Eidul-Fitr Shopping: People Prefer Physical Stores Than Buying Online

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 21st Jun, 2018 ) :The online stores could not get a strong response as compared to physical shopping outlets on eve of Eid-ul-Fitr and people preferred putting their trust in physical stores this year.

Physical stores enjoyed good sales as opposed to online ones as this Eid-ul-Fitr was somewhat disappointing for e-commerce businesses in the country and they could not gain momentum with their sales.

Experts are of view that plunge in online sales in Pakistan was surprising, especially if one considers the fact that online traffic has increased in recent years with 57 million people online.

Several online stores have stepped up to tap into this growing market. However, they are yet to fully gain trust of customers as they hesitate over product quality online, exorbitant prices and delivery not in accordance with their product order.

Another reason behind the dip in online sales on Eid as been attributed to uncertain delivery dates. People did not want to risk their Eid preparations by putting their trust on online stores that may or may not deliver their products on time.

According to available estimates, people spent billions of rupees on Eid shopping, however, online stores failed to gain a considerable share of this amount due to reasons mentioned above.

In her comments, Co-founder of e-tailer on Wednesday said the sales were reasonable before Eid as compared to rest of the year.

However, in run up to the Eid holidays, they could not gain a solid ground.

People tend to spend time with their families and dine out during Ramadan.

Talking about delivery times and risks involved in ordering products, Ali Jabir, an e-commerce expert said nobody wants to take risk on occasion of Eid.

Imagine if a shirt or trouser is not of appropriate size, the person will not be able to get it changed on time. The other reason is that the online stores usually send products of low quality and even sometimes against the actual order.

"I ordered jeans trousers and T-shirts but received different order. The trousers received were of different waists and shirts of different colours while the material was also found sub-standard," complained a common citizen, Nazeer Ahmad.

As per rough estimates, Pakistan's online retail market crossed US $ 600 million in 2017. It is expected to touch US $ 1 billion in coming years as people become more aware and comfortable with ordering stuff online but the online outlets need to improve their quality standards and avoid fleecing the customers.

The online stores should also make their return policymore flexible and easy to maximum facilitate the customers as beingpracticed in the western world.