Clothing shop POS in Karachi

Where Karachi buys and sells clothes

The cloth trade in Karachi is older than most of the city. Mithadar and Kharadar, the original core of Karachi, are known for their many textile markets, which run on into Boulton Market, a nineteenth-century wholesale market surrounded by retail streets.

In Saddar, Zainab Market is a three-level British-era building selling ceremonial clothes, leather goods, traditional jewellery and crafts, and Bohri Bazaar, is one of the oldest marketplaces in the city and was once its most famous place to shop. Tariq Road in PECHS is listed among the city's most popular bazaars and is where many brand outlets and boutiques sit.

A typical shop works both ends of that chain. It buys unstitched suits and cloth from the wholesale streets, sells some as fabric, stitches some to order, and stocks ready-made pieces in a spread of sizes. Around Eid the shop may sell more in two weeks than in the two months before, and every customer wants a size that is just out.

Exchanges after Eid, layaway for wedding outfits and stitching promised by a date are where paper slips get lost.

Payment is mixed. Wholesale buyers from smaller towns often take goods on credit and settle on their next visit, while walk-in customers pay in cash, by card or with a wallet transfer at the counter. Wedding customers commonly pay in two or three parts before they collect.

Running a Karachi clothing shop through the season

New stock. When a lot arrives from the wholesale market, build the article once: tick the sizes and colours and every variant gets its own barcode. Prices can be set per collection, such as Summer Lawn or Eid.

Silai. A customer brings fabric for stitching. Take her measurements once and save them; the next order reuses them. The order carries the design pictures, the karigar, the trial date and the advance, and she gets a WhatsApp update when it is ready.

The Eid rush. Put a percent Sale on a whole collection in one step. Pieces held for a customer with a deposit stay off the shelf until she collects them or the hold ends.

After Eid. Exchanges come back on the original bill. The returned piece pays toward the new one and only the difference changes hands, so stock and cash both stay correct.

Questions from Karachi clothing shops

Can I sell fabric by the suit and also by the metre?

Yes. A product can be sold in more than one unit with its own price, and ready-made pieces use sizes and colours instead.

How do I handle a customer who pays for a bridal outfit in parts?

Hold the piece with a deposit, or put it on a qist plan with weekly or monthly payments. The balance stays on her account until it is paid.

Our shop and our tailor are in different places. Does that matter?

No. Silai orders list the karigar and the due date, and the order moves from cutting to ready wherever the work is done.

Can staff give discounts on their own?

Only if their role allows it. Staff roles control discounts, exchanges and refunds. See Karachi for other trades on the same account.

A shopkeeper from Hyderabad buys from us on credit. Where does that go?

On his own khata. Each bill on credit adds to his balance, each payment reduces it, and a WhatsApp reminder shows him the amount before his next trip to Karachi.

How long does it take to put a full season of stock in?

It depends on the number of articles, not pieces. One article with six sizes and four colours is entered once and makes all 24 variants with their barcodes, so most of the work is printing labels. If your list is already in Excel, send it to us and we import it with you on a call.