The Market You're Actually Selling Into
Pakistan's e-commerce market generated an estimated $5.77 billion in 2025, tracking toward continued growth of 10 to 15 percent annually through 2026.
Three things define this market more than any global playbook will tell you:
- Mobile-first browsing and buying
- Cash on Delivery still covering the large majority of transactions
- Discovery increasingly happening through short-form video, not just search
Picking a Niche That Sells Here
Electronics and fashion remain the two largest categories by revenue, together making up well over half the market.
You don't need to compete head-on in either. Instead:
- Check what's trending in Facebook groups and marketplace search results for your category
- Prioritize products that demonstrate well on short video, gadgets, beauty tools, and fashion accessories all perform well on camera
- Validate demand before committing capital, don't assume interest
Sourcing: Two Real Paths
Direct sourcing. Buy inventory upfront from local manufacturers or wholesalers. Slower to set up, but you control quality, packaging, and delivery speed.
Dropshipping. A supplier ships directly to your customer, no upfront inventory cost. But it comes with specific downsides in this market:
- Longer delivery times if your supplier isn't local
- No control over packaging quality
- A direct conflict with Pakistan's COD norm, since COD depends on trust that's harder to build when a customer's first experience with you is a slow, unbranded shipment
If you go this route, treat it as a cheap way to validate demand, not your long-term model.
Where to Build Your Store
- Shopify now hosts the majority of standalone Pakistani online stores and generates the largest share of platform-based sales in the country.
- WooCommerce is a solid, more budget-friendly alternative if you're comfortable with WordPress.
Either gives you your own brand and customer data. The tradeoff: you drive all your own traffic, unlike listing on a marketplace with existing footfall.
Registering Your Business
- Register with the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) if you're forming a company.
- Get a National Tax Number (NTN) from FBR regardless of structure, once you're earning taxable income.
Recent changes to e-commerce tax compliance mean sellers who previously operated informally now face real reporting obligations. Treat this as a standard cost of doing business, not something to defer.
Payments: Design Around COD, Don't Fight It
JazzCash and EasyPaisa remain the two dominant mobile wallets for online payment. The State Bank's Raast system is increasingly available too, direct bank-to-bank, no card needed.
But COD still covers the large majority of transactions in Pakistani e-commerce. Refusing to offer it costs you more in lost sales than it saves in fraud prevention. Build your pricing and cash flow around COD as the default, not the exception.
Logistics and Delivery
TCS, Leopards Courier, and M&P remain the established national networks most sellers build on. COD orders carry a real return and refusal rate that eats into margin if you don't plan for it.
Keep at least two courier relationships. A capacity issue with one shouldn't stall every order you have in transit.
Selling Where Customers Already Are
- Social commerce (selling directly through Facebook and Instagram rather than a separate store) now covers a significant and growing share of Pakistani online retail.
- A Facebook Shop linked to Instagram lets customers browse and message you without leaving the app, matching how many smaller Pakistani sellers already operate.
- TikTok Shop is a real discovery channel worth testing, especially for visually demonstrable products. Its algorithm can put a new seller in front of a large audience without the ad budget a Shopify store usually needs for the same reach.
Conclusion
Local e-commerce in Pakistan rewards sellers who design around how Pakistani customers actually shop, Cash on Delivery, mobile browsing, and video-driven discovery, rather than adapting a playbook built for card-first, desktop-first markets.
Handle registration and tax early. Pick a platform and sourcing model that match your capital. Build your payment and delivery plan around COD from day one.
If you want structured help building the marketing side of a store like this, enroll in Aamir Ahmer Academy today.
