Pakistan’s e-commerce industry doubled its sales in 2018

Pakistan’s e-commerce industry saw tremendous growth in 2018. According to statistics released by State Bank of Pakistan about digital transactions and interbank transactions, e-commerce industries witnessed almost a 100 percent growth for the year 2018.

The sales for the fiscal year 2018 reached 40.1 billion rupees. Compared to last year’s sales, which were 20.7 billion, this is almost a 94 percent year on year growth.

One thing to remember is that these statistics are only about transactions involving a financial institute. The general trend seen with e-commerce in Pakistan is that most customers prefer cash transaction through cash on delivery method, which means the actual growth can be much more than 94 percent. According to one statistic, cash on delivery accounts for more than 90 percent of all sales through these e-commerce platforms.

With more people starting to trust and see the convenience behind e-commerce platforms, this growth trend is expected to pick up steam in 2019. Chinese companies are also heavily investing in local e-commerce platforms, which will lead to further improvement and growth of this important market segment.