KARACHI: As part of their joint efforts to help small and micro business (SMB) owners make confident, informed decisions to grow their businesses, Leading e-commerce platform Daraz and Visa, the world leader in digital payments, have collaborated to impart practical business skills to online sellers through the Daraz University platform based off Visa’s global Practical Business Skills digital platform that delivers free educational resources covering business skills and financial literacy training.

According to a press release issued on Tuesday, with this collaboration, Daraz will customize Visa’s global seller education content and deploy it on the Daraz University platform where sellers can access it in Pakistan. The content will include video tutorials, PowerPoint presentations and quizzes that will cover topics like Guide to Starting a Business, Financial Basics for your Business and Business Management.

Daraz is conducting comprehensive marketing to maximize the outreach of new educational content to sellers in Pakistan. The first one thousand sellers who cover the material and pass all exams will be given vouchers sponsored by Visa that will provide free shipping credit or access to Daraz packaging materials.

Non-sellers can also participate in these tutorials to earn a Visa x Daraz University certification. If these potential sellers choose to join Daraz, they will be given vouchers and dedicated sign-up support on Daraz. Daraz University was established in 2018 with the aim to provide free education to aspiring online entrepreneurs. Currently, the portal serves over 40,000 active sellers, and each month 5,000 new vendors learn valuable business knowledge from Daraz University.

Daraz has always been at the forefront of providing entrepreneurial opportunities to people in Pakistan. In its efforts of uplifting entire communities, Daraz is exploring new ways of instilling a sense of innovation among aspiring entrepreneurs. The Company wants to play its part in reviving the country’s economy by ensuring that the youth gets quality business opportunities.

Ehsan Saya, Managing Director – Daraz Pakistan commented on the occasion: “Daraz University aims to nurture the future of e-commerce and online business. Digital entrepreneurship is the future, and we needed a platform to train our youth to match up with the world. Our collaboration with Visa proves our commitment to fostering e-commerce in Pakistan and bringing forward future business leaders. The new endeavor will open doors to new learning opportunities for young sellers. We thank Visa for their noteworthy effort that will help us prepare for future challenges of online business.”

Commenting on the recent association, Leila Serhan, SVP and General Manager Visa said: “Visa heralds the need for a digital landscape for young business owners. The financial service platform understands that e-commerce requires vast knowledge about the digital ecosystem. Our collaboration with Daraz is the first step towards empowering youth with the necessary skills for online selling. Daraz has been the forefront runner in promoting digital merchants. The partnership will help youngsters to equip with the latest entrepreneurship knowledge.”

Syed Zeeshan Ali, Director Digital Payments – Daraz, commented on the collaboration, “Daraz University was founded with a vision to cultivate the entrepreneurial generation in Pakistan by imparting critical business skills for running successful online businesses. With our collaboration with Visa, Daraz University will expand its education content and impart business management’s skills to online sellers enabling them to succeed in their businesses. Our collaboration with Visa proves our commitment to developing an ecosystem for e-commerce in Pakistan which facilitates our sellers, customers and stakeholders.”

Kamil Khan, Country Manager Visa Pakistan, also expressed their views on the recent association, “As a company that enables digital payments for millions of merchants around the world, Visa’s priority is to help small businesses in every step of the way to successfully set up their online business. Meeting consumer demands for digital-first experiences can and should be a seamless undertaking, especially when resources can be found in a single place. We are therefore delighted to partner with Daraz University to help online merchants in Pakistan gain unprecedented access to Visa experts, technology, and resources so they can launch their business swiftly “.