However, an affordable alternative seems to be on a rise. Last year, I visited Makah and I saw crowds in two-Riyal shops where visitors from around the world purchased gifts at cheap rates for their relatives. These shops seemed to be the point of socialsation for these visitors.
There are 30 such stores in Rawalpindi and Islamabad
One-Dollar shops are also emerging in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. I visited one of these shops and bought some items and I found it to be quite affordable. Then, I visited the Aabpara branch of the same One-Dollar store, which seems to be a factory outlet, and there I met Mr Kamran, the chief executive officer of the company. He told me that, “Retailing actually provides a connection between the consumer and the manufacturer, where the aim is to maximise the welfare of the customer, as this business performs as a middle man in the market. In Pakistan, this concept was launched in 2016 and became a model of community welfare with focus on the quantity and quality of goods.”
He said stores received stocks from wholesale markets like Raja Bazar in Lahore and some of their products were imported from China, Canada, Turkey and Dubai at discounted rates.
Further, I also interviewed the customers who shopped there and from them, I learnt that people were satisfied with the quality of their products.
One of the customers said, “Most goods available at these stores are basic necessities and people prefer to purchase them such shops because of their affordability and quality.” There are 30 stores in Islamabad and Rawalpindi. After seeing good response, Kamran told me he planned to open more stores in other cities.
The writer is a student at Pakistan Institute of Development Economics