Bagallery, one of the leading fashion and lifestyle e-commerce businesses of Pakistan, has recently announced cofounder Salman Sattar as the platform's Chief Executive Officer from March 20, 2021.

The previously woman-led business is proud to have been challenging gender norms in the industry, and now, wife Mina Salman and husband Salman Sattar, will lead the business together.

With the business grown manifold, the couple has mutually decided to add Salman's 15 years of industry experience to the mix.

Equipped with the maturity and focus the growing company requires, Salman will be leading from the front to deliver sustained growth and frictionless customer service and experience.

Salman Sattar, hailing from Karachi, has spent most years of his career in business development roles across Pakistan and Middle East. Having worked with different multinationals including Unilever, Mondelez and Savola Foods, his most recent role was that of Sales Director Middle East at Friesland Campina, a Dutch, multinational dairy company, worth more than $400 million.

A life-long campaigner and supporter of Bagallery, Salman had been mentoring the startup since its inception. However, since 2020, Bagallery needed focused direction and experience to fix issues pertaining operations and customer service.

Looking at the immense potential of the e-commerce beauty and fashion business in Pakistan, Salman has joined the company his wife co-founded.

How did Bagallery came into being?

Bagallery started when Mina Salman, a beauty and wellness blogger and an online shopping enthusiast, noticed the lack of access to authentic brands in Pakistan; while demand existed in the local market, choices were limited.

This gave birth to one of the biggest beauty, fashion and lifestyle e-commerce players in Pakistan.

Having spent most of her life abroad, residing with husband Salman Sattar in the UAE and travelling around the world, Mina had seen the international e-commerce market booming and identified similar potential in Pakistan; and so, together they decided to launch this e-commerce platform in May 2017.

Initially the aim was to only sell bags, which explains the name.

However, the business pivoted and on boarded a wide range of beauty and fashion brands, including L’Oréal and Unilever, which are also one of the biggest partners on the platform, with the partnership not only restricted to sales and marketing but also towards tech, sustainability, logistics and data science.

How did business operation change in the wake of a pandemic?

In 2020, the start-up entered hyper growth with 2 key triggers fueling the sudden increase in demand and size of the business.

The pandemic led to an increase in online shopping, consequently pushing existing e-commerce players to improve services.

Bagallery braved a similar impact; while the business enjoyed a massive spike in demand, it also put a strain on the company’s operations and customer service.

The second trigger established Bagallery as a serious player in the e-commerce industry when the start-up raised $900,000 in a pre-series A round from Lakson Investments Venture Capital.

Speaking about the investment, Faisal Aftab, the managing partner of Lakson Venture Capital and board member of Bagallery, said, “The beauty and personal care market in Pakistan is projected to be worth billions of dollars over the next 5 years. This represents a tremendous opportunity for market leaders like Bagallery, especially at a time where internet adoption in Pakistan has attained critical mass with more than 80 million active users.”

Check out Bagallery's website for latest deals and discounts.

This content is a paid advertisement by Bagallery and is not associated with or necessarily reflective of the views of Dawn.com or its editorial staff.