From humble beginnings as a small retailer, BERA has grown into a hugely successful eCommerce business making thousands of rupees in sales every single day.
BERA is in the 4th year of its growth journey and Jahangir believes that it is because of the dedication and passion shown by his team. He further stated that they want to become the next Louis Vuitton of Pakistan and that can only be possible with a strong will and motivation.
BERA – an online store selling Peshawari chappals, scarfs, and shawls in a very different manner with very customized themes. These are the traditional and cultural products of Pakistan and there is a lot of competition in these products. However, they at BERA believe, ”that it is a conversation between us and our forefathers through their crafts, telling us a great story of modesty, respect, and honor”.
In an exclusive interview with Jahangir, he told us that it’s the era of ecommerce. Global retailers like Amazon and local retailers like Daraz are much more than online shopping destinations. They are now powerful advertising platforms and important stops in the consumer journey. Anyone can take the opportunity to launch and scale-up online stores. It is like installing the CNG plants in the late 1990s. Whoever started this business made a lot of money until the market got saturated after 2006. It’s just the start of Ecommerce in Pakistan. Today I see a lot of young people earning millions of rupees through selling online and that was very difficult for the youth to earn such kind of revenues in the past.
Hunting the products and launching the online store is really not enough. You have to have an integrated marketing strategy to get massive sales. This is the point where a lot of online sellers get fail. In response to the question related to marketing the product. He responded that, yes we are an ecommerce store and our major focus is on social media platforms. However, we also do PR and B2B (Business to Business) activities. We pitch to the corporate companies and ask them to give away the gifts of BERA to their employees or the clients in order to appreciate their dedication to the business. So, the offline marketing campaigns are also part of our marketing plan.
Another very critical aspect in selling the stuff online is the target market. Founders are really passionate about their products but they really don’t understand that who will buy from them. However, our marketing campaigns are very focused and directed to the target market. For example, our target customers are normally, elites and the upper-middle class. So, if I target low-income groups in my marketing campaigns then I will just waste the money and never will be able to get the ROI. In our case, we do not have to educate the customers about the product rather they tell us how they want to customize it and all. So, our return rate is only 4%. Although, our refund policy can be stretched up to one year. Customer satisfaction is the key to the success of an online store. It will not give you the motivation, it will also give you the repeat and referral sales and that will ultimately lead you to a big number.
From humble beginnings as a small retailer, BERA has grown into a hugely successful eCommerce business making thousands of rupees in sales every single day. And throughout their eCommerce site, you get the feeling that BERA sincerely wants “culturing happiness”— a term coined by Jahangir referring to the cultural experience of local crafts that reflects royalty and ultimate luxury in every detail.
So as all great entrepreneurs do, he advised the budding entrepreneurs to fulfill the brand promise they make with their customers. Youngsters who are coming in this field should know that come straight to the battlefield and start working on your business and learn the ground realities through experiences. Work hard and don\’t drive the results too early. Success is not easy, but perseverance is the key.
