A little over a week ago, Pakistan’s steadiest presence in retail fashion, Khaadi, opened doors to its brand-new ‘experience hub’. As a brand, Khaadi has always aimed to please. From the fusion kurtis and unstitched khaddi fabric the brand was known for in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, to the crowd-pleasing kurtas and prints they graduated to, Khaadi has always managed to hit a sweet spot between sensibility and accessibility, allowing them to tap into a wider cross-section of the market than competitors.

While Khaadi is the go-to for women who buy off-the-rack for work, Eid, or more celebratory events, with the new outlet, they seem to be making a statement about whom they are including within their target audience, and it is an interesting one.

Mannequins dressed in corduroy sweaters and shades greet customers as they enter the store. They immediately give way to racks of velvety athleisure in pastels and neutrals. The baby blues and mustards stand out against zebra-printed sweatshirts, and as you circle around them, you’re treated to floral and solid midi dresses and tops.

The vibe of these outfits, though they could well be worn by anyone, is youthful. Clever selection of separates will ensure the clothes are wearable by anyone, but Khaadi, it seems, has nodded at the youths, who have now entered the market as viable buyers.

Tinath Saeed, Manager Corporate Communications for Khaadi, agrees. “Everything we created was created with the customer in mind,” says Saeed. “Ready-to-wear, both eastern and western, gives way to our stunning Khaas section, denoted by golds and blacks, accessories, which include shoes and bags, and then leads into the Fabrics section, moving into the PIT (Put It Together) section allowing a customer to bring out the designer in her. The journey then leads you into a beautiful wrapping station to wrap up gifts, again ensuring personalization of experience.”

The new Khaadi outlet, says Saeed, came about not just to create a shopping space, but a space where experiences can be had. The journey becomes richer with an in-store cafe, where shoppers can sit together, chat, discuss their day, and create memories.

This is where Khaadi hits the sweet spot yet again. As the oldest members of Gen Z now enter the job market, they are in possession of expendable incomes, and what they want needs to be taken into account too. The way this generation develops looks is as inspired by the trends they see around them, as has every generation preceding theirs. However, this is a digital native generation: they grew up with the internet and social media and streaming, and they can and will research everything they plan on investing in online, and will probably want to make the purchase online too.

Gen Z – which globally was to reach an impressive 2.56 billion in 2020 – may be young, but they shop smart. Which necessitates it for brands making their shopping experience more seamless. When they search for a particular product, they better find good reviews, assurance of consistent inventory, peer approval, and lots of photographic evidence.

Platforms like Instagram aren’t just for posting photos of your cat anymore, which of course, are always welcome. This is where an entire chunk of shoppers in Pakistan exists. Over 6.5 million Pakistanis are on Instagram, and whether we like it or not, we do come across sponsored content, influencers recommending products, or our friends showing off something they bought that they really like.

The brand also introduces an e-commerce fulfilment option, where you can select items to purchase online, and collect them from the store within minutes. With this feature, Khaadi makes for a hassle-free online shopping experience altogether, by cutting out the need to spend time shopping in-store, or waiting for a delivery to arrive.

While an Insta push may have us checking out a brand we never would have otherwise, regardless of the generation we belong to, the experience – be it online or in real time – has to be smooth, and ultimately rewarding.

At this point, we take it offline and check out the physical store. While the lockdown that took over our lives and shut us in for well over a year has assisted in making most of us online-shopping-friendly, sometimes all you want to do is go to the store, feel the fabric, and maybe try on, or accessorize while you’re there.

If a physical store has ever considered their layout in terms of UI/UX, Khaadi’s new store should be where they look for cues. Each section leads into the next in a manner that allows customers to either find what they needed next, or to see something they didn’t even knew they could use. Putting together pret separates, or an outfit you will have tailored is easier than ever, and Khaadi now has the edge above the rest as the actual proverbial one-stop-shop.