Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Though the trend of online shopping of various products through advertisements at social sites is getting popular in the country day by day due to an easy way of purchasing and offers of home delivery but a number of complaints by the consumers have appeared regarding the quality of the products.

After the introduction of 3G and LTE service in Pakistan in 2014, a large number of companies had established their business networks through Facebook, Twitter and other sites offering different services and products including fashion and foot wear, casual and formal wear, electronics, books, gifts toys, clothing for men and women and others against lower prices to attract the consumers.

Nobody would have imagined 10 years ago that online shopping would be holding a substantial share in retail marketing. Now every leading brand in Pakistan has their virtual presence on social sites to benefit themselves through online shopping. Companies are trying to offer a wide range of products and brands to capture the most of this opportunity and are becoming a shopping cosmos for the customers coming to them. A good variety and designs of various products are presented through pictorial ads at social sites and one can choose the product that suits him/her, contact the given number and get a home delivery of that item. Though online purchasing of products is an easy and time saving practice but there is a risk of fraud and chances of delivery of poor quality items. The wearable items are presented in an eye-catching and attractive display through sharing pictures on social sites with a very reasonable price tag that successfully motivates the people to purchase these items as these were available in the open market at high prices.

However, a large number of people have complained about the poor quality of products being delivered through online purchasing adding that there was no department to take action against the elements involved in the practice of fooling the people thorough offering attractive goods at lower rates. Usman Ali, a resident of Sector I-8/1 told Daily Times that he bought a branded watch through an advertisement on Facebook. A variety of various watches were displayed in the ad amongst them he chose one for him at the price of Rs 12,000. But when the product was delivered to him, he said, he came to know later that the watch was a first copy of the original brand and easily available for Rs. 2500 in the open market.

“I tried my best to return it through approaching the operator of the company on the same mobile number but nothing availed,” he added. He said the government should evolve a mechanism to overcome such practices. Another citizen, Bilal Ahmed said he bought a pack of three shirts and trousers online. Though the prices of these items were very reasonable but their quality was very poor, he added, saying that the online business was losing public confidence due to doubts about quality. Aamir who bought furniture through advertisements on Facebook said the chairs were of extremely low quality as compared to their look in the pictures. He faced a loss of Rs 15,000 due to this deal, he said. Introduction of 3G and LTE services has increased Internet accessibility and will also most likely propel the growth of online purchases in Pakistan.

A statistics based report from the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has revealed that the total number of third-generation (3G) mobile subscriptions have risen up to 10.3 million in 2015.

The number of 4G or Long Term Evolution (LTE) subscribers has also increased to over 68,000.

The report said that over the next five years, 28 per cent of the country’s population is estimated to have Internet access.

With increased access to the Internet and social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, marketing trends are also rapidly changing and transforming the way opinions are now being shaped.

This will not only transform shopping trends but also significantly impact several other e-commerce arenas, such as online job hunts and land, property and rental transactions.