CLA 2 Comprehensive Learning Assessment

Daraz Nepal

Introduction

Organizations in the present-day globalizing and technologically-advancing environment are

faced with profound opportunities to excel as well as various challenges (Christina, Fenni, &

Roselina, 2019). One such profound organization is Daraz, which stands as a key player in the e-

commerce industry of Nepal. Daraz Nepal, previously known as ‘Kaymu’, established in the year

2014 is my choice of organization (Rai, 2021). It was one of the online shopping ventures

established in emerging and developing countries across the world, backed by Rocket Internet

Ventures led by Ahmed Khan as Managing Director in Asia. Daraz was started as an online

Pakistani fashion retailer in 2012 and took over Kaymu in Nepal in 2016 (Karn, 2021). The

platform was acquired by ‘Alibaba Group’, the leading Asian e-commerce business in April

2018, and a new platform emerged by merging both and rebranded as Daraz Nepal (KC, 2022).

The company is now operating in Nepal as a branch of Alibaba Group. Daraz Nepal increased its

base by 1200 per cent since rebranding (Dsouza & Panakaje, 2023). The rebranding of Daraz in

the Nepalese market has had a tremendous effect on the Nepalese e-commerce market and

became one of the leading online stores in South Asia (Online Khabar, 2022).

For Daraz Nepal the vision is to be number one in the market offering the highest value quality

services to its stakeholders with a mission to expand all over Nepal (KC, 2022). The company

has an extensive source of marketing environments, dealing with over 500 brands with over 5

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million customers and 30000 sellers across the reason. Daraz Nepal has a proven record of

success in the field of e-commerce with B2B, B2C and C2C models of businesses (Rai, 2021).

More than 75000 daily visits and thousands of transactions take place on the platform.

Daraz must adopt strategic and comprehensive methods to marketing and change if it is to

successfully traverse this dynamic environment (Karmokar, 2020). Detailed frameworks that

make use of the AIDA model and the nine-step transformation process, respectively, will be

outlined in this integrated marketing plan and digital transformation strategy (Giri, 2018). These

frameworks have been specifically designed to increase consumer engagement, propel brand

expansion, and solidify Daraz's position as a market leader in the digital space. Using these, the

following report is aimed at bringing about a well-defined digital marketing transformation for

the company Daraz closely looking at its current performance and future outlook.

Integrated Marketing Framework

The concept of an integrated marketing framework entails a coordinated and cohesive approach

to marketing ensuring all aspects of marketing efforts work together harmoniously to achieve

targets (Rehman, Gulzar, & Aslam, 2022). In present days, digital marketing is becoming more

and more important in almost all sectors of the economy and other activities. The role of

technology is being redefined regularly with the opening up of new ideas (Hossain, 2017). The

enhanced level of connectivity and faster pace of information sharing helped businesses in

building up relationships with customers, suppliers and all other stakeholders to create value and

make money in the process (Rehman, Gulzar, & Aslam, 2022). It plays a crucial role in

stimulating almost every possible aspect of marketing communications in improving the

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effectiveness of market mix and not only as a promotional tool but also as a distribution

technique (Hossain, 2017).

Figure 1: Integrated Marketing Framework [ (Hossain, 2017)‘

As pointed by (Hossain, 2017), integrated marketing framework comprises an interplay of

market orientation, brand orientation and integrated marketing communication to shape overall

brand performance. In order to deliver a consistent and coherent message to the target audience,

various marketing communication elements, such as advertising, public relations, sales

promotion, direct marketing, and digital media, must be strategically coordinated and seamlessly

integrated. IMC wants to make communication campaigns more effective and develop a

complete brand experience (Hossain, 2017).

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The strategic approaches are being re-determined and redefined given the unwavering increase

in the use of digital techniques to optimize the advantages, benefits, constraints and

disadvantages of marketing strategies adopted by the companies (Hassan, Nadzim, &

Shiratuddin, 2015).

To create an integrated marketing plan AIDA model, which stands for Attention, Interest, Desire,

and Action outlines the stages a customer typically goes through when interacting with a product

or service (Narwani, 2023). This model was introduced by businessmen Elias St. Elmo Lewis in

the late 19th century and the breakdown of this strategic model for Daraz Nepal can be explained

as follows:

Attention Stage:

The very first stage of attention includes capturing the target audience’s attention and creating

awareness about products and services (Narwani, 2023). At this point, the population first come

to know about the product and services by visiting the website or promotional materials (Hassan,

Nadzim, & Shiratuddin, 2015). The primary objective at this stage is to contact as many as

possible potential customers and seek their attention on company offers. This can be made

possible by creating enticing commercials with target messaging on social media platforms such

as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok to run eye-catching ads showcasing the uniqueness

of products on Daraz Nepal (KC, 2022).

Interest Stage:

The second step is to generate interest amongst potential customers about products and services

offered on the platform by offering engaging materials (Hassan, Nadzim, & Shiratuddin, 2015).

Additional information may also be required at this stage by potential customers. Given many

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professionals this stage is the foundation for building trusted relationships with clients. Daraz

Nepal can host online webinars or workshops to educate their audience about industry trends and

their e-platform (Hossain, 2017).

Desire Stage:

The third step in this model is a desire that aims to assist potential customers to realize their need

for services or products and that too through their e-commerce platforms (Hassan, Nadzim, &

Shiratuddin, 2015). This can be done by Daraz Nepal by sharing success stories and case studies.

Daraz Nepal should create a sense of urgency through exclusive offers and discounts (Rehman,

Gulzar, & Aslam, 2022). Displaying customer reviews, ratings and testimonials by such e-

commerce platforms also builds credibility and trust (Karmokar, 2020).

Action Stage:

The user interface of Daraz Nepal is user-friendly to enable customers to initiate actions (Hassan,

Nadzim, & Shiratuddin, 2015). The sales and marketing professionals should use strategic

closing techniques to encourage the audience to take desired actions, which could be making a

purchase, signing up for a trial, or contacting the sales team (Online Khabar, 2022). This can be

done by placing clear and prominent “Buy Now” or “Add to Cart” across all marketing

materials, guiding customers to necessary next steps. Daraz Nepal should streamline the

checkout process to minimize friction and make it easy for customers to complete their purchases

(Online Khabar, 2022).

Digital Transformation Plan

While Daraz Nepal has been very successful in the online e-commerce business, holding

people’s attention by providing them with a better-quality online shopping experience and

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overall satisfaction, a sound digital transformation plan is recommendable (Rai, 2021). In the

context of Nepal, the fast-changing speed of internet technology, and advancement in the

convenient modes of payment and user-friendly interactive shopping applications are paving

pathways to unprecedented growth in the e-commerce industry (Giri, 2018). The competition is

high as online stores are increasing rapidly. A digital transformation plan for Daraz Nepal, the e-

commerce platform following a nine steps process is:

Vision and Strategy

Daraz Nepal should conduct a comprehensive analysis of the current market trends and customer

behaviour in Nepal’s e-commerce sector, to identify key goals and develop a clear and concise

vision statement for the company’s digital transformation (Christina, Fenni, & Roselina, 2019).

Leadership Buy-In

A commitment that sets the tone for the entire organization's efforts in digital transformation,

leadership buy-in is more than just an endorsement (Hubbart, 2023). The advantages of digital

transformation should be clearly stated, focusing on how it may improve customer experiences,

streamline operations, and open up new revenue streams (Langan, Cowley, & Nguyen, 2019).

Using success stories and industry benchmarks will also help to illustrate the possible benefits

(Online Khabar, 2022).

Assessment of Current State

As seen in its performance, the company is in need of understanding the existing digital

capabilities, technologies and processes by conducting a thorough assessment of the current IT

infrastructure, systems and platforms to identify bottlenecks, gaps, and inefficiencies in the

current processes, focusing on both customer (external) and internal operations (Langan, Cowley,

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& Nguyen, 2019). The company can also gather feedback from employees, customers, and

stakeholders to gain insights (Rehman, Gulzar, & Aslam, 2022).

Creating a Roadmap

The company requires to develop a detailed plan for the digital transformation by segmenting the

process into phases and identifying technology investments required for upgradation

implementation and optimization and allocating resources and specifying timelines for each

phase (Christina, Fenni, & Roselina, 2019).

Cultural Adjustments

For a successful digital transformation, Daraz must establish a culture that welcomes change and

cultivates a staff that is adaptable, eager to learn, and open to new technology (Rai, 2021).

Employee understanding and effort alignment are aided by open and frequent communication

about the rationale behind the digital transformation as well as the anticipated cultural shifts

(Hassan, Nadzim, & Shiratuddin, 2015).

Selection of Technology

It is also crucial for the organization evaluate and select the right technologies to support the

transformation and collaborate with technology partners and vendors to implement and

customize the chosen solutions (Christina, Fenni, & Roselina, 2019). Daraz must conduct

research and evaluate various technological solutions that are in line with its corporate goals. It's

critical to take into account e-commerce platforms, content management systems (CMS), social

media management tools, analytics tools, and marketing automation platforms (Dsouza &

Panakaje, 2023).

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Pilot Programs

Prior to full-scale adoption, pilot projects are essential stepping stones that enable businesses like

Daraz to test and improve new ideas (Online Khabar, 2022). These pilot projects offer priceless

insights, reduce risks, and lay the groundwork for successful execution. For this, the organization

can first choose a specific area or group for their pilot program, ensuring a focused effort with

manageable scope.

Scaling and Optimization

Daraz Nepal should streamline and optimize existing processes to leverage new technologies by

mapping customer journeys in the system and implantation of automation for order processing,

inventory management and customer support (Hassan, Nadzim, & Shiratuddin, 2015). The

company must ensure seamless integration between systems to enable data flow and real-time

insights (Dsouza & Panakaje, 2023).

Improvements

The company has to refine its digital transformation strategy continuously based on insights and

feedback. Daraz Nepal should collect feedback from its customers, employees, and stakeholders

for identifying improvement areas as well as conduct regular reviews and assessments of the

technology stack and processes and also iterate on the digital transformation plan to incorporate

new technologies and strategies (Online Khabar, 2022).

Dashboard of Daraz

Dashboard is a management information tool receiving data from a linked database to provide

data visualizations (Alptekin & Oberer, 2017). It is intended to deliver different but related

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information in an easy-to-understand form and often includes key performance indicators and

other important business metrics needed by stakeholders. These can be used for planning,

monitoring, communication, consistency and analysis (Pauwels, Ambler, Clark, & LaPointe,

2009). Dashboard obtains data from various sources and aggregates it in such a way to easily

understandable and interpreted. It helps anyone using the dashboard understand certain points,

explore areas of increased interest, and more questions supportive to have more insights and

make key decisions (Alptekin & Oberer, 2017). Keeping this in mind, the dashboard for Daraz

Nepal is shown as follows:

Website Traffic

Total Visitors: 300,000

Unique Visitors: 75,000

Page Views: 1,200,000

Engagement

Social Media Engagement (Like, Comments, Shares) 45,000

Online Attendees: 1,500

Posts Shared: 2,800

Overall Satisfaction Level

Satisfaction Score: 4.8/5

Qualitative Testimonials: 120

Referral Rate: 15%

Lead Generation

Newsletter Subscribers: 5,000

Contact Form Submissions: 1,800

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Webinar Registrations: 800

Digital Presence

Social Media Followers (Combined Across Platforms) 1,200,000

Conversion And Revenue

Conversion Rate: 3.5%

Total Revenue: NPR 35,000,000

Average Transaction Value: NPR 2,500

Content Performance

Blog Views: 50,000

Video Views: 180,000

Geographical Reach

Locations 15 delivery hubs across Nepal

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References
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Christina, I. D., Fenni, & Roselina, D. (2019, January). Digital marketing strategy in promoting

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Dsouza, A., & Panakaje, D. (2023, February). A Study on the Evolution of Digital Marketing.

International Journal of Case Studies in Business IT and Education.

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Giri, S. (2018). Dimensions of Digital Nepal Framework and Appropriate Roadmap.

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