
and get one that is specifically dedicated to your business only.

4. MOBILE DEVICE

A mobile device is almost always necessary when running a business. There will be moments when managers
needs to make professional calls and they don’t want to use their personal phone. Having a device that is
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specifically for your business helps with organization and professionally. From tablets to cellphones, it’s good to
have a mobile device that you can take anywhere and handle business situations easily and conveniently. There are
certain mobile devices that work for business purposes:

 iPhone
 Samsung Galaxy
 CAT S41
 Kyocera Brigadier
 LG X
 Samsung Galaxy Tablet
 Apple iPad

SOFTWARE
Daraz used Microsoft Dynamics 365 to control everything what is happening on daraz.pk.

What is Microsoft Dynamics 365?

Customized databases are challenging to integrate and upgrade and therefore, Microsoft seems to be trying to take
a different direction and move to standardized and consistent database schematics. The entire customer base can
use any new solution that Microsoft deploys under the Dynamics 365 umbrella. The only difference being that
users will browse applications through a new store known as Microsoft App-Source.

Therefore, the Common Data Model will allow integration with all Microsoft applications as well as any other
applications using a standard API.

What are the Uses for Microsoft Dynamics 365?

Microsoft Dynamics 365 can be used for:
 Bringing your business together as a cohesive unit by connecting people, processes, and data across many
applications, including Microsoft Dynamics 365, Office 365, LinkedIn, and Azure.

 Making smarter decisions with built-in AI, analytics, and guided action suggestions.

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 Adapting the application to your needs rather than changing your business methodology. You can integrate
most applications with existing systems or even customize with Microsoft Power Platform.

 Modernize your approach by incorporating AI, mixed reality, social, and mobile capabilities for progressive
business innovation.

Dynamics 365 Modules and Applications:

Organizations can choose from the following Microsoft Dynamics 365 applications and features:

 Customer Insights
This module combines customer data from Microsoft Dynamics 365, Office 365 and third-party data sources,
and helps users find actionable insights from that data. The module also includes Power BI for analytics and
visualization of data. Artificial intelligence tools can be used to identify consumer behavior patterns and trends
which can then provide predictive data.

 Customer Service
Dynamics 365 offers multi-channel tools for engaging customers, tools for self-service / self-care portals as
well as tools for community engagement and support agents.

 Field Service
Component of Dynamics 365 primarily used for planning and scheduling resources, managing contracts,
inventory, insights into the internet of things-connected products and customer communications tools.

 Finance and Operations

In this module, Dynamics 365 offers financial management with all the reporting and analytics tools. It also
includes manufacturing tools for project management, production planning, scheduling, cost management; and
warehouse and inventory control tools for the supply chain management.

 Marketing
Dynamics 365 links up Dynamics CRM with Adobe Marketing Cloud to provide campaign management and
targeted, personalized marketing tools that cater to your unique needs.

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 Project Service Automation

Automate project planning, resources scheduling, time and cost management, and service analytics in an all-in-
one package. Gets you what you need while making management seamless.

 Retail
Combined business tools, store and employee management, merchandise management and operational insights.

 Sales
The sales module provides insight into prospective customer sources, personalization of service and customer
engagement data, sales productivity and performance metrics on many platforms such as dynamics magneto
and dynamics shopify...

 Talent
Human resource cloud services connected with LinkedIn to manage all aspects of HR. This includes attracting,
hiring, and onboarding new employees in managing HR programs.

Other Integrated Applications on Website:

There are 2 software’s that are integrated on the daraz website, one is the customer e-commerce platform on which
customers are purchasing products and one is Daraz Seller Center (DSC) which is totally used by the sellers to
upload products, get orders, dispatch orders, and printing receipts.

NETWORK TYPE BEING USED IN DARAZ PK:

Daraz uses WAN (wide-area network) and LAN (local-area network) network.

What is the Difference between WAN and LAN?

WANs can exist globally, without ties to a physical location through the use of a leased network provider, LANs
exist within a limited area. LANs can be used to access a greater WAN (such as the internet), but only within the
area where the LAN’s infrastructure can reach.

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Advantages and Disadvantages of WAN Network:

PROS CONS
More Area Coverage Security
Centralized Data Need of Security Solutions
Updated Files Installation Costs
Message Exchange Disconnection Problems
Increased Bandwidth Troubleshooting Issues
Assured Uptime Maintenance Issues

A LAN connection is also cost-friendly and easy to set up. All you need are some Ethernet cables and a network
switch, and you are all set. Additionally, you can see LANs being utilized over Wi-Fi, or you can use Wi-Fi in
conjunction with standard Ethernet connections to create a LAN available to all kinds of devices, whether it be a
smartphone or a desktop computer.

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TYPES OF INFORMATION SYSTEMS BEING USED:

Daraz is an online market place proper process and maintains different softwares for different purposes.

3 DIFFERENT SOFTWARE THAT DARAZ USES:

• SELLER CENTER: it’s a module through which the sellers get registered. They enlist their products on the
website, charge price, classify their product and then manage their online store. Whereas the managers keep
an account of the sales, update data and focus on analyzing various functions and situations.

• CRM: used for maintaining good customer relationships. They use modules like Zen desk, LMS, Zoho etc.
• WOMS: It is known as Warehouse and order management system and is used by the operations team and
sometimes by the customer service team as well. Its modules assist in keeping inventories, managing
orders, managing warehouse return management, cross dock and drop ship. Daraz also uses different IT
system like Google BT software, SEO tool etc. for data analysis.

Content Management Systems:

WordPress: open source blog publishing and content management system, based on PHP and MySQL.

WPBakery: WordPress based webpage builder

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Elementor: WordPress based web builder

10Web (formerly Web-Dorado) Photo Gallery: photo gallery platform based on WordPress

Server Side Programming Languages:

PHP: scripting language for creating websites.
Java: general-purpose language originally developed by Sun Microsystems.

Web Servers Used By Daraz:

Tengine: open source web server based on Nginx and originated by Taobao.
The LiteSpeed Web Server: a lightweight web server by LiteSpeed Technologies.

OS Of Daraz:
UNIX: range of operating systems originally developed at Bell Labs. This includes UNIX and Unix-like systems, such as Linux.

Web Hosting Provider of Daraz:

Alibaba: Alibaba a Chinese e-commerce and cloud computing company.

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WORKFLOW:

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BENEFITS OF USING THESE SYTEMS:

The top five benefits of a fully integrated information system are:

1. Real Time Data

The data provided in these integrated information systems is up to date. This is significant for the organizations to
keep data updated in order to progress and plan accordingly.

2. Better Communication

The communication between the team members becomes uninterrupted as all of them receive similar information
simultaneously. There is no need to recheck the data between different systems and departments.

3. Reduced Risk of Errors

There are less chances of human errors because the data is not copied more than once which means that there is
accuracy in the information.

4. Greater Productivity

It is not necessary to mismatch the data with other departments or servers which saves a lot of time in which
employees can focus on other tasks of the company which results in higher productivity.

PROBLEMS FACED BY CURRENT STAFF:

An employee complaint about having no future in the firm. According to him, there is no permanent contract.
Employees are hired on temporary part time contracts and most of them aren’t hired permanently. They have no
motivation to excel in their jobs as they fear that they will be fired from their jobs or their contract will soon be
over hence this may have an impact on the service that the employee is offering.

An employee says that there is no job security. There is limited to no career growth. The company does not give
anything extra benefits to the employees. This also demotivates the workforce as they’re receiving limited wages
and no fringe benefits so they may fail to perform up to the mark.

RECOMMENDATIONS:
Daraz should focus on getting the ISO certified suppliers on board in order to maintain their standards.
Furthermore Daraz should focus on their customer service because due to the declining customer satisfaction there

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has been a 70% decline in sales as there are a lot of bad reviews out there from customers that they have been
scammed and received something completely opposite of what they ordered in terms of quantity and quality which
has led to mistrust amongst the customers. The software that is being used by Daraz to manage the data is top notch
but the professionals operating the software should be well trained as the whole company is based on it. If they are
not well trained then there are risks of losing important data or affecting data security. Lastly, the warehousing is
not efficient at Daraz as it has caused delay in dispatching of the products as now the labor takes a lot of time
determining the exact location of the product they are searching for and delays lead to customer satisfaction as they
expect fast delivery service considering the claims that Daraz has made which is against the ISO certification,

CONCLUSION:
Daraz.pk is one of the largest online retail stores in not just Pakistan but in many other countries as well as it is
entertaining more than a million users on their websites per day. It was the highest grossing firm in the sales of
2015 Black Friday due to all the amazing discount deals that they provide which catches the eye of the customer. It
is empowering individual companies/ small businesses to sign as a seller on their website and sell their products via
their website as Daraz earns 30% commission from every sale that has been made via their website thus generating
revenues for them. Daraz also had to go through a lot of financial troubles after the CEO Muneeb Mayer left in
2016. OBS management system is implemented by Daraz for the order processing and BOB system for suppliers
and vendor monitoring which improves the quality and efficiency of their services. Daraz has been lacking
consumer satisfaction due to the quantity and quality of products and not having enough products on their website
made by the companies which are not ISO certified.

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