2022

STATE OF B2C
E-COMMERCE IN PAKISTAN
TABLE OF CONTENTS

01. Report overview | 4

TL;DR | 5
Overview

02. Breakdown of B2C e-commerce | 7

B2C e-commerce market size | 8
E-commerce funding landscape | 9
Trend in average ticket size | 11
Growth in registered merchants | 12
Merchant economics | 13
Pakistan Market Evolution of digitally paid transactions | 10 Leading 3PL players for e-commerce | 14
Snapshot

03.
Top Online Stores Overview of the biggest click and mortar stores | 16
In Pakistan Overview of the biggest e-commerce platforms | 23
TABLE OF CONTENTS

04.
Analysis on The OND cyclicality in Pakistan’s e-commerce | 29
E-Commerce The November impact on the e-commerce industry | 30
Seasonality The November impact on click and mortar stores | 31

05.
Introduction | 33
The November Peak | 34
Analysis based on Pakistani Stores’ data | 35
Spotlight : Daraz Comments by Daraz | 36

06. Indonesia | 38
Philippines | 42
Is a recession looming? | 54

Emerging Markets Egypt | 46

& What Lies Ahead Bangladesh | 50
REPORT OVERVIEW
Over the past decade, Pakistan’s economy has witnessed e-commerce evolve
from the fringes to the mainstream. In the last couple of years especially, the
sector has experienced tremendous growth with the expected market size
reaching $6.4 billion in 2023, according to estimates by the ecommerceDB.
This growth is expected to continue in the coming years, driven by a variety of
factors such as increasing internet penetration, expanding mobile connectivity,
a rising population of digital natives who are comfortable with online shopping,
and a growing number of e-commerce businesses due to lower barriers to entry.
At the same time, investments by players like Daraz into customer and seller
awareness, especially through its mega sales campaigns, have led to higher
adoption of online shopping. Similarly, legacy retail giants like Khaadi and Gul
Ahmed have also doubled down on their digital channels, a trend that only
accelerated in the wake of Covid-19.
DISCLAIMER:
This report is published for informational purposes only. The data used is based on information made available by third parties
As a result, Pakistani e-commerce startups became attractive to local and
foreign investors who deployed around $400 million across 54 deals in the
sector between 2019 and 2022.
However, with funding slowdown in the VC ecosystem, coupled with Pakistan’s
macroeconomic deterioration, the e-commerce sector is beginning to feel the
pinch. The number of digitally paid transactions were down 40% lower year-on-
year in Q4.
The recessionary headwinds have even come for the sector’s biggest season,
O-N-D, where sales have traditionally stayed higher than the rest of the year on
account of mega campaigns such as 11.11 or 12.12. In 2022, there were signs of a
relatively slower last quarter, at least compared to the same period in 2021.
Read this data-packed report to dive into the biggest trends in Pakistan’s B2C e-
commerce market.
4
TL;DR

$6.4B $190.3M 16
Total E-commerce Disclosed E-commerce Disclosed E-commerce
Market Size Funding in 2022 Deals in 2022

6.3M 1,180
Average Monthly Number of E-commerce
3PL Shipments companies registered in FY22

5
PAKISTAN MARKET SNAPSHOT
 BREAKDOWN OF B2C E-COMMERCE

6.1%

10.6% Pakistan is the 47th largest market for e-commerce with a

forecasted revenue of $6.4 billion for 2023. Category-wise,

34.1% Electronics & Media make up the largest share, accounting for
34.1% of the total market.

Total This can be attributed to a number of factors, including the early

20.4%
$6.4B platforms like symbios.pk or homeshopping.pk that created a niche
in bringing popular products to Pakistan which weren’t easily
accessible, like iPhones. The category also has a higher average
order value that has only increased with the rupee’s devaluation.

Over the next 5 years, the expected Compound Annual Growth

Rate (CAGR) is 6.2%, which is relatively muted due to the
28.8%
continuous depreciation of the rupee and the resulting cut in
economic growth forecasts.

Electronics & Media Furniture & Appliances Fashion

Food & Personal Care Toys, Hobby & DIY

Source: ecommerceDB 7
 B2C E-COMMERCE MARKET SIZE

Comparable Markets Analysis

$60B 4.5%
While Pakistan’s online B2C retail market has grown over the years, it
4.0%
currently lags well behind comparable countries.
3.5%
$45B
Its market size in both absolute and relative terms is the lowest among
3.0%
the peer group. However, this could be due to the country’s deteriorating
2.5% macroeconomic situation which has eroded much of the rupee’s value,
$30B thus translating into a muted dollar amount.
2.0%

1.5% Moreover, a notable share of Pakistan’s e-commerce is not captured in

$15B existing data. For example, many prepaid orders are via interbank funds
1.0%
transfer and therefore not reflected in overall card-based e-commerce

0.5% numbers.

$0B 0.0%

E-commerce Expected Size 2023 (US $M) % of GDP

Source: ecommerceDB, World Bank 8

 E-commerce
E-COMMERCE Funding
FUNDING LANDSCAPE Landscape
Amount Deals
E-commerce Funding Share of E-commerce in Total Funding
E-commerce Deals Share of E-commerce in Total Deals
$200M $190.3M 60% 24 35%
$174.6M 21
28.57% 30%
54.76% 50%
$150M 18
16 25%
47.73% 40%
14 25.00%
22.86% 20%
$100M 30% 12
32.27% 15%
9.68…
20%
10%
$50M 6
5.41%
$20.9M 10% 3
5%
$2.3M
$0M 0% 0 0%
2019 2020 2021 2022 2019 2020 2021 2022

Over the past four years, funding to Pakistani e-commerce startups has Similarly, the number of deals rose to its peak in 2021, before
witnessed a steep upward trajectory, increasing from just $2.3M in 2019 easing down to 16 in 2022 amid a slowdown in VC activity.
to over $190M in 2022. In relative terms too, the sector’s share in the Meanwhile, the sector accounted for more than one-fifth of all
country’s total investment value has increased tenfold. However, most investments made in Pakistan last year.
of this capital has lately been deployed in the B2B segment.

Source: Data Darbar 9

 HOW DIGITALLY PAID TRANSACTIONS HAVE EVOLVED

Acquirer Side Issuer Side

Value (in PKR) Volume Value (in PKR) Volume
40B 16M 80B 18M
35B 14M 70B 16M
30B 12M 60B 14M
25B 10M 12M
50B
20B 8M 10M
40B
8M
15B 6M 30B
6M
10B 4M 20B 4M
5B 2M 10B 2M
0B 0M 0B 0M
Q1'FY19

Q4'FY19
Q2'FY19
Q3'FY19

Q1'FY20
Q2'FY20
Q3'FY20
Q4'FY20
Q1'FY21
Q2'FY21
Q3'FY21
Q4'FY21
Q1'FY22
Q2'FY22
Q3'FY22
Q4'FY22
Q1'FY23
Q2'FY23

Q1'FY20

Q4'FY21
Q1'FY19
Q2'FY19
Q3'FY19
Q4'FY19

Q2'FY20
Q3'FY20
Q4'FY20
Q1'FY21
Q2'FY21
Q3'FY21

Q1'FY22
Q2'FY22
Q3'FY22
Q4'FY22
Q1'FY23
Q2'FY23
Since FY19, e-commerce merchants registered with banks in At the same time, e-commerce spend by Pakistani bank card
Pakistan have seen a steady uptake in digitally paid orders as both holders (issuer side) continued to grow in amount, reaching
the number of transactions and their value has gone up. In Q2’FY23, PKR 73.8B in Q2’FY23. However, the number of transactions has
the throughput reached PKR 34.2B while the volumes are still lower been on a downward trend after hitting a peak in Q1’FY22.
than October-December of the previous year.

Source: Payment Systems Review by State Bank of Pakistan 10

 DEMOCRATIZATION OF ORDERS OR TROUBLE BREWING?

Average Ticket Sizes in PKR

The average ticket size of digitally paid e-
Issuer Acquirer commerce transactions presents a rather

14,000 mixed trend. While it has recovered from the

lows of early FY22 to reach PKR 5,811 and PKR
12,000 4,171 as of Q2’FY23 for the issuer and acquirer
sides, respectively, it may not necessarily be a
10,000
positive.
8,000
For starters, it’s still significantly below the
6,000 FY17 levels when the average issuer side
transaction was approaching PKR 12,000. The
4,000
recent increase in order value could be due to
2,000 the inflationary impact. That’s because even
though the e-commerce throughput has
0 increased consistently, the number of
Q2'FY19
Q1'FY17
Q2'FY17
Q3'FY17
Q4'FY17
Q1'FY18
Q2'FY18
Q3'FY18
Q4'FY18
Q1'FY19

Q3'FY19
Q4'FY19
Q1'FY20
Q2'FY20
Q3'FY20
Q4'FY20
Q1'FY21
Q2'FY21
Q3'FY21
Q4'FY21
Q1'FY22
Q2'FY22
Q3'FY22
Q4'FY22
Q1'FY23
Q2'FY23
transactions are down significantly, naturally
pushing up the average.

Source: Payment Systems Review by State Bank of Pakistan 11

 GROWTH IN REGISTERED MERCHANTS

Merchants Registered with Banks

6,000 The growth in transaction values and volumes
has come on the back of an increasing number
5,000 of merchants registered with banks, which
reached 5,954 as of Q2’FY23.

4,000
At the same time, Electronic Money
Institutions (EMIs) have created a new avenue
3,000
for merchants and already onboarded 5,484
entities as of December 2022.
2,000

We observed a steady growth in up-and-

1,000
coming e-commerce players, as evident by the
Securities and Exchange Commission of
0 Pakistan (SECP), which registered 1,180 e-
Q1'FY17

Q4'FY19

Q1'FY23
Q2'FY17
Q3'FY17
Q4'FY17
Q1'FY18
Q2'FY18
Q3'FY18
Q4'FY18
Q1'FY19
Q2'FY19
Q3'FY19

Q1'FY20
Q2'FY20
Q3'FY20
Q4'FY20
Q1'FY21
Q2'FY21
Q3'FY21
Q4'FY21
Q1'FY22
Q2'FY22
Q3'FY22
Q4'FY22

Q2'FY23
commerce entities during FY22.

Source: Payment Systems Review by State Bank of Pakistan 12

 MERCHANT ECONOMICS

Acquirer Side
Throughput per Merchant (in PKR) Transactions per Merchant While the number of merchants has been
increasing, the trend with respect to
12M 4,500
transactions or throughput per merchant is
4,000 mixed.
10M
3,500
Value processed per merchant peaked in
8M 3,000 Q2’FY17 and hasn’t recovered since. The
indicator has remained within a small range
2,500
6M for the last two years, spare for a resurgence
2,000 during Q2’FY20. In October-December 2022,

4M 1,500 it stood at PKR 5.7M.

1,000 The number of transactions per merchant

2M
500 does not present a clear-cut trend either.
Volumes have been on a consistent
0M 0 downward trajectory after peaking in
Q2'FY19
Q1'FY17
Q2'FY17
Q3'FY17
Q4'FY17
Q1'FY18
Q2'FY18
Q3'FY18
Q4'FY18
Q1'FY19

Q3'FY19
Q4'FY19
Q1'FY20
Q2'FY20
Q3'FY20
Q4'FY20
Q1'FY21
Q2'FY21
Q3'FY21
Q4'FY21
Q1'FY22
Q2'FY22
Q3'FY22
Q4'FY22
Q1'FY23
Q2'FY23
Q1’FY22.

Source: Payment Systems Review by State Bank of Pakistan 13

 LEADING 3PL PLAYERS FOR E-COMMERCE

Disclosed Avg. Monthly

Company Stage
Funding Shipments
Market Share Launched

Seed $8.6M 1,450,000 23.2% 2020

Established N/A 1,150,000 18.4% 1983

Established N/A 1.150,000 18.4% 1983

Seed $3.7M 725,000 11.6% 2017

Post IPO $2.6M 475,000 7.6% 2018

Series B $18M* 475,000 7.6% 2019

Seed $5.4M 375,000 6.0% 2019

*The money was raised by Jabberwock Ventures, the holding company of Swyft Logistics and some part of it went to Swyft.

Note I: These numbers do not reflect the shipments fulfilled by vendors’ in -house fleet and Daraz Express (DEX), which
currently has the highest monthly numbers (estimated to be around 1.6M shipments per month.

Note II: These numbers do not reflect small 3PL players that are estimated to fulfil around 500K shipments per month.

Source: Data Darbar, Market Intel 14

LEADING CLICK AND MORTAR
PLAYERS IN PAKISTAN
 OVERVIEW OF THE BIGGEST CLICK AND MORTAR STORES

Company Global Revenue Tech Stack Annual Traffic Growth % (YoY) Launch

$71.8M Magento 10.01M 38.7 2013

$50.3M Shopify 9.80M 7.5 2017

$48.3M Magento 8.94M 24.1 2007

$29.1M Magento 7.969M 29.5 2014

$34.2M Shopify 7.966M 84.5 2016

Source: SEMRush, BuiltWith, Wayback Machine, ecommerceDB, AlphaVenture 16

 1. JUNAID JAMSHED

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

1.75M 300%

1.50M 240%

1.25M 180%

1.00M 120%

0.75M 60%

0.50M 0%

0.25M -60%

0.00M -120%

Source: SEMRush 17
 2. LIMELIGHT

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

3.0M 240%

2.5M 180%

2.0M 120%

1.5M 60%

1.0M 0%

0.5M -60%

0.0M -120%

Source: SEMRush 18
 3. GUL AHMED

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

2.5M
120%

2.0M 80%

1.5M 40%

1.0M 0%

0.5M -40%

0.0M -80%

Source: SEMRush 19
 4. KHAADI

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

2.0M 80%

1.5M 40%

1.0M 0%

0.5M -40%

0.0M -80%

Source: SEMRush 20
 5. SAPPHIRE

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

1.25M 300%

250%
1.00M
200%

0.75M
150%

100%
0.50M
50%

0%
0.25M

-50%

0.00M -100%

Source: SEMRush 21
TOP E-COMMERCE
PLAYERS IN PAKISTAN
 OVERVIEW OF THE BIGGEST E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS IN PAKISTAN

Company Stage Disclosed Funding Annual Traffic Launched Category

Acquired $55.6M 112.1M 2012 General

Seed $8.4M 14.7M 2020 Electronics

Series A $5.4M 13.0M 2017 Beauty & Fashion

Seed N/A 5.9M 2019 Beauty & Fashion

Bootstrapped N/A 4.1M 2017 General

Source: Data Darbar, SEMRush, Company Data 23

 2. PRICEOYE

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

2.5M
200%

2.0M 150%

100%
1.5M

50%
1.0M

0%

0.5M
-50%

0.0M -100%

Source: SEMRush 24
 3. BAGALLERY

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

2.5M
150%

2.0M
100%

1.5M
50%

1.0M
0%

0.5M -50%

0.0M -100%

Source: SEMRush 25
 4. LAAM

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

1.00M
200%

150%
0.75M

100%

0.50M
50%

0%
0.25M

-50%

0.00M -100%

Source: SEMRush 26
 5. ISHOPPING

Monthly Traffic Monthly YoY Change

600K
0%

450K
-25%

300K -50%

150K -75%

0K -100%

Source: SEMRush 27
ANALYSIS ON
E-COMMERCE SEASONALITY
THE OND CYCLICALITY IN PAKISTAN’S E-COMMERCE
For Pakistan’s e-commerce sector, November has historically held a high
importance as it marks the start of mega sales events. This culture was first
introduced by Daraz at a large scale through its 11.11 campaign, and followed by
other leading stores such as Bagallery. This makes it the country’s biggest
shopping event in the online retail space. For teams at e-commerce stores, it’s
the most hectic time of the year where all-nighters are quite common.
More broadly, the entire last quarter, aka O-N-D in industry parlance, is usually
the best period in terms of sales and often accounts for more than a
proportionate share of the annual gross merchandise value. The extent of this
cyclicality varies across categories, and is usually more prevalent in categories
such as electronics and less among click and mortar stores. It was based on both
anecdotal evidence and market information and other data such as traffic
analytics. It is also visible in the State Bank of Pakistan data, which showed a
bump in the last quarter of every year.
DISCLAIMER:
Due to lack of publicly available financial and operational data, our analysis was based on a number of proxies derived from traffic trends and may not be indicative of a
particular company’s sales performance during O-N-D.
The phenomenon has historically been enabled by high discounts funded by
sponsors, typically venture capital firms. But with slowdown in funding due to a
global tightening, there are questions as to how long can the trend can
continue. Making matters worse, the deterioration of Pakistan’s macroeconomic
situation has put further strain on e-commerce companies by substantially
pushing the cost of operations, in large part thanks to a highly devalued rupee
and supply chain restrictions.
As a result, some of the leading stores weren’t able to meet their targets, as per
market sources. Data based on traffic analytics and State Bank’s numbers of
digital transactions confirm this trend, with most players in e-commerce,
particularly marketplaces, witnessed year-on-year declines starting towards the
second quarter of 2022.
29
 THE NOVEMBER IMPACT ON THE E-COMMERCE INDUSTRY

November Traffic / Average Monthly Traffic* November’s Share in Annual Traffic

2 16%

1.6
12%

1.2
1.95 8% 15.1%
1.71 13.4%
0.8 1.52 1.50 12.1% 12.0%

0.95 4% 8.0%
0.82 6.9%
0.4
0.53 4.6%

0 0%

While November, or the OND, effect is a thing based on Four out of seven stores analysed for this report exhibited the
anecdotal (or off the record) evidence, we tried to quantify it via November Impact based on both metrics.. The effect may not look
traffic data. We analysed the November impact by: too convincing at first sight, but the devil is in the details. It is
a) Taking November’s traffic and dividing it with the average generally believed to be stronger in electronics than other
traffic of the remaining 11 months* categories. That holds up, except for iShopping, which seems
b) Dividing the November traffic with the total annual traffic more a case of an overall declining trajectory of traffic.
.

Source: Data Darbar

30
 THE NOVEMBER IMPACT ON CLICK AND MORTAR STORES

November Traffic / Average Monthly Traffic* November’s Share in Annual Traffic

3.5 25%

3
20%
2.5

2 15%

1.5 3.09 22.0%

10%
2.37 17.7% 17.2%
2.28 15.8% 15.7%
1 2.07 2.04 2.00 15.4%
1.59 12.6%
1.40 11.3%
5% 8.4%
0.5 1.01

0 0%

In the case of Click and Mortar, the situation is a bit different since
their campaigns are more aligned with the retail industry than e-
commerce. While November 2022 was indeed a good month for the
top stores, exhibiting a clear peak, the underlying reasons were a
little different.
According to experts in the logistics and retail space, it was
because the top click and mortar players had excess stock left.
Therefore, they offered aggressive clearance sales, resulting in
a major spike in volumes (and traffic).

Source: Data Darbar 31

SPOTLIGHT :
 SPOTLIGHT STORE : DARAZ

Daraz is by far the biggest e-commerce player

in Pakistan with an estimated market share of
around 30-35%. It is also the pioneer of mega
sales campaigns in the country and can be

600K
credited with introducing the culture of 11.11

20M 5M here, or the OND phenomenon generally.

Number of users Number of Digitally paid

who visited Daraz
Items sold transactions These sales are a major business driver for the
company, and used to account for almost one-
third of the annual gross merchandise value
(GMV). In 2021, the company reported $10M of
sales in the first hour of the 11.11 campaign.
This year, it claims 5M items sold during an 11-
day campaign, during which 20 million users
visited Daraz.

35K+ 93%
We tracked the global monthly website visits
Number of sellers
Orders via for Daraz.pk and downloads from Pakistan for
participated
Daraz Mobile App Daraz’s mobile apps (Android and iOS) since
the beginning of January 2020. In all three
years, November exhibits higher numbers than
an average month.

Source: Daraz 33
 0.00M
0.35M
0.70M
1.05M
1.75M

1.40M
Jan-20
Mar-20
May-20
Jul-20

Source: SEMRush, Appfigures

Sep-20
Nov-20
Jan-21
Mar-21
May-21
Effect
November

Jul-21
Sep-21
App Downloads

Nov-21
THE NOVEMBER PEAK

Jan-22
Mar-22
May-22
Peak during

Jul-22
Asia Cup streaming

Sep-22
Nov-22
12M
20M

16M

0M
4M
8M

Jan-20
Mar-20
May-20
Jul-20
Sep-20
Nov-20
Jan-21
Mar-21
May-21
Jul-21
Web Traffic

Sep-21
Nov-21
Jan-22
Mar-22
May-22
Jul-22
Sep-22
Nov-22
34
 ANALYSIS BASED ON DATA

Pakistanistores.com – the largest price comparison

What Pakistanistores.com shows engine – sends regular traffic to Daraz. The chart

GMV Traffic shows the traffic and estimated GMV of leads

generated for Daraz by Pakistani Stores. It’s worth
8B 200,000
noting that both estimated GMV and monthly
180,000 traffic reach the highest level in May and that

6B 160,000 there’s no peak in November or even OND.

140,000
One explanation for this is that Pakistanistores.com
5B 120,000 specializes in electronics and home appliances and

100,000 generally ranks the highest on related keywords.

These items have a long established sales
3B 80,000
cyclicality, with peaks in summers where
60,000 consumers buy new air conditioners, refrigerators,

2B 40,000 etc.

20,000
The other possible reason is that purchasing power
0B 0 generally decreased due to the inflation and
economic slowdown in the second half of FY’22
(more on this below).

Source: Pakistani Stores 35

COMMENTS BY DARAZ

How does OND (or even November) compare with the rest of the year in terms of total orders and value?

“In 2022, we saw a 55% increase in orders during OND, whereas there was a 86% uplift during November only in orders if compar ed
to the rest of the year. Our GMV during OND increased more than 32%, and during November it was 82% more compared to the
rest of the year.”

What's the difference compared to AOV?

“During OND, our AOV increased by 15% overall, and in November it went up by 13% as compared to the rest of the year.”

36
EMERGING MARKETS
& WHAT LIES AHEAD
 INDONESIA

10.3%

27.1%

15.7%
Indonesia is the 10th largest market for e-commerce with a

Total forecasted revenue for 2023 at $53 billion. Category-wise, Food &
Personal Care makes up for the largest share, accounting for 27.1%

$53.0B of the overall market. The sector is expected to increase at a

compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.4% during 2023-2027.

Analyzing the traffic of the top e-commerce stores in Indonesia, we

20.7% see that March and December are the two main months where the

26.2% number of users are at a peak.

Food & Personal Care Electronics & Media Toys, Hobby & DIY

Fashion Furniture & Appliances

Source: ecommerceDB 38
 INDONESIA

420.0M

350.0M
Launch Year: 2015

280.0M

210.0M Founder: Forrest Li

140.0M

70.0M Top Categories: Home & Living, Health & Beauty, Electronics

0.0M

Source: SEMRush 39
 INDONESIA

250M

200M Launch Year: 2012

150M

Founders: Michael, Tim Rath, Mitterlehner, Pierre Poignant,

Stein Jakob Oeie, Magnus Ekbom, Maximilian Bittner
100M

50M
Top Categories: Home & Living, Health & Beauty, Electronics

0M

Source: SEMRush 40
 INDONESIA

120.0M

Launch Year: 2009

90.0M

60.0M Founders: William Tanuwijaya, Leontinus Alpha Edison

30.0M

Top Categories: Beauty, Health, Body Care, Household, Food

0.0M

Source: SEMRush 41
 PHILIPPINES

8.4%

11.7%
31.2% Philippines is the 20th largest market for e-commerce with a
projected revenue for 2023 as $18.2 billion. Category-wise,
Electronics & Media makes up for the largest share, accounting for

Total 31.2% of the overall market. The sector is expected to increase at a

compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.9% during 2023-2027.

18.2%
$18.2B Similar to Indonesia, Philippines sees a high traffic in the month of
December. Indonesia’s biggest e-commerce store stands out with
traffic crossing the 200M mark in the month of February. The
November effect is not predominantly seen in the Philippines.
Instead of having a single peak traffic period, they have numerous
30.6% sales periods year round.

Electronics & Media Food & Personal Care Furniture & Appliances

Fashion Toys, Hobby & DIY

Source: ecommerceDB 42
 PHILIPPINES

210.0M

Launch Year: 2015

140.0M

Founder: Forrest Li

70.0M

Top Categories: General Merchandise

0.0M

Source: SEMRush 43
 PHILIPPINES

200.0M

Launch Year: 2012

150.0M

100.0M
Founders: Michael, Tim Rath, Mitterlehner, Pierre Poignant,
Stein Jakob Oeie, Magnus Ekbom, Maximilian Bittner

50.0M

Top Categories: Home & Living, Health & Beauty, Electronics

0.0M

Source: SEMRush 44
 PHILIPPINES

4M

Launch Year: 2019

3M

2M Founders: Quek Siu Rui, Lucas Ngoo, Marcus Tan

1M

Top Categories: Fashion, Beauty and Electronics

0M

Source: SEMRush 45
 EGYPT

15.3%
23.6%
Egypt is the 41st largest market for e-commerce with an expected
revenue for 2023 at $7.5 billion. Category-wise, Electronics & Media
accounts occupies the largest share, accounting for 23.6% of the

18.0%
Total overall market. The sector is expected to increase at a compound
annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.8% during 2023-2027.

$7.5B The November effect is seen in two of the leading e-commerce

stores in Egypt: Noon and Amazon. Jumia also shows significantly
high traffic every alternate month (including November), though
21.8%
the highest traffic on the store was recorded in March. However,
the African e-commerce giant has been accumulating heavy losses
21.2% and stock price declines and recently appointed a new CEO to turn
things around.

Electronics & Media Fashion Food & Personal Care

Toys, Hobby & DIY Furniture & Appliances

Source: ecommerceDB 46
 EGYPT

21M

Launch Year: 2021

14M

Founder: Jeff Bezos

7M

Top Categories: Electronics & Media

0M

Source: SEMRush 47
 EGYPT

8M

Launch Year: 2012

6M

4M Founders: Sacha Poignonnec, Jeremy Hodara

2M

Top Categories: Fashion, Home & Appliances, Computing

0M

Source: SEMRush 48
 EGYPT

4M

Launch Year: 2012

3M

2M Founder: Shafiqur Rahman Sabbir

1M

Top Categories: Fashion, Electronics, Beauty

0M

Source: SEMRush 49
 BANGLADESH

5.7%
Bangladesh is the 37th largest market for e-commerce with a
11.0% forecasted revenue for 2023 at $8.4 billion. Food & Personal Care is
the biggest category, accounting for 33.6% of the total market,
33.6%
thanks to players like Chaldal and Foodpanda. The country’s
revenue is expected to increase at a compound annual growth rate

Total (CAGR) of 15.9% during 2023-2027.

23.4% $8.4B Similar to Daraz Pakistan, Daraz Bangladesh also exhibits a peak
season during November on account of its flagship 11.11 Sales
Campaign. In 2022, it recorded the highest traffic in November.
However, the other two leading stores, Othoba and Pickaboo saw
their peaks in February. This is because the country’s e-commerce
is still very nascent with hardly any big names after Alibaba-owned
26.3% Daraz and still doesn’t have a strong culture of O-N-D. In fact,
significant online retail volumes actually come from social media
channels like Facebook.

Food & Personal Care Electronics & Media Fashion

Note: ChalDal and Rokomari, two leading Bangladeshi stores, were excluded
Furniture & Appliances Toys, Hobby & DIY because they weren’t particularly relevant for the seasonality analysis.

Source: ecommerceDB 50
 BANGLADESH

10.0M

Launch Year: 2012

7.5M

5.0M Founder: Shafiqur Rahman Sabbir

2.5M
Top Categories: Phones & Accessories, Appliances,
Home & Living

0.0M

Source: SEMRush 51
 BANGLADESH

600K

Launch Year: 2016

450K

300K Founder: Ahsan Khan Chowdhury*

150K

Top Categories: Mobile, Electronics, Books, Stationery, Toys

0K

Source: SEMRush *Ahsan Khan Chowdhury is the chairman of the PRAN -RFL group that owns Othoba. 52
 BANGLADESH

400K

Launch Year: 2015

300K

200K Founder: Morin Talukder

100K

Top Categories: Smartphones, Electronics & Appliances

0K

Source: SEMRush 53
 IS THERE A RECESSION LOOMING – THE NUMBERS

ΔYoY in Monthly C&M Traffic ΔYoY in Monthly E-Com Traffic

Ex-Daraz Daraz
120% 360%

80% 270%

40% 180%

0% 90%

-40% 0%

-80% -90%

Source: SEMRush 54
IS A RECESSION LOOMING - COMMENTARY

Over the past four years almost, Pakistani economy has been reeling from one Discussions with e-commerce executives reveal a pretty bleak picture but
crisis after another, starting from the deteriorating rupee in 2018. However, the what does data say? Here, the traffic data, at least the absolute value, may not
intensity of the crisis has particularly been amplified since early 2022, which reveal much because of the O-N-D impact, where despite constraints, major
has seen rapid devaluation, record inflation, and rumors of default. players had aggressive campaigns, thus pushing up their numbers
temporarily.
This has affected purchasing power hard and made consumers more price
cautious. Meanwhile, the cost of operations — already under pressure from a However, percentage change compared to 2021 levels shows a clear declining
commodity super cycle — for businesses including e-commerce stores, has trend up until September, before making a slight recovery in O-N-D. Seven out
gone up substantially. This was made even worse by government-imposed of nine click and mortar stores analyzed for this report recorded lower traffic in
restrictions on imports. 2022, compared to the previous year. This is despite reportedly record year-end
clear campaigns.
Add to it the slowdown in VC funding, which fell 86.65% YoY in Q1-2023, thus
choking the key source of funds to subsidize customer acquisition and growth. In e-commerce, four of the seven platforms had less traffic in 2022, which on an
All of these factors have put a serious strain on e-commerce companies as they aggregate basis fell 18.8% YoY.
struggle to maintain their existing levels, let alone grow.

DISCLAIMER:
Based on publicly available data including traffic analytics from sources, insights from industry experts (incl. e-commerce & 3PL execs).

55
 ABOUT DATA DARBAR

Data Darbar is building a private markets intelligence platform for emerging markets while our media arm brings you the latest
insights from Pakistan’s digital economy. As of now, we have two newsletter products, Due Diligence and Appistan, which focus on VC
landscape and business models, and Pakistan's apps ecosystem, respectively.

Beyond that, Data Darbar has a consulting practice which helps businesses with financial and research advisory to make better sense
of the competitive landscape and market dynamics. It also helps companies and startups with public relations and crafting brand story.

media@datadarbar.io insights.datadarbar.io
 ABOUT ALPHAVENTURE

AlphaVenture is a high-touch digital agency that partners with companies looking to build or adopt innovative, scalable, and people-
friendly technologies. It currently has clientele across Pakistan, the Middle East, and the US, offering a diverse range of digital services.

With 30+ e-commerce brands as their partners and in-house products such as Pakistani Stores (the largest e-commerce database in
the country) , AlphaVenture is strongly rooted in the local e-commerce space and understands the underlying trends, challenges, and
opportunities.

hi@alphaventure.com alphaventure.com
 MUTAHER KHAN OSAMA ZAHID
Mutaher Khan is the co-founder of Data Darbar Osama Zahid is the Growth Manager at

and has been mapping the Pakistani tech AlphaVenture who is passionate about content

ecosystem for more than five years now. He works and growth marketing. His main aim is to bridge

at the intersection of tech, media and finance. the gap between brands and consumers through
people-friendly digital.
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