The e-Commerce, also called buying and selling Online, e-transactions, e-trade and web commerce is the process of putting the players together for electronic commerce. It includes, for example, buying and selling products with digital cash and via Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
E-commerce allows people to carry out businesses without the barriers of time or distance, the direct cost-of-sale for an order taken from a web site is significantly lower than through traditional means, electronic selling virtually eliminates processing errors, as well as being faster and more convenient for the visitor. E-commerce is ideal for niche products, as it also reduces the need for employees and other overhead factors, besides, allowing the entrepreneur to sell twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week.
Another click to the business is the www.arrage.net, the brainchild of a Pakistani teenager Adeel Raza, which makes a bid to revolutionise the e-commerce through eliminating the barrier of plastic money ie credit instruments for online purchasing.
Arrage.net, the first website of its kind in Pakistan, gives online shopping a totally new meaning, as no credit cards are required for the purchase of the products (only T-shirts so far) from this website.
Arrage uses a cash-on-delivery model, one just needs to browse through the catalogue on the website, select the product and place the online order. Since the business offers free shipment throughout the country, the product would be delivered at one's doorsteps. Off course, the payment would be made in hard cash at the time of delivery. No credit cards are required like the other websites offering online deals.
Unlike other websites offering wide range of products and services through credit cards, it solves the problem of 'credit cards cracking' that has been a major drawback of online buying and selling. The instances of using fake credit cards identities and usage of ones credit card by unidentified crackers may often be witnessed in the media.
The boy, Adeel Raza said, "the idea behind Arrage evolved when we studied a few cases of online businesses in Pakistan and noticed that all of them used the wrong business model ie they relied on plastic money. Everyone knows that people in Pakistan avoid using plastic money so Arrage was formed with the basis of cash on delivery. It was basically my idea, which was polished with the help of a friend Umair Siddique".
When asked that why the website was named Arrage, Adeel said, Arrage is a word, which itself means nothing just sounds good. How I came up with it is, AR is the initial of my name and 'Rage' is a terminology referring to an eagerly adopted fashion. So this is how Arrage was formed, it has an aggressive sound that attracts my target audience, ie the youth.
The customers of the business, whose views may be witnessed on the website claims it to be the first of its kind in Pakistan and a revolutionary step in the online shopping industry of Pakistan.
The contents of the website have been designed efficiently enough to attract the visitors. It contains both text (web copy) and images (photos, graphics, and logos).
Arrage.net currently dealing in T-shirts only also offers customisation of orders. The buyer can get anything what he/she wants printed on the T-shirt. "Not only that, but you can get paid for designing. Designers can join our team on the website, and earn per sale of their designs,, they can see live figures of their orders at any moment of the day, through the website and keep a decent margin off the sales," Adeel a BBIT student at UMT said.
"We plan to expand soon, DVDs, flowers, a complete online store. We're hiring staff as the business grows, which we can easily say it is", Adeel remarked.
The business has three forwarding points in Lahore, Karachi and Islamabad. The orders in these cities are delivered by its workers, however, the orders in other cities of Pakistan are delivered by different courier services.
Although, the Internet penetration in Pakistan is less than one percent and masses do not often opt for online buying, but still the initiative is commendable.