Wednesday 24th April 2024
Internet shopping has seemed to have clicked well with Nepal. Nepali shopping websites like Daraz.com, Sastodeal.com and Urban Girl are witnesses to the increasing fandom, especially with Dashain around the corner.
Comparative pricing, the fast-approaching festival and attractive schemes and offers are some of the reasons for this trend, in the recent times.
Moreover, the time-saving trend spares people hours of regular shopping, being stuck in huge crowds & heavy traffic and having to pay sky-rocketing prices that are a common site during festivals.
Urban Girl Co-founder Kiran Timsina says that Dashain is an important time for brick and mortar sales. “However, in the last few years, more and more people are doing their shopping online instead of physically visiting a store,” he said.
“Most buyers start buying early on e-commerce sites because it can take few days for delivery, Daraz.com receives double the number of orders during the festival season.” Says Rajeev Amatya Managing Director of Daraz.com
He said that the company has predicted increased sales up to five times since the last year.
Online Shopping Equals Value for Money
Interestingly, a large number of offers and schemes await online shopping-enthusiasts who will be shopping with these sites, to give them ‘value for their money’.
According to Sastodeal.com, the company will be launching their festival campaign shortly.
“We have incorporated all the right elements for online shoppers to make their online shopping experiences the best during Dashain,” said Prajwol Rana Tamrakar, Marketing Manager, Sastodeal.com
Similarly, Timsina said that Urban Girl is launching a series of Dashain campaigns along with the sale of products such as clothes and electronics. The e-Commerce platform also shared its plans of launching a new website and an internal management system as well.
“We will also be offering site-wise discounts in the form of vouchers,” he adds.
Daraz.com will also be running a Dashain campaign between October 8-12, 2018 to woo its customers.
During the festive season, best-selling products such as electronic appliances and home organization products make most part of Nepal’s online sales.
Online Shopping Trend in Nepal
Amatya estimates Nepal’s e-Commerce business transactions at USD 25 million per year!
Leading sites such as eSewaPasal and Daraz are bent on changing the face of Nepal’s shopping scenario.
Important change agents such as BhatBhateniOnline’s merger with Nepal mobile-wallet leader eSewa and Alibaba’s acquisition of Pakistan-based Daraz have triggered a revolution in urban Nepal’s e-commerce scenario.
Furthermore, Nepal Rastra Bank’s licensing of online payment companies and granting permission for 28 banks to conduct mobile and internet banking has stimulated the trend.
At present, there are 1 million eSewa customers and close to 5 million mobile banking users across Nepal and these numbers are will further rise with increasing mobile internet and smartphones usage.
“E-commerce, like any other business, is driven by its ecosystem. At the moment, the growth is just organic, and to increase the pace we need greater awareness and trust in internet payment,” says Roshan Lamichhane, eSewa.
While the internet shopping scenario is taking over the rest of the world, Nepal is not far behind. The country has a bright future in this industry and is already going great guns!
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