IdeaecommercePakistan

Checkout for the sellers who only have Instagram and WhatsApp

An enormous share of Pakistani commerce happens in DMs and settles cash on delivery. Give those sellers a link that takes money.

Former founder · September 30, 2026

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The problem

Thousands of Pakistani sellers run real businesses entirely through Instagram and WhatsApp. They cannot take payment properly, so they ship cash on delivery — with return rates that destroy their margins and working capital tied up in stock that comes back.

The solution

A payment link and lightweight storefront built for a seller with no website, no company registration and no developer: paste a link in a DM, take Raast or card, track the order, and get paid before dispatch.

Who it's for

Social-commerce sellers: clothing, cosmetics, home goods, food, handmade — one to five people, no website.

The market

Pakistan processed 3.7 billion retail payment transactions in a single quarter of 2026, 92% of them digital. Social commerce is one of the largest segments still settling in cash.

How it makes money

Percentage of processed volume, with a free tier to get sellers onboarded.

More detail

Cash on delivery is not a payment preference. It is what you use when you cannot take payment. ## What it costs the seller A social seller shipping COD carries every risk in the transaction. They buy or make the stock, pay the courier, and then find out whether the customer wants it. Refusal rates on Pakistani COD are high enough that they are the difference between a viable business and an unviable one, and the working capital tied up in returned stock compounds the damage. ## Why they have not switched Existing payment integration assumes a website, a registered company, a bank account in that company's name, and someone who can integrate an API. A seller running a clothing business from an Instagram account has none of those and is not going to acquire them to test a payment method. ## What to build - **A link, not an integration.** Generate a payment link with an amount and a description, paste it into a DM. That is the entire product on day one. - **Raast first.** It costs the seller almost nothing and the buyer already has it. Cards second, for the customers who want them. - **Order tracking that fits the workflow.** These sellers manage orders in a notes app. Beat the notes app, do not replace their whole business. - **Onboarding that works for an individual.** The compliance path for a sole trader is the actual product problem here, and solving it is most of the moat. ## The wedge Start with the sellers who have already given up on COD because the returns hurt too much. They are motivated, they are findable, and they will tell each other.