Running a Shopify Store in Pakistan: What Actually Moves Sales
I have built and fixed Shopify stores in Pakistan for years, and the stores that sell well rarely have the fanciest themes. They get a handful of unglamorous things right. Here they are, in the order I usually fix them.
1. Treat cash on delivery as a process, not a checkbox
Most orders here are still cash on delivery, and every fake or refused order costs you a courier fee and a wasted parcel. Before you spend on ads, set up order confirmation: a WhatsApp message or call within an hour of the order, asking the customer to confirm. Cancel what doesn't confirm. Many stores also show a small advance-payment discount for bank transfer or wallet payments, which quietly shifts a share of buyers away from COD.
2. Pick couriers on your data, not their rate card
Connect your store to your courier (TCS, Leopards, PostEx, Trax and others all have Shopify apps or integrations) so booking and tracking happen automatically. Then look at your own numbers after a month: delivery success rate and days to deliver per city. The cheapest courier is expensive if it returns one parcel in five.
3. Build trust where people actually look
- A real phone or WhatsApp number in the header, not only in the footer.
- A plain return and exchange policy, linked near the Add to Cart button.
- Real customer photos and reviews. One honest photo beats five polished ones.
- Delivery time and charges on the product page, before checkout.
4. Make it fast on a phone and mobile data
Almost all of your visitors are on a phone, often on a patchy connection. Compress product images (WebP, under about 200 KB each), remove apps you no longer use, and avoid autoplay video on the homepage. Test your own store on your phone with Wi-Fi off. If it annoys you, it is losing you customers.
5. Product pages that answer questions
Size charts, fabric, care instructions, what is in the box, and at least three photos per product. Write descriptions in the language your customers use; for many stores that means a little Urdu or Roman Urdu alongside English is perfectly fine.
6. Follow up with the people who didn't buy
Abandoned checkout messages are built into Shopify. Turn them on, and if you collect WhatsApp numbers with consent, send one friendly reminder. Keep it to one; nobody likes being chased.
Where to start
If you only do one thing this week, set up order confirmation. It is usually the fastest way to stop losing money, and it makes every other improvement easier to measure.
If you want a second pair of eyes on your own store or site, run the free audit or send me a message. I read every one myself.
