The True Cost of Cash on Delivery (COD)
We calculate the actual cost of COD as compared to prepayment methods and make recommendations on what the industry and merchants need to accomplish to move us towards a future with far less cash.
Pharmaceuticals in Pakistan: extracting whatever they can from the pie
Can the pharmaceutical sector ever be reformed? Kabeer Dawani and Asad Sayeed take a look at the sector’s pitfalls, and ways forward.
Inside the secret $1.5 million stealth direct-to-consumer startup from Unilever Pakistan
Why would one of the largest consumer goods companies try to pivot towards a hinterto untried-in-Pakistan strategy?
Why (and how much) Pakistanis overinvest in real estate
The obsession with real estate as an asset class is unhealthy for the economy; here is what investors should do instead
TOMC takes the IPO route to raise cash for working capital, and for expansion
With their IPO oversubscribed by 1.7 times, the halal meat manufacturer is setting up two new offal facilities that they think will help make it a leader in global halal meat exports
How a rift in Pakistan’s tobacco industry determines how cigarettes are taxed and not the government
Local and multinational tobacco companies engage in brutal lobbying and media wars to try and tax each other out of business and influence.
Survive or Thrive – how eCommerce reacted to C19 lockdown
After the pandemic-induced lockdown, online marketplaces and e-tailers braced themselves in a spike in demand following the temporary removal of international modern trade (IMT) and local modern trade (LMT) from the equation. They had to make a decision: adapt or die?
As private hospitals rake it in, should the government use its pandemic powers, or simply let the free-market be?
Covid-19 patients and their families complain of extraordinarily high bills and lack of transparency on pricing
The retail supply chain is begging for a disruptor. Can these tech startups be just that?
New entrants Bazaar, Tajir, and Jugnu all seek to empower the retailer to make more efficient choices, but will they be able to create a scalable service?
What the SECP’s new NBFC regulations mean for the industry
The regulator is seeking to add more teeth to the enforcement mechanism both for companies that offer consumers investment and insurance options as well as consumer access to credit.
The promising life and tragic death of Inov8
Founders of Pakistan’s most valuable fintech, Bashir and Hasnain Sheikh squandered potential that they had for years, all the while trying to ‘fake it till you make it’. This is their story: a business tragedy in five parts, and the hamartia is hubris
Pakistan needs a data privacy law. The Personal Data Protection Bill is not up to the challenge
While the 2020 Personal Data Protection Bill helps protect citizens against abuses by private companies, it does little to protect citizens from abuses of data privacy by the government itself
Despite losing constantly, Lahore Qalandars is gunning to be ‘the’ Pakistani brand, if the PCB will let it
The Rana brothers are hoping to turn Lahore Qalandars into the Pakistani Manchester United and a symbol of the country. But LQ’s often brilliant marketing is dogged by its horrific performance in the field.
Can Careem crack the super-app code?
Pakistan’s largest tech company has gotten people used to the idea of paying for rides online. Will it now succeed in creating its own online ecosystem?
Why foreign investors love MCB Bank
The bank’s conservative lending style, coupled with a management that foreign investors have come to trust, explains much of the premium in its valuation recently