An online marketplace – founded by a couple of tech-savvy youth on self-help basis – has registered unprecedented growth over a short span of time, becoming a source of inspiration for many job-starved youngsters in Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B).
Ejaz Karim and Ehsanullah Baig – both in their late 20s – founded the GilgitApp back in August 2020 after the rapid growth of other marketplaces in Pakistan including OLX and Daraz.
The venture became successful far more than what the founders had expected as in just two years into the business, the app is used by over 300,000 users daily across the country.
“Initially, in a couple of weeks, GilgitApp had 5,000 downloads,” said Baig while sharing the statistics with The Express Tribune. “And today, I am happy to say that the app is used by 300,000 after we made it accessible to the rest of the country in early January 2022.”
With an easy-to-use interface, the users of GilgitApp can buy and sell products including cars, bikes, mobile phones, laptops, home appliances, furniture, fashion products, garments, pets, property, including houses, offices, and plots for sale and rent. According to the statistics available, over 50,000 products have been listed on the app so far.
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“We knew an online space was missing in G-B so we decided to fill it in with an application. We are happy that we have not only been able to serve the digital requirements of people in G-B but also beyond that,” Baig said.
Ejaz Karim – the co-founder of GilgitApp – describes the application as ‘more of a passion project than a business venture’ as all of its expenditures were arranged by the owners on their own through uConnect Technologies – the biggest tech firm of G-B providing software solutions and enterprises to local and international clients. Under the tech firm, over 5,000 youngsters of G-B have been trained so far in digital skills.
“We know that in order to survive and compete with the market, we have to be ready to bring new features into it. That’s why we have developed another amazing feature called Buyer Requests. Through the Buyer Request feature, you can request your required product and get offers from different sellers quickly. This saves time and effort of users," said Karim.
Talking about its other features, Karim said ‘GilgitApp shops’ will enable small and medium businesses to sell their products directly to buyers all over Pakistan creating a Daraz/e-retail sort of service.
In addition, he said there will soon be a ‘featured item’ facility that’s sort of a sponsored product enabling sellers to stay on the top of the searches and home pages. "The team will introduce some additional verifications on the product and the legitimacy of the seller before featuring it," he added.
“We aim to provide the best online experiences to our users. Therefore, we will be updating new features according to our users and market demands."
The success of the application, which is the first of its kind in G-B, means that the youth in the region, who would normally look for government jobs to secure their future, have started turning to IT jobs.
“I envy the guys who developed the GilgitApp,” said Hammad Khan, a student of IT. “We, a group of five tech-savvy students, have also decided to try our luck in an IT project instead of relying on government jobs. I think IT has much to offer if one is committed to excel in one’s profession.”
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