Transcription
What does it take to build e-commerce in countries where most people don't have a postal address, don't trust online payments, and still prefer cash on delivery? Not in New York, not in Singapore, but in Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka.
This is the story of Darz, a company that started in Karachi, expanded across South Asia, and was eventually acquired by Alibaba. In a world where Amazon dominates the US, and Flipkart leads India, Darz is trying to do something way harder: build the foundation for online shopping in countries where the infrastructure barely exists.
Today, Darz serves over 40 million monthly active users, operates across five countries, and manages a logistics network of over 100 fulfillment centers and delivery hubs. But this story didn't start with scale. It started with ground-up problem-solving in some of the world's most complex markets. So, how do you build trust, logistics, and digital literacy from scratch and create an e-commerce platform where none existed?
Darz was founded in 2012 by Rocket Internet, the German venture builder behind other emerging marketplaces like Lazada, Jumia, and Food Panda. Their playbook: launch fast, localize, and scale aggressively. And online shopping was practically non-existent. Most people had never bought anything digitally. Darz started with fashion, one of the few categories where early e-commerce worked. They set up centralized warehousing, onboarded sellers, and started educating customers on how to shop online.
Over the next few years, Darz expanded into Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, and Myanmar. Each market presented its own challenges. There was no uniform address system. Delivery infrastructure was unreliable, and over 70% of all orders were cash on delivery. But instead of just being a marketplace, Darz started building the rails. They launched Darz Express, their own last-mile logistics network. They created seller onboarding programs and localized apps in multiple languages. They weren't just building a company; they were building infrastructure.
In 2018, Alibaba acquired Darz as part of its global expansion strategy. Just like it had done with Lazada in Southeast Asia, Alibaba saw Darz as its gateway into South Asia. Post-acquisition, Darz upgraded its tech stack, introduced new payment solutions like Darz Wallet, and brought in the 11.11 mega sale culture. The backing of Alibaba also meant scale was no longer just an ambition; it became a mandate.
But scaling Darz wasn't about beating other startups. It was about beating WhatsApp sellers, corner shops, and cash-first culture. In markets where trust is low and delivery is uncertain, Darz made trust a product feature. They introduced buyer protection, simplified returns, and added seller ratings.
Today, Darz has over 100,000 active sellers. It delivers to thousands of locations across South Asia, with many packages arriving in under 48 hours in major cities. Its logistics arm, Darz Express, handles the bulk of deliveries. It's also training thousands of local riders and warehouse staff, becoming a job creator in every country it operates in.
With a population base of over 600 million people across its core markets, Darz is not just chasing market share. It's laying the groundwork for the next billion users to shop online. Darz isn't trying to copy Amazon; it's trying to build something more foundational. It's creating the digital rails for e-commerce in some of the hardest markets in the world. Places where infrastructure is patchy, trust is fragile, and cash still rules. And yet, it's scaling. Because when you build the system, not just the site, you can unlock markets most companies won't even touch.
For global founders and operators, Darz is a masterclass in what it really means to build in emerging markets. Not by playing the usual game, but by changing the rules entirely.