Tag: online shopping

  • American retailer sells Pakistani Servis Cheetahs as ‘Taliban’s favourite shoe,’ priced over Rs30,000

    American retailer sells Pakistani Servis Cheetahs as ‘Taliban’s favourite shoe,’ priced over Rs30,000

    An American online shopping platform known as “Americana Pipedream” is offering Pakistani Servis Cheetah high-top shoes, which are advertised as “The Taliban’s Favourite Shoe” and are priced at approximately Rs30,500 ($99). 

    Screenshot from Americana Pipedream Website

    The website lists these shoes for individuals who wish to emulate the Taliban’s style, and the company claims that “the Servis Cheetah is a highly popular running and sports shoe in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Much of its notoriety stems from its use by the Taliban, Mujahideen, and even Afghan Security Forces over the past 40 years. 

    These Servis Cheetahs are brand new and originate from Pakistan, a shoe brand that is not commonly found in the American market. 

    Interestingly, despite the platform’s strong promotion of these shoes as the “Taliban’s favourite,” the details section acknowledges that they are rare to come by in the United States and suggests that the quality may not be top-notch due to their Pakistani origin. 

    Furthermore, upon conducting research, it was discovered that the exact same shoes are sold by Servis Pakistan for Rs2,799. 

    Screenshot from official Servis Pakistan Website

    The website appears to specialise in promoting clothing and accessories associated with the Taliban and similar themes. Other products featured on the website include Afghan War Rugs & Accessories, new apparel and accessories, books, camping and outdoor gear, axes and knives, tactical gear, pipes and accessories, vintage clothing, Phantomleaf camouflage, clearance items, night vision devices, and various military surplus items categorised by style and country of origin, including Swiss Surplus, Balkan Surplus, Greek Surplus, German & Austrian Surplus, Romanian Surplus, Vintage US Military Clothing, and British Surplus. 

  • Pakistanis to soon experience AI-powered smart grocery carts in supermarkets

    Pakistanis to soon experience AI-powered smart grocery carts in supermarkets

    CalCart Technologies has revolutionised the shopping experience by launching Pakistan’s first smart grocery cart designed for supermarkets and hypermarkets. This innovative AI-powered product aims to seamlessly blend the convenience of online shopping with the traditional in-store experience.

    With CalCart, shoppers can effortlessly scan items in their cart for quick and easy billing while also checking real-time prices. The cart’s built-in navigation system helps customers navigate through the store effortlessly, saving time and reducing stress.

    One of the standout features is the personalised aisle-based promotions, where CalCart tailors exclusive deals based on individual preferences, ensuring a more rewarding shopping experience. Additionally, shoppers can access digital catalogues to find desired items and explore new products conveniently.

    According to ProPakistani, the recent collaboration with Carrefour, a major global supermarket chain, marks a significant milestone in the digitization of conventional brick-and-mortar retail. This partnership demonstrates the potential impact of integrating technology into the retail sector, offering customers an enhanced and futuristic shopping journey.

  • Too lazy to try on? Google’s new AI shopping feature allows you to try clothes before buying

    Too lazy to try on? Google’s new AI shopping feature allows you to try clothes before buying

    Google has recently introduced a new shopping feature with the help of Artificial Intelligence (AI) which is currently only available to customers from the United States. With the help of images from real models that range in sizes from XXS to 3XL, the feature will allow customers to check sizes of clothes from all kinds of brands such as H&M, Anthrpologie and more.

    Through this feature, users can scroll through different body sizes, hair, ethnicities and skin tones, to find the one that resembles their own appearance and save it as their default virtual representation, thus making shopping much more easier.

    Verge reports that Google designed the feature to help shoppers who were disappointed with their online shopping experience, referencing to data that shared that 59 per cent users who used online shopping were disappointed with their clothing purchase because it looked quite different on their bodies as compared to what they expected it to be, while 42 per cent customers revealed that they did not find clothes fit to their taste.

    Google further added that although currently there is a selection of brands that allow this virtual try-on experience, soon it will expand to include men’s clothes and other apparel as well by later this year.

    Verge also adds that new filters will be added to Google Shopping like machine learning or visual matching algorithms which will allow customers to purchase cheaper alternatives similar to the clothes they are looking for across various clothes platforms.

  • Daraz Group to reduce 11% workforce in response to challenging market conditions

    Daraz Group to reduce 11% workforce in response to challenging market conditions

    Daraz Group, an e-commerce subsidiary of Alibaba Group, will be reducing its workforce by 11 per cent in response to the challenging market conditions.

    The CEO, Bjarke Mikkelsen, noted the adverse impact of a war in Europe, significant supply chain disruptions, rising inflation, heightened taxes, and the elimination of crucial government subsidies on the company’s operations, which are in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal.

    Daraz, which was founded in Pakistan in 2012 and acquired by Alibaba in 2018, is the largest e-commerce platform in Pakistan and serves over 100,000 SMEs in the country.

    According to Ehsan Saya, Managing Director of Daraz in the country, Pakistan remains the company’s largest market with the largest number of employees across its markets.

    He adds, “almost one-third of the staff in Pakistan is from regional teams which work with teams in Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Singapore, and China.”

    Ehsan Saya confirmed to Reuters that the 11 per cent reduction in the workforce of Daraz Group will also result in an equivalent cut in its workforce in Pakistan. The group did not provide further details regarding the specific number of employees affected and further details on the restructuring.

    In a letter, CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen stated that Daraz has been able to grow its active shopper base from three million in 2018 to over 15 million currently, with an average order growth of nearly 100 per cent until last year. The company reported having access to 500 million customers in 2021 and a workforce of 10,000 employees. In the past two years, Daraz has invested $100 million in Pakistan and Bangladesh.

  • Here’s how to build your new laptop without going to a shop

    Here’s how to build your new laptop without going to a shop

    As online purchasing and selling have evolved, you can now choose and order a laptop from a number of Pakistani websites without going to the market in person.

    Some of the most popular websites for online shopping include Daraz, laptopmart.pk, myshop.pk, mrlaptop.pk, telemart.pk and OLX.

    There is a distinct and significantly more effective website that delivers much more than just selling factory goods. The laptop shopping website paklap.pk offers a variety of brands from which you can choose one of your preferred models. Whatever brand or model you’re looking for, Paklap has it, from boxy Lenovo Thinkpads to sleek Apple MacBooks.

    The platform’s most intriguing feature is that it even lets you select your preferred RAM, HDD storage, and SSD storage and provides a precise cost estimate for the laptop after your chosen upgrades. In addition to laptops, the website lists a wide range of computer accessories and numerous gadgets for online shoppers at affordable prices.

    Building your new laptop and obtaining an exact price quote while you’re still in bed seems like a brilliant idea, particularly for those who lack the time to go to the market, haggle, and inquire about the cost of each upgrade.

    Despite the minimal effort, you should still confirm or check the market prices of each item you intend to purchase.

  • PM Khan welcomes $85 million foreign investment in Airlift

    PM Khan welcomes $85 million foreign investment in Airlift

    On Friday, Prime Minister Imran Khan welcomed the latest $85 million foreign investment in the quick commerce startup, Airlift, by leading Venture Capitals of the world.

    “Pakistan has huge potential and we are open for business,” PM Imran Khan stated in a tweet. The prime minister further guaranteed his government’s commitment towards creating such investment opportunities in Pakistan.

    Airlift is a Lahore-based online shopping delivery service, has successfully raised $85 million foreign investment in Series B funding round, the largest single private funding round in Pakistan’s history.

    Apart from PM Imran Khan, Punjab Chief Minister Usman Buzdar also commented on the success of the private firm. He said he was “glad” to share that international investors were showing confidence in Pakistan’s evolving technology ecosystem.

    The company has set a new model for bringing world-class financers to invest in Pakistan. This will collect confidence that great technology and user products can be developed in Pakistan, and this area of the world has some of the best expertise for producing practical and innovative tech advancement. Furthermore, Airlift Express alone, with its series B funding of $85 million, has added 5 per cent to the country’s FDI for the monetary year 2021.

    Airlift runs a quick commerce service in eight cities covering Lahore, Karachi, and Islamabad in Pakistan. Customers can order groceries, farm-fresh produce, other necessary items including medicines as well as sports gear from the company’s website or app and have the articles delivered within 30 minutes.

    In addition to this, using the latest foreign investment, the quick commerce startup, Airlift expects to place more offerings to its services in the near future and create nearly a quarter-million more jobs in Pakistan within the next five years.

  • Airlift raises $85 million in Pakistan for online delivery service

    Airlift raises $85 million in Pakistan for online delivery service

    As Pakistan joins a regional startup financing boom, Airlift Technologies Pvt. has raised the biggest single private investment round in the country’s history, ahead of plans to enter international markets.

    As per details, with involvement from former Y Combinator president Sam Altman, the Lahore-based online retail delivery company received $85 million in Series B funding headed by Harry Stebbings of 20VC and Josh Buckley of Buckley Ventures Ltd. According to a data tracker from venture capitalist firm Invest2Innovate, it would be the largest-ever investment for a Pakistani company.

    Pakistan is “in the very early stages, but the transformation is happening very, very quickly and we are seeing a shift in behavior,” Airlift co-founder Usman Gul said in an interview. “We have a lot of people who previously didn’t shop online.”

    The investment in Pakistan, a country with a population of more than 200 million people and a nascent digital sector, parallels a surge of investment over the border in India.

    According to Invest2Innovate statistics, Pakistani entrepreneurs, most of which are focused on e-commerce, raised a record $101 million in the first half of this year, compared to $66 million in all of 2020. That still pales in comparison to its neighbor, where technology companies made a record $6.3 billion in the second quarter.

    The investment comes after Airlift switched to e-commerce with 30-minute shipping in September after the epidemic forced them to abandon their primary business of providing air-conditioned bus trips. It joins a very competitive market across the globe, where supermarkets and e-commerce companies like Dunzo, Gorillas, Getir, and GoPuff compete for fast deliveries in congested areas ranging from Delhi to New York and London.

    The total money raised by Pakistani startups in the first half of the year is equal to the amount raised by Airlift. According to statistics collected by Bloomberg, it also surpasses the biggest initial public offering by the private sector in the United States.

    It now intends to expand to 15 Pakistani cities by the end of the year, up from the existing eight. It’s also on a recruiting frenzy, with ambitions to increase its core staff to 400 people by the end of next year, according to Gul. In approximately three months, the firm plans to join a growing market abroad.

    “Very quickly we realised that the distribution of consumer goods was quite broken,” he said. “I ordered groceries and had to wait six hours to get that delivery. So we wanted to change that.”

  • PM Khan’s advisor Dawood hails launch of Facebook Marketplace in Pakistan

    PM Khan’s advisor Dawood hails launch of Facebook Marketplace in Pakistan

    Advisor to Prime Minister Imran Khan on Trade and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood has commended the launch of Facebook Marketplace in Pakistan.

    He said that the opportunity could prove to be a lifeline for small enterprises as well as women entrepreneurs during Covid-19.

    Dawood, in a series of tweets said, “I am happy to see that, after Amazon, Facebook has recently launched market place for Pakistan.” Dawood was of the view that the launch will encourage small enterprises and entrepreneurs in Pakistan to sell online.

    “Such opportunities during Covid-19 could be a lifeline for micro-enterprises,” said Dawood.

    Facebook Marketplace is a digital platform where users can arrange to buy, sell and trade items with other people in their area using their Facebook ID.

    Over the years, Pakistan has seen a rapid rise in the growth of ecommerce. Back in May, Amazon added Pakistan to its sellers’ list, which means that local Pakistani sellers can now list and use Amazon’s platform to sell globally, a massive boost to the country’s e-commerce landscape.

    Meanwhile, Dawood added that that the launch of the platform will also help women entrepreneurs and that it is a first step towards eCommerce.

  • Last-minute eid shopping to do online

    Last-minute eid shopping to do online

    Eid is almost here and the best way to buy goodies for the occasion is to shop online due to the current pandemic and lockdown in the country. While most people have wrapped up their Eid shopping, some late shoppers are busy getting things together by buying a few last minute items.

    Weekend Magazine has listed a few online brands that can still deliver Eid products at your door step.

    Belva

    If you have not ordered your clothes yet, you can still order your Eid jora from Belva in Karachi.

    Sabina Ali

    Read more – ‘Ban on Eid travel’ – Govt announces strategy for Eid

    Its by Rukham

    If you want to order candles for Eid decor or cute simple pendants then you can order those from Its by Rukhsm.

    ARSNS Heritage

    You can order jewellery that coud complement your Eid look from ARSN heritage.

    Scarlet by Roshanay

  • Man orders apples online, gets an iPhone

    Man orders apples online, gets an iPhone

    A man in the United Kingdom received an Apple iPhone when he bought groceries online including apples.

    According to details, Nick James, 50, was gifted a free iPhone SE as part of an online rewards scheme for shoppers of the UK-based supermarket chain Tesco.

    Staff at his local Tesco told James that there was a “surprise” in his click-and-collect order.

    “I was half expecting the surprise to be an Easter egg or something – [so] I was a little bit shocked, to say the least,” said James while talking about his unexpected gift.

    The UK resident, later, shared his excitement on social media writing: “A big thanks this week to Tesco. On Wednesday evening, we went to pick up our click and collect order and had a little surprise in there – an Apple iPhone SE.”

    “Apparently, we ordered apples and randomly got an Apple iPhone! Made my son’s week,” he added.

    The supermarket chain had randomly selected customers for promotional rewards that link with a product they had purchased from the supermarket’s online store.

    Read more – Lost glasses help 80-year-old win more than £100,000

    The marketing campaign is called the Super Substitute scheme and aims at replacing a particular item in a customer’s cart with a surprise gift. Customers are randomly selected while the original piece will be retained in the cart, the report said.

    Tesco has given up to 80 such gifts to its online shoppers across its outlets in the UK so far.