Ecommerce Case Study on Probo.pk - CEO Husnain Mazhar - Learn Ecommerce Online From Real Case Studies
Ecommerce Baithak Episode 55: Probo.pk
Two businesses failed. Then Hasnain, the founder of Probo.pk, started again by selling lights, tripods and mics to people who make content, and his first ad sold out his first stock. This guide follows the episode topic by topic. Under each one you get what he said, what it teaches, and what outside data says about the same thing.
Based on Ecommerce Baithak Episode 55 with Hasnain, founder of Probo.pk. About 14 minutes to read.
Figures in these tiles are as stated by the guest on the show. They have not been audited.
The wider market, from outside sources
Market-size figures are estimates and different research firms measure differently. Treat them as the scale of the opportunity, not an exact count.
In this guide
- Why tech gadgets, the category nobody had covered
- Failed business #1: six months looking for fabric
- Failed business #2: makeup palettes stuck at the airport
- Hall Road, a diary and a pencil
- The supplier trick: ask the neighbour
- Two stories about looking sideways
- A 3-day course, a first ad and Rs. 1.75 lakh
- When everyone fishes, sell nets
- Trust: honest ads and studio packages
- Checkout: advance payment and a pop-up video
- Why open parcel delivery stopped
- The recording sticker
- Returns nobody planned: the rider and the household
- Someone has to guide the customer
- Three technologies couriers already have
- The final formula: sell at 3x
- Ten moves to borrow
- Show versus outside data
- Questions people ask
Why tech gadgets, the category nobody had covered
Episode time 2:59
On the showHasnain points out that tech and gadgets, often grouped as “3C” (computers, communications and consumer electronics), is among the biggest ecommerce categories in the world, yet Ecommerce Baithak had never featured a case study in it. He has been in the property business since 2015 and moved into ecommerce in 2020. The gadget store is what he built after two earlier ecommerce businesses did not work.
Outside numbers
- $690 billion. Estimated worldwide consumer-electronics ecommerce revenue in 2025, growing 5–10% a year. About 40–45% of all consumer-electronics sales now happen through online channels.2
- $5,776 million. Estimated Pakistan ecommerce revenue in 2025, growing 10–15%. Electronics is the largest category at 23% of revenue, which works out to roughly $1.3 billion (our arithmetic from the two figures).1
- We could not confirm the “number one worldwide” ranking from a single source. The size of the category is not in doubt.
Where Pakistan’s online money goes
- Electronics: the largest single category
- Everything else combined (77%)
Learning. Choose a category where buyers already spend online. In Pakistan almost one rupee in every four of online revenue goes to electronics, so you are not creating demand, you are competing for it.
Failed business #1: six months spent looking for fabric
Episode time 6:53
On the showThe first venture was nightwear. Hasnain says he spent about six months just searching for the right fabric. Imported fabric came in at Rs. 160 against Rs. 250 for the local one, but the unit was not stated in the transcript. The business did not take off.
Two fabric quotes (as stated)
Outside numbers
- Of 431 venture-backed startups that shut down since 2023, 70% ran out of capital or failed to raise more, and 43% cited poor product-market fit. CB Insights calls the cash problem “almost always the final cause of death, not the root problem.”5
These are venture-backed startups, not small ecommerce shops, and companies could name more than one reason. The point that carries over is that months spent searching are months of runway spent.
Learning. The cheapest source on paper can cost you months. Count your search time as a cost, because the money you run on is the same money that pays for it.
Failed business #2: makeup palettes stuck at the airport
Episode time 14:58
On the showThe second attempt was imported makeup palettes. According to the figures on the show, about Rs. 2 lakh of goods came with a customs demand of roughly Rs. 2.6 lakh, and the goods were left at the airport.
The customs bill against the goods
Duty was about 130% of the goods’ value
Outside numbers
- Pakistan’s 2024–25 budget raised duties on 657 makeup and beauty items by 40%, according to Zawya’s report.6
- Beauty products typically earn a gross margin of 50–70% and a net margin of 10–20%, which is why importers keep trying the category. A duty bill larger than the goods wipes out that margin before the first sale.7
The budget article is inconsistent about perfume rates, so only the 657-item figure is used here. Hasnain’s own import predates that budget, so the 40% rise is context for the direction of travel, not the cause of his loss.
Learning. Get the landed cost (duty, tax and clearing) in writing before you pay a supplier. A product that looks cheap abroad is only cheap if it clears customs cheaply too.
Hall Road, a diary and a pencil
Episode time 24:12
On the showWhen Hasnain restarted with gadgets, he did not begin with a supplier’s catalogue. He took a diary and a pencil to Hall Road in Lahore and went from shop to shop, writing down what he learned.
Outside numbers
- Hall Road is known as a hub for digital electronics and home appliances and one of Lahore’s larger markets for imported electronics, including CCTV accessories, loudspeakers, cables, UPS units and solar equipment.8
- Electronics earns thin margins: a typical 15–30% gross margin and 3–10% net margin.7 If you sell at 100 and the supplier price moves from 70 to 75, your gross margin drops from 30% to 25%, so five rupees of supplier price is five points of margin (our arithmetic).
Wikipedia gives no shop count or trade value for Hall Road, so none is quoted.
Learning. Do the legwork once. A diary full of real quotes shows you what a fair supplier price looks like, so you are not guessing when a supplier names a number.
The supplier trick: ask the neighbour, not the seller
Episode time 27:02
On the showHasnain’s method for finding the real wholesaler runs against instinct. Do not ask the shop that sells the same product where it buys, because it has every reason to keep that secret. Ask a shop next door that sells something different, such as asking a mic seller who supplies lights. Neighbours know each other’s suppliers and have nothing to lose by telling you.
How the trail works (our reading of the story)
- Pick the product you want to sourceFor Probo that meant lights, tripods and mics for creators.
- Ask a shop that sells something elseA mic seller knows who supplies lights, and the reverse.
- Follow the name to the next shopEach answer points one step further up the chain.
- Stop at the wholesaler or importerThat is the person who sells to the shops, at the price the shops pay.
- Write every price in the diaryCompare the trail’s prices before you commit to anything.
Learning. Rivals guard their suppliers, neighbours do not. Go sideways to reach the source.
Two stories about looking sideways
Episode times 29:28 and 31:36
On the showTo make the point about adjacent opportunities, the conversation turns to two stories. One is about a petrol-pump owner who ended up owning a fleet of trucks. The other is about roundabout vendors who were taught to sell swimming pools. Both stories are told to show that demand often sits next to a business you already understand.
They are anecdotes, not case data, so treat them as prompts for your own thinking rather than benchmarks.
A 3-day course, a first ad and Rs. 1.75 lakh in sales
Episode time 37:05
On the showHasnain took a three-day course, set up his first ad and sold out. By his account about Rs. 78,000 of stock sold out and sales reached roughly Rs. 1.75 lakh. The lesson he draws is that a small first batch and one tested ad answer the only question that matters at the start: will anyone buy?
Of every 100 shopping carts in Pakistan, about 28 complete
Outside numbers
- Pakistan’s cart-abandonment rate is estimated at 71.5–72.0%, close to the 70.22% global average that Baymard calculates from 50 studies.14
- Pakistan has about 117 million internet users (45.6% of the population).9
Use these as planning numbers: if one in four carts completes, a first ad needs a few hundred clicks, not a few dozen, to prove or disprove demand.
Learning. Test before you build. A small stock and a single ad is a cheap experiment; a full store with no proof of demand is an expensive guess.
When everyone fishes, sell nets
Episode time 42:53
On the showHasnain chose his product with a gold-rush logic: when everyone is fishing, sell the nets. Many people now make videos, so he sells the gear they need, which is lights, tripods and mics. These are products creators keep buying as they upgrade and as new creators arrive.
The audiences creators publish to
Outside numbers
- At the end of 2025 TikTok’s ad tools showed 79.9 million users aged 18+ in Pakistan, Facebook 52.9 million and Instagram 22.4 million.9
These numbers measure audience size, not the number of creators. We found no reliable count of Pakistani creators, so none is quoted.
Learning. Look for customers who are growing in number and who keep buying. Selling to the people who make content means you are selling to the biggest wave on every platform.
Trust: honest ads, studio packages and zoom-out ads
Episode times 44:36 and 47:06
On the showTech buyers worry about fakes and duds, and Hasnain builds trust by setting honest expectations. An ad should say plainly that a Rs. 5,000 mic cannot do the work of a Rs. 40,000 one. He sells studio packages, so the buyer gets a working set rather than a loose item. And his ads zoom out to show the whole setup instead of a close-up of one product.
The idea is that a customer who knows what a product can and cannot do is less likely to send it back disappointed.
Outside numbers
- Shoppers are 270% more likely to buy a product with five reviews than one with none, according to Northwestern’s Spiegel Research Center.10
- Reviews can start free: Judge.me’s free plan includes unlimited product and photo reviews, and its paid plan is $15 a month.11
- 19% of shoppers who abandon a cart say they did not trust the site with their card details.4
Learning. Honest expectations are cheaper than returns. Say what the product will not do, and show the full set in use.
Checkout: advance payment and a pop-up video
Episode time 49:38
On the showProbo asks for a complete address and an advance payment, even a small one, and plays a guide video on the checkout page. The video explains how to set the quantity, fill in the address and enter a mobile number, and it says, in effect, that a buyer who plans to refuse at the door should not order. Hasnain says friends warned him orders would drop. They did not.
Why shoppers abandon a cart (global)
Outside numbers
- Pakistan: about 70% of online shoppers prefer cash on delivery, and more than 30% of the population has no bank account. DHL suggests a 5–10% discount, cashback or free delivery as an incentive to pay in advance.3
- The State Bank of Pakistan’s FY25 review, as reported by ProPakistani, says 93% of online purchases went through accounts or wallets, up from 87% in FY24.12
The wallet figure does not mention cash on delivery, so read it as a picture of digital payments only, not proof that COD is fading.
Learning. Friction filters. A guide video and an advance weed out orders that were never going to be accepted. Baymard shows that friction also costs you real buyers, so remove it where it does not protect you, such as forced account creation.
Why “open parcel” delivery stopped: an onion instead of a mic
Episode time 51:16
On the showProbo used to offer “open parcel” delivery, where the customer can inspect the product before accepting it. Then a parcel turned up with an onion in it where a microphone should have been. That ended the policy. Tech products are also hard to resell, and a speaker notes they generally cannot be returned to the vendor, so a bad return is the seller’s loss.
Outside numbers
- Retailers in the US expect returns of nearly 16% of sales in 2025 (about $850 billion), with online returns around 19%. About 9% of all returns are fraudulent.13
- In Pakistan, DHL puts the national average return-to-origin rate for ecommerce at 18–20%, roughly one in five cash-on-delivery parcels.3
US and Pakistani figures are not directly comparable, because the US numbers cover returns after delivery and the Pakistani figure includes parcels refused or never delivered.
Learning. Policies should come from evidence, not trust. When one bad parcel proves a rule is abused, change the rule.
The sticker: “Start video recording before opening the parcel”
Episode time 56:30
On the showThe fix was a sticker on the box where the customer opens it: start video recording before opening the parcel. The customer films the unboxing and keeps recording until the product has been tested. Hasnain says the team watches the whole video, however long, and if the item is broken, even from a Rs. 1 lakh package, they replace it. It is the seller who asks the customer for proof, rather than arguing afterwards.
He also says that in his experience about 90% of the returns come from the customer side, not from the courier or the product.
Where returns come from, in Hasnain’s experience
- Returns caused by the customer (his figure)
- Everything else, including courier and product problems
The conversation includes a story that shows part of the 90%: a customer posted fifteen complaints overnight that a mic did not work. In the morning the support team called and told them to switch it on, and it worked.
Learning. Build the rules into the packaging. A sticker that asks for proof settles a dispute before it starts, and some “faulty” products are simply switched off.
Returns that nobody planned: the rider and the household
Episode time 1:00:08
On the showTwo stories on the show reveal how returns can happen quietly. In the first, a speaker says they asked their own neighbours to accept any parcel that arrives when nobody is home, so no delivery to their house ever goes back. In the second, people ask the rider for a deal: about Rs. 1,000 a month so that parcels addressed to their home are sent straight back without an attempt at delivery. The seller sees a “return” and never learns why.
The speaker calls this a brand killer, because the seller has already paid for the ad, the packing and the courier.
Outside numbers
- Penta Express’s CEO said about 74% of its orders are cash on delivery, about 25% are paid by informal methods such as direct transfers to sellers, and about 1% by card. Fulfilment succeeds on up to 93% of parcels.14
- The same article says some couriers hold sellers’ money for up to two weeks, but gives no source for that figure.14
The article is from 2023 and is one courier executive’s view.
Learning. Track why parcels come back, not just how many. A complete address and an advance payment both make quiet returns harder.
Someone has to guide the customer
Episode time about 1:03:30
On the showHasnain’s advice for anyone entering tech gadgets is that either you or someone you hire has to spend the day guiding customers. The business uses an AI agent on WhatsApp so that messages get answered at midnight, and he asks customers to be patient with the queue. But a gadget buyer who is stuck needs a person who can walk them through it.
Learning. In tech, customer guidance is part of the product. Budget for a person, not just for ads.
Three technologies couriers already have
Episode time 1:04:41
On the showHasnain says courier companies already have the technology to fix many returns and disputes but do not deploy it. He offered one major courier free development help. His three proposals are all inside the courier’s own app.
The three features, as proposed on the show
- A dialer inside the appThe rider’s calls to customers go through the app and are recorded, so “the customer did not pick up” can be checked.
- A camera inside the appIf nobody is home, the rider takes a photo at the gate in the app, as proof the delivery was attempted.
- One live tracking view for everyoneThe customer (through the tracking number), the seller’s portal, the courier and the rider all see the same status.
His view is that these stay switched off because transparency would end the grey areas around over-charging, under-charging and parcels that go missing. Another speaker answers that couriers have real internal problems too, such as managing a rider network of 10,000 to 15,000, and that running a large database and servers is expensive. The rest is left for a Part 2. Another voice on the show says couriers treat 20–25% returns as normal for categories like shoes.
Return rates side by side
Learning. A courier that shows you its evidence is worth more than a cheaper one that does not. Ask any courier you use for call logs, delivery-attempt photos and live tracking, and treat a refusal as information.
The final formula: sell at 3x
Episode time 1:09:01
On the showThe closing rule of the episode, which the speaker says every experienced cash-on-delivery seller repeats, is to sell at three times what you paid. It does not mean charging more. It means buying cheaper, so a Rs. 1,000 product is sold at Rs. 3,000. Split the Rs. 3,000 into thirds. The bottom thousand covers the purchase. The top thousand is for damages and losses. The middle thousand is where your profit comes from, and only a percentage of it survives.
What Rs. 3,000 of sales has to cover
- Purchase cost: what you paid the supplier
- The middle: ads, packaging, courier, salaries and the profit that is left
- Damages and losses: returns, breakage, theft and failed deliveries
Outside numbers
- Three times cost is a 66.7% gross margin (2,000 left of 3,000), well above the typical gross margin for electronics of 15–30%.7
- Typical net margins: electronics 3–10%, apparel 5–13%, beauty 10–20%.7
The benchmarks are for branded stores in general. Accessories bought from a wholesaler can carry higher markups than branded electronics, which is likely why 3x is realistic for Probo.
Typical gross margin by category, against the 3x rule
The episode ends on a hopeful note. A speaker says you can start selling tech gadgets with no up-front investment and that they have done it. The last advice is to do your own working when you choose a product, and to learn from sellers who have already been through cash on delivery.
Learning. Build your price on the damage as well as the cost. If your thousand for damages is not enough, the middle thousand quietly pays for it.
Ten moves to borrow
- Pick a category with proof of demand. Electronics is the largest online category in Pakistan.
- Spend time on sourcing. Walk the market with a diary and write down every answer.
- Ask the neighbour, not the seller. Use shops that sell something else to reach the wholesaler.
- Start small and test. One small batch and one ad can show demand.
- Sell nets, not fish. Serve people who make content, because they keep buying gear.
- Write honest ads. Say what a cheap mic cannot do, sell sets, and zoom out.
- Make checkout filter for you. Full address, an advance and a guide video.
- Put recording stickers on the parcel. Ask for video proof before the box is opened.
- Ask couriers for evidence. Call logs, gate photos and live tracking.
- Price at 3x. Leave a full third for damages.
Show versus outside data
The guest’s numbers are his own experience. Here is each one next to what outside data says.
Category size
On the showTech and gadgets (3C) are among the biggest ecommerce categories.
Outside dataElectronics is Pakistan’s largest online category at 23% of revenue.1
Returns
Payments
On the showTake an advance and the orders do not drop.
Outside dataAbout 70% of Pakistani shoppers prefer cash on delivery; DHL suggests a 5–10% prepaid incentive.3
Margins
On the showSell at 3x so a third covers damages.
Outside dataElectronics typically earn a 15–30% gross margin and a 3–10% net margin.7
Questions people ask
Is selling tech gadgets in Pakistan profitable?
It can be, but the margins are thin in electronics generally. Typical net margins are 3–10%.7 The show’s answer is to sell accessories bought from a wholesaler at three times cost and to price in damages.
How do I find a real wholesaler?
The method on the show is to walk the market with a diary, and ask shops that sell something different where they buy, because the same-product seller has every reason not to tell you.
Should I allow open-parcel delivery?
Probo stopped after a parcel came back with an onion instead of a mic. Look at your own return data first. About 9% of returns in the US are fraudulent,13 and your number may be higher or lower.
Does asking for an advance hurt sales?
Hasnain says orders did not fall. Baymard’s data shows friction can cost you buyers,4 so test it on your own store and watch the order count for a few weeks.
What does 3C mean?
It is a common grouping for computers, communications and consumer electronics.
Is it true that you can sell gadgets with no investment?
That is a closing claim on the show, and the speaker says they have done it. Treat it as one person’s experience, and still plan for the cost of ads, packaging and returns.
All outside figures were checked against the pages below in October 2026. Market-size numbers are estimates. Where a source was a news report or an aggregator, we say so.
- E-Commerce Industry in Pakistan. ECDB (Statista), 2025 data.
- Global Consumer Electronics Industry. ECDB (Statista), 2025 data.
- How Pakistani e-commerce sellers can reduce COD returns. DHL Express Pakistan.
- Cart abandonment rate statistics. Baymard Institute.
- Top reasons startups fail. CB Insights, March 2026.
- Pakistan budget 2024-25: Looking 'pretty and stylish' gets costlier for women. Zawya.
- Ecommerce Profitability Benchmarks for 2026. Flowium.
- Hall Road, Lahore. Wikipedia.
- Digital 2026: Pakistan. DataReportal (Kepios), 2026.
- Product reviews matter even if you don't sell on Amazon. Digital Commerce 360, reporting Spiegel Research Center (Northwestern), 2017.
- Judge.me pricing. Judge.me.
- 93% of online purchases in Pakistan were made with e-wallets during FY25. ProPakistani, 3 Nov 2025, reporting State Bank of Pakistan data.
- Shoppers to Send Back 16% of Goods Bought This Year, NRF Finds. Supply Chain 24/7, reporting NRF 2025 data.
- E-commerce: can logistics be resolved?. ProPakistani, 24 July 2023.
What the guest said comes from an auto-generated transcript that mixes Urdu, Hindi and English, so some wording and numbers may differ from the audio. Please check them in the video before quoting them.
Watch the full conversation
This guide covers the main topics, but the stories are worth hearing in full. The speakers also want a Part 2 on the courier side, so comment on the video if you would like one too.
Watch Episode 55 on YouTube
