Having a webstore in Pakistan was an advantage once; currently, having a website is a must for selling anything – be it an apparel brand operating out of a Lahore house or a distributor of grocery products throughout Pakistan. From years of experience collaborating with small and mid-sized brands in Pakistan, can say that brands that treat their website as a product are more successful at growing online than brands that just build their website, set it up, and forget about it. We will explain how proper ecommerce website development should be done, its cost in Pakistan and how to develop a modern ecommerce website, not an obsolete one.

What Is Ecommerce Website Development In Pakistan?

Proper ecommerce website development includes three major components: a storefront, a backend capable of processing orders and managing inventory automatically, and payment/delivery logic adapted to local buyer behaviour. The ecommerce website development in Pakistan should take into account some peculiarities of local businesses that often are not considered in ready-made solutions for international customers – cash-on-delivery as a main payment option, integration with local delivery providers (TCS, Leopards and M&P) and mobile-first UX, as most Pakistani users make purchases using their smartphones and not their desktop computers.

An ecommerce website that does not take all three points mentioned above into consideration will work inefficiently, no matter how great it looks.

Cost Of Ecommerce Website Development In Pakistan: Key Factors

Ecommerce website development cost in Pakistan may vary greatly, as an ecommerce website may refer to both a simple store with five pages hosted on a website-building platform and a custom-coded website with features such as inventory management, multi-warehouse logic, integration with the CRM system, and so on. Usually, the cost of a simple ecommerce website, such as the website on Shopify or WooCommerce, is PKR 39,000–76,000 for a basic functional store, escalating up to PKR 700,000 for larger builds due to its complexity, design and number of third-party integrations (payment gateways, ERP systems, marketing automation, and other solutions).

But the key factor defining the cost of ecommerce website development in Pakistan is not the website-building platform used, but the complexity of custom logic (discounts, multi-vendor, handling of bulk orders, and so on) needed for the successful functioning of the website since its launch.

How To Build An Ecommerce Website In Pakistan? Step-by-step Guide

While trying to find out how to start an ecommerce business in Pakistan, it is critical to realise that ecommerce is a series of steps, but not just a website launch:

• Product/niche validation – check if there is enough demand for your product on Google Trends and marketplaces.
• Business registration – at least NTN registration in FBR and a bank account for receiving online payments.
• Choosing the website development strategy – a hosted platform is faster, while custom development is more flexible and scalable.
• Set up payments and deliveries – use a local payment gateway (JazzCash, Easypaisa or a bank-integrated gateway) and at least one local courier service.
• Start with a narrow catalogue – 15-30 strong SKUs will work better than 300 weak SKUs in the first three months of the website operation.

Each step mentioned above depends on the previous one, but skipping validation is the most common cause of ecommerce website failure in Pakistan in the first six months of operation.

How To Develop An Ecommerce Website In Pakistan Properly

While learning how to create an ecommerce website in Pakistan, it is critical to choose an appropriate platform based on the stage of the business. If you need maximum speed and minimal customisation, you can use Shopify. If you have already built your business on WordPress, then you can use WooCommerce.

If you need to scale your business to thousands of orders per month and control performance and the checkout process, then you can consider using a custom solution, for instance, Next.js frontend with a headless backend. Our team always advises our clients to choose an appropriate platform before writing even a single line of code, since choosing the wrong one in the first month is hard to correct in the twelfth month.

Comparison: Modern Ecommerce Website vs Outdated One

It shows the real difference between successful ranking and conversion of ecommerce shops and their silent loss of traffic.

Geographic Coverage

Teams of Pakistani companies engaged in ecommerce development work in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Faisalabad, Rawalpindi, etc., while the development itself happens remotely all over Pakistan. Also, it is necessary to verify payment and courier integration by city, since there may be different opportunities for same-day delivery and different payment processing times depending on the city.

Real Life Case Study

Let's consider the case when a food brand operating in Lahore has a business model that resembles the business model of Ocean Pearl Rice and wants to create a shop after selling its products on marketplaces such as Daraz and Facebook Shops. Its main motives are to control the customer database, avoid taking cuts from the marketplace and create repeat-order business using email/WhatsApp communication rather than renting audiences. When developing an ecommerce website in Pakistan, food and FMCG brands have to consider subscription/reorder logic and batch/expiry tracking.

FAQs
Is it more expensive to develop an ecommerce website in Pakistan than to cooperate with other countries?

Not necessarily; in most cases, the price will be approximately equal, but the local development team will be able to provide you with a lower price due to the lower cost of living in Pakistan than in the US or UK; however, with a custom solution, this difference will be smaller.

Should I choose a custom website, or will it be enough to use Shopify?

In most cases, for beginners, a hosted solution will be enough to estimate the demand and then create a custom solution after that.

How long will it take me to get my ecommerce website developed in Pakistan?

It depends on whether you will choose a hosted store or custom development with integration of various services, and it will take 2 to 12 weeks to complete it.

Is it possible to provide cash on delivery and online payment options at the same time?

Yes, it is possible; both payment methods are popular in Pakistan, although COD is more preferable despite the increasing number of people who pay online.

What is the most frequent mistake that is made by new ecommerce businesses in Pakistan?

Having a huge variety of products and no delivery or return policy at all.

About the Author

By Maha Zaka – https://pk.linkedin.com/in/maha-warraich-836836189 Digital Commerce Strategist with 8+ years of experience helping small and medium enterprises and direct-to-consumer brands in Pakistan to build an e-commerce website. All the recommendations were formulated based on practical knowledge rather than theoretical ones.