Anum Kamran runs an online marketplace started as an estore simply out of boredom at home! The forerunner of this idea was Anum’s social media page where she sold jewelry imported from other large e-commerce platforms. Since she ran another company that designed B2B solutions, she had the workforce she needed to design and develop the website. The response from the target market was astounding like that for the Facebook page created earlier. Buyon.pk started as a fashion E-store – first of its kind in Pakistan that offered unique jewelry and accessories – this uniqueness earned a great profit. Daraz.pk came into Pakistan targeting the high-end brands and making them digitally available across Pakistan. It was at this time that she realized a few challenges – her being a stay-at-home mom managing an E-store and second was that Daraz tapping into the high-end brands – the untapped 60% of Pakistani businesses that had to outlet digitally through ecommerce. So for the two years from 2012 till 2014 they worked on R&D and in 2014 launched an online marketplace with over 5000 vendors which are earning through this platform and creating thousands of jobs all across Pakistan. These vendors and the subsequent target shoppers are from tier 2 and tier 3 cities in Pakistan – bridging the gaping divide that Daraz has left in the ecommerce industry of Pakistan. Buyon. pk is an enabler, with zero inventory, from training to fulfillment to women entrepreneurs, small and medium-sized businesses across Pakistan.
With the shift in mindset with the onset of the COVID-19, Buyon.pk has remained afloat – logistics were limited but the company was not on pause. Sales have spiked – in some categories there has been an increase of up to 10 times the original scale.
E-commerce can be handled with quite a less number of people. The sister company provides with the technical support, while fleet for operations and logistics they reach out and help the vendors wherever they need facilitation since the tier targeted is not very tech-savvy. The marketing is through SEO and organic traffic – very few vendors request that their items or stocks are displayed on the home-page as promotion items and these banners are then paid for.
More than ever before, stay-at-home moms are looking for ways to produce income without having to sacrifice quality time with their children. If you are also a stay-at-home mom then take the initiative, start your eCommerce business. You will not only earn extra income, but you will also be creating the jobs and contributing in the economy.
