Tech sector grows amid pandemic

Despite the impact of Covid-19 on the economy of Pakistan and subsequent layoffs by several companies, a few firms have reported expansion in their employee base in the past five months owing to a rise in their volumetric sales.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Priceoye.pk Founder and CEO Adnan Shaffi revealed that his enterprise expanded some of the departments by as much as three times in the wake of rising sales. The company generates revenue primarily through online sales of mobile phones.

He added that most of the workers were hired in the customer care department to address customer issues and receive feedback following a surge in sales.

Shaffi pointed out that people were buying latest and updated models of smartphones primarily to attend Zoom meetings, answer work emails and be available on Whatsapp round the clock as companies in Pakistan continued to implement work-from-home strategy.

“Since Covid-19 hit Pakistan in late February, we have experienced over 100% month-on-month growth in our sales,” he boasted.

Echoing Shaffi’s views, Telemart Co-founder and Director Hamza Abdul Rauf said his firm hired around 15-20 people during the lockdown to meet growing demand.

Rauf added that since things were now going back to normal and customers were relaxed, the spike in demand was flattening but the trajectory was still on the higher side. Telemart is an online marketplace and an e-commerce platform. Sharing his company’s growth statistics, he stated, “Since Covid-19 has surfaced in Pakistan, we have experienced an average growth of 600% compared to pre-Covid-19 levels.”

Shahid Edhi, the owner of Rebel Tech, an online store specialising in tech merchandise, said he had to hire two more delivery persons for Karachi to meet the rise in demand in addition to the one that the company already had.

“We had one rider who delivered orders throughout Karachi but the enterprise had to hire two more after demand for tech merchandise surged amid Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.

Online and retail tech store Thrift.pk owner Rahim Amir added that his enterprise had to hire two more persons during the pandemic, increasing the size of workforce from five to seven.

He stressed that his company was still facing problems in meeting the ballooning demand and was considering hiring two more employees.

“We are all set to open a new store soon, therefore, in the coming days, we will hire more staff for it,” Amir said.

Shortage of items

Shaffi recalled that right after the Covid-19 outbreak in Pakistan, his enterprise faced challenges while meeting consumer demand.

“Supply was restricted while demand was increasing manifold at that time,” he said. “At one point in time, the entire industry was suffering from a lack of inventory while trade remained suspended to contain the spread of Covid-19 around the world.” Edhi confirmed that Covid-19 initially caused supply shortage in the face of suspension of trade activities.

“We had imported our usual monthly stock but skyrocketing demand lifted prices upward and a halt to imports fuelled inflation,” he said. “Now, that trading activity is back to normal, imports have helped to bring prices down.”

Telemart director recalled that earlier prices of some items soared by around 200% but “now they have dipped partially”.

Endorsing his views, Amir added that prices of technology-related merchandise had surged extraordinarily since mid-March 2020. “There was a supply shortage because of suspension of air traffic, so naturally prices soared,” he said. “Products that were worth Rs40,000 immediately surged to a value of Rs60,000.”

He added that prices were now declining because the market was returning to normality.

Prices rose 20-30% during the lockdown, however, “they have now eased 5-7% but are still high and are likely to remain high for some time”, he stated.

Prior to the Covid-19 outbreak in Pakistan, traders were suffering from the weakening economic cues but they still refrained from passing on the impact to consumers in the form of inflated prices to keep their sales volume stable, Amir pointed out.

“However, after Covid-19, they were left with no choice but to pass on the impact to consumers,” he said.

Tech merchandise sales

Citing figures, Shaffi added that in fiscal year 2017-18, total mobile sales in Pakistan came in at $1 billion. The figure contracted to $700 million in FY19, however, sales recorded 100% year-on-year growth at $1.4 billion in FY20 due to surging demand for mobile phones in the final quarter of previous fiscal year.

He pointed out that laptop sales also rose around 40% during the period. “Those who depended on office laptops and did not have one at home purchased laptops,” he said. “Moreover, people who had outdated laptops at home also updated their computer systems.”

Rauf declared that his company registered the highest sales growth in healthcare essentials, citing it was natural in times of pandemic. “However, the second-highest growth was registered in tech merchandise sales such as gadgets and digital items,” he said.

Edhi listed the goods that registered a substantial spike in sales which included mobile phones, tablet PCs, laptops, graphic cards and video games.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 15^th, 2020.

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