Dialogue the Future of Retail for Pakistani Markets
Panelists: Fazal Ashfaq, CEO B- Solutions
Asfandyar, COO Hub Leather
Arslan Nazir, CEO Shophive
Amer Sarfaraz, CEO Bramerz
Umar Reafique, Vice President UBL
Moderator: Badar Khushnood, Country Consultant Google Pakistan
HUB brand has moved beyond leather, it is now a luxury life style brand. Recently they have also branched out into an online store with door step delivery across Pakistan. Are you focusing only on Pakistan? And why online store and how have the sales been in terms of online shopping?
Asfandyar Farrukh: currently, we are selling across Pakistan and that’s our major focus. Regarding online store we now obviously can no longer ignore the online market, it’s a huge market. Online sales are slow but they are getting better.
How do you accept money from online shoppers?
Asfandyar Farrukh: we accept money through bank transfers and we also accept credit cards.
What is the difference between Hafeez Centre and shophive?
Arslan Nazir: you have to go to the Hafeez centre to make a purchase, but with shophive you can shop from anywhere in the world. If you are some place where there’s no retail outlet in your proximity but you have internet access, you can go online, can call and place an order not just from Pakistan but from anywhere in the world, thus our customer base is unlimited.
You mainly deal in computers and its accessories, I am sure you have now added many other gadgets to your product line. Which cities in Pakistan have responded well to shophive?
Arsalan Nazir: Basically we deal in electronics like mobile phone and computers, and we are slowly expanding our product offerings. Our sales have mainly been in three cities: Lahore, Karachi & Islamabad.
There are many ways to advertise, how and why did B Solutions focus on social media?
Fazal Ashfaq: yes, ours was the first ever focus on face book and in a way we were pushed into it. Considerations like costs and outreach of different advertising media always cropped up during our discussion with clients. I remember one particular discussion where we were discussing an advert placement in a newspaper. The news agency couldn’t tell about the specific audience and advert will target. These discussion were happening and somebody was doing Face book business in random. We then realized that face book enables you to target the required demographic slice which is very effective for brand exposure. Thus customers push the retailers and they in turn push us, it’s an evolutionary process.
Badar Khushnood: while we are talking about online business I would like to mention one thing don’t take cyber crime lightly. So far many companies have not claimed their domain names and their names are being misused by other people who are generating and monetizing traffic by using these names. Even if you don’t have an online shop ye, at least get your name registered.
Why UBL Omni?
Umar Reafique: banks facilitate their customers through branches, but opening a new branch is a huge investment. After doing all this hard work for 60 years we saw that the bank population in Pakistan is still 18 percent. Moreover, of this 18 percent many people have multiple accounts in multiple banks. Thus 12 percent of population is banked and 88 percent is unbanked which means that, for whatever reasons, a very small percent is using banking facilities. UBL Omni goes beyond the traditional banking model by offering banking services through bank agents located in many cities and town across Pakistan. People can now not only conduct their basic banking transaction by visiting the bank agent close to homes or work place, they also no longer limited my standard banking hours.
Tell us about olaround, what is in it for retailers and how user can benefits from it?
Amer Sarfaraz: Olaround is a location based loyalty service that runs on mobile devices, it is available in both I phone and Android. Whoever is a retailer and is selling from some location is our prospective target client. The retailers print their own loyalty cards offering incentives. Generally retailers print their own loyalty cards offering discounts, rewards, etc. when you visit any store you have to check in through that mobile application that’s how yours visits count at that particular retail store. Against that visit these stores can given back loyalty or rewards or whatever they want to offer to their customers on her/his first or every visit or multiple or repeat visits. All relevant information including proximity, prices, etc. about the businesses powered by the application will be available to the user.
Any retailer in Pakistan can sign up with you?
Doesn’t even have to be a retailer. It could be a bank, a restaurant.
| Questions? |
| Question for shophive: I once placed an order with shophive for a black mouse and the one I received was white. I was out of city and had no other option so was stuck with the white one, but it was frustrating and I vowed never again to buy from shophive. I want to know if you have a system to address complaints and how customers so go about it?Arsalan Nazir: we maintain quality from products to services and we also provide after sales services. Every invoice has my email and phone number and the customers can intimate their complaints directly to me. We have encountered situation like yours and have sent free extra mouse to such customers as a good will gesture. There‘s really a difference between a regular company and the company that handles complaints very well, and we believe in prompt redressed of complaints. |
| Question for shophive: what are the pluses of online shopping? In Pakistan people have had un pleasant experiences with online shopping but accountability has been different. What is being done to address the problem of accountability in terms of online shopping?Arsalan Nazir: As for the pluses of online shopping, a salesperson cannot give your complete details of any gadget. But if you check the gadget online you get to know not just all specifications of a particular product but you can also see the high resolution images with precise details. Moreover, you can also do a bit of research before buying by reading reviews about the particular product you want to buy.Badar Khushnood: it is true that some watch dog is needed. For instance in case of mobile companies you always take your complaints to PTA. But e- commerce is still nascent in Pakistan and as a category it hasn’t been regularized, so to make a product count. And if you think that not so flattering reviews can be removed by the concerned company, you can always go to a third party blog and share your experiences. Having said that, I agree there is a trust deficit as far as online shopping is concerned and this certainly is an issue.Question to B Solution: Is facebook advertising only about generating like for your page?
Fazal Ashfaq: there are about 14 different types of engagement drivers. For instance there are sponsored stories that would not require you to like the page. To give you an example, to provide an event like this conference, we will gear our promotion to a very thin slice of people in Pakistan, to a certain age group and people with a certain professional background. All this will be taken care of and you will also see an invite to the event. In some case we don’t even promote the event itself but a particular speaker. And once the event is over the post will disappear. So it is not just about likes. Question to UBL Omni: many people have experienced problems at banks in terms of customer services. In spite of the written slogans like where customer comes first the customer is usually the last consideration. Is there anything being done to improve the level customer services? Umar Reafique: In branch banking one can encounter such problems and I too have experienced them. But with time and more interaction with technology such problems will be minimized. In the future, there will be lesser number of physical branches and more branchless agents. And the services will be available seven days a week in your proximity.
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