Daraz is the top online marketplace in South Asia, but its journey started with a small fashion retail site in Pakistan. After its initial success, Daraz obtained the funding necessary to follow in the footsteps of Amazon and Alibaba in South Asia. For aspiring entrepreneurs, business leaders, and anyone interested in learning from a start-up success, Daraz’s history offers a quick look at how to make an impact in your chosen field.
Our team at Business2Community researched the South Asian market leader and key touchpoints in its journey to date. In this article, we give you a comprehensive breakdown of how it rose to prominence and attracted the attention of its audience. Read on to explore Daraz’s growth, development, future, and more.
A History of Daraz – Key Dates
- Daraz began as an online fashion store in Pakistan in 2012 backed by Rocket Internet.
- In 2015, Daraz Group was launched to serve as an umbrella organization in its expansion to new markets.
- China’s Alibaba Group acquired Daraz in 2018 as part of its South Asian expansion.
- In 2020, Daraz launched Koko, a buy now, pay later mobile payment platform.
- Daraz undertook a major rebranding exercise in 2022 to align with the rapidly growing ecommerce market in the region.
Who Owns Daraz?
Daraz is a leading ecommerce platform in South Asia owned by China’s Alibaba Group. Founded in 2012 by Muneeb Maayr and Farees Shah with backing from the German company Rocket Internet, Daraz was designed to emulate the business models of Amazon and Alibaba in Pakistan.
Originally launched as a small online fashion retailer in Pakistan, Daraz has evolved to become a leading ecommerce platform offering a diverse range of products.
Daraz Group was formed in 2015 to serve as a parent company to support the business in broadening its product offering and expanding into new markets across South Asia, including Bangladesh and Myanmar. At this point, the business secured around $55 million in funding and Bjarke Mikkelsen became CEO. The platform has since expanded to also operate in Sri Lanka and Nepal.
Alibaba acquired Daraz Group in full in 2018 as part of its South Asian expansion. Around the same time, Alibaba also expanded into Southeast Asia and India with the acquisitions of Lazada and Paytm. Alibaba is a publicly traded company, listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong. Alibaba’s innovative technology has placed Daraz at the forefront of ecommerce in the region.
Who is the Daraz CEO?
James Dong was appointed as CEO of Daraz in 2024 in addition to his role as CEO of Lazada Group, which he has held since 2022. Dong succeeded Bjarke Mikkelsen who was the first CEO of the Daraz Group, appointed in 2015.
| CEO | Tenure |
| Bjarke Mikkelsen | 2015-2024 |
| James Dong | 2024-present |
Bjarke Mikkelsen once said during his tenure as Daraz CEO:
My North Star has always been to build Daraz into a business that is strong enough to survive in our markets for the long term
Growth and Development of Daraz
Daraz has experienced rapid growth from a fashion website to a place where South Asian shoppers can grab a deal on a wide range of products. Here, we run through some of the key milestones in its history to date.
2012-2018: Daraz Enters the Pakistani Fashion Ecommerce Market
The platform began life as a small retail website in Pakistan selling quality clothes directly to customers. Founded by entrepreneurs Muneeb Maayr and Farees Shah, Daraz was backed by Rocket Internet, a German organization headquartered in Berlin. Rocket Internet is known for building start-ups in internet retail and was also behind the launch of Daraz’s sister company Lazada in Southeast Asia.
In 2015, Daraz began to shift to a more general ecommerce model and also opened websites in Bangladesh and Myanmar. As part of this shift, Rocket Internet announced that it would be merging Daraz and its online marketplace Kaymu to create the Daraz Group. The move was said to be aimed at creating synergies in both growth and costs. Daraz is known for offering shoppers exclusive and exciting deals on a wide range of products.
Former investment banker Bjarke Mikkelsen was also appointed CEO of the newly formed group. It was also announced that the group’s central operations would be relocated from Paris to Karachi, Pakistan.
Daraz secured around $55 million in funding in 2015 from British International Investment – the UK Government’s Development Finance Institution – and existing investors. The funding was intended to be used to grow the business in existing markets and to support expansion into other Asian markets.
In 2017, Daraz launched its mobile app on both Android and iOS. With more than 2 million products and a lot of new features, the app was designed to offer shoppers a choice of branded stores, quality collections, vouchers, and daily flash sales.
2018-2024: Alibaba Acquires Daraz and Takes it to the Next Level
In 2018, Daraz announced it was to be acquired by Alibaba as a wholly-owned subsidiary as part of the Chinese ecommerce giant’s expansion into South Asia.
Alibaba CEO at that point, Daniel Zhang, said: “Together with Daraz, we can now empower entrepreneurs to better serve consumers in the region through our technology and expertise”. The financial details of the transaction were undisclosed.
Later in 2018, Daraz Express, an in-house logistics capability, was launched to support the company’s growth into new markets and provide a better experience for both sellers and customers. Daraz Express was the first digitalized logistics company specifically designed for ecommerce operations in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Nepal.
It was a quick success and, by 2021, the company reported Daraz Express had delivered almost 65 million packages.
In 2019, digital payments represented just 20% of ecommerce sales in Pakistan, fueled by a lack of trust and understanding. Cash on delivery was still the preferred payment option for many Pakistanis.
To help drive the digitalization of payment processes, the company launched Daraz Wallet. This closed-loop payment option enables customers to purchase items on the Daraz app with a single click. It was reportedly Pakistan’s most secure and seamless payment option.
Around the same time, DarazMall was launched to enhance the shopping experience for shoppers and support retailers to expand their customer base. It enables brands to set up their own stores and deals through a dedicated space on the Daraz app. It was considered to be Pakistan’s biggest mall with more than 300 brands and product listings ranging from fashion and groceries to electronics.
Each year Daraz gets heavily involved in 11.11, also known as Gyaara Gyaara in Pakistan, the biggest 24-hour sale in the world. It began in China as Singles Day but has evolved to become known across Asia as simply the 11.11 sale. The 11.11 sale starts at midnight on November 11 and lasts for 24 hours.
A key part of the Daraz experience is in its partnerships with leading brands such as Samsung. The two companies launched a partnership in 2020 which saw Daraz become the official reseller for Samsung Electronics in Pakistan.
Daraz Live, a first-of-its-kind live-stream shopping experience was launched in 2021 to combine entertainment with instant purchasing. It brings together entertainment, such as live cricket matches, with product discovery, instant purchasing, and real-time offers from top brands.
In a 2022 report from the company, 60% of users stated that they use the Live feature to gather more information about a product. They also like to check for additional deals and discounts before they add products to their basket.
Daraz made steps to diversify into the food and grocery delivery sectors in 2021 with the acquisition of the Bangladeshi start-up HungryNaki. HungryNaki was a food delivery app founded in 2013 with restaurant partners across five cities in Bangladesh. Also in 2021, the business was recognized in the Retail Asia Awards 2021 in the eMall of the Year and CSR Initiative of the Year categories.
In 2022, Daraz announced a major rebranding exercise in line with its values and to create a more unified brand structure. In the same year, the company also announced a partnership with Alibaba’s Cainiao network to operate cross-border logistics and develop two innovative smart distribution centers in Pakistan.
Based on its commitment to building an inclusive workforce and culture, in 2022, Daraz Pakistan was named Employer of Choice for Gender Diversity in Pakistan by the International Finance Corporation and Pakistan Business Council. The company said that it works consistently to be an equal-opportunity employer and ensure that women are empowered at work through gender-inclusive policies.
In a bid to create a seamless payment solution for its customers, Daraz announced a partnership with VISA in 2023 to launch a co-branded card in Bangladesh. The card offers special discounts, cashback, and access to exclusive promotions as well as secure, hassle-free transactions.
History of the Daraz Logo
The first Daraz logo featured a slick black rectangular background with rounded corners and white lowercase lettering. It also included several intersecting circles in various colors that gave the impression of gemstones. These colors were designed to hint at high fashion, extravagance, and expensive products. In 2015, the store changed its business model to a general ecommerce platform but kept its original logo.
In 2018, after Daraz was acquired by Alibaba, the logo was redesigned. The black background was removed and, while the letters became navy blue in color, the first letter was multi-colored like the previous gemstones. The “d” was colored with red, orange, green, blue, and purple stripes which has been suggested gives the sense of the different countries the platform operates in and the diverse way in which it serves its customer base. This logo also contained the colors of the rainbow, to hint at the company’s commitment to diversity.
Daraz launched a major rebrand in 2022 to update its look and feel to align with the rapidly growing ecommerce market. The London-based creative agency Design Studio led the project which included extensive market research.
The new logo is a complete change of direction, now completely orange and using a new font. The “d” in Daraz is now in uppercase and there is a symbol to the left. The new icon represents a package and at the center, there is an arrow that resembles a play button to symbolize how the company continually innovates to create a better experience for customers.
“The new brand look still represents the elements that have always been part of our DNA – progress, innovation, exploration, and discovery. At the same time, it signifies a shift to a more personal experience that will allow us to create greater connectivity between buyers and sellers on our platform,” explained Bjarke Mikkelsen.
As part of the new brand, the company also united all its brands under the Daraz umbrella to simplify the experience for shoppers.
The Future of Daraz
Daraz has a growing customer base, with ecommerce still an emerging sector in much of South Asia and many people still developing trust in online shopping. Pakistan, for example, was reportedly the 47th biggest market worldwide for ecommerce, with revenue predicted to reach $6.4 billion in 2023 compared to China at $2.17 trillion.
That said, with the backing of Alibaba Group’s innovative technology, such as AI, Daraz’s customers have a safe and seamless shopping experience which will be tough for competitors to match.
The organization has a keen understanding of the obstacles that prevent shoppers from buying products online, such as mistrust of digital payment options. Daraz appears to have the ability to help consumers in selecting the right products for them through insightful information and handy new features. All this would suggest that Daraz is extremely well-positioned to capitalize on the growing market in South Asia as we move into the future.