We Measured How Much of a 'Sale' Is Real — Launching the Pakistan Fashion Discount Index

Update (5 Oct, evening): After upgrading to methodology v1.1, these figures now rest on a representative sample of 57,045 discounted products (the first snapshot used 611 early-month matched pairs). Authenticity is now measured against each product’s own pre-sale price level over the trailing 3 months. Current figures: Authenticity Score 26/100, theater share 49.6%.

5 October 2026 · English

Behind every "Flat 50% Off" sits one question: 50% off what? Today we launch a permanent answer — the Pakistan Fashion Discount Index, which measures advertised discounts against our 950,000+ stored price observations, every month.

Two different things, sold as one

• The advertised discount: the tag that says "was Rs. 8,000, now Rs. 4,000".
• The real reduction: what this product actually sold for in our price history last month, versus now.

The gap between the two is the story — we call it the Authenticity Score.

The first reading (October 2026, early-month)

• 28.9% of the market's catalogue is on some discount right now (of 199,030 in-stock products).
• The median advertised discount is 45% — and at seven major brands the median is exactly 50%. "Flat 50" turns out to be the industry's default flag.
• Among discounted products with a prior-month price history (611 so far — the sample grows daily), 46% show a real reduction smaller than a quarter of what the tag claims. Overall Authenticity Score: 33 / 100.

This is an early-month reading — the sample grows every day, and by month-end we expect to publish brand-level rankings: who runs the most honest sales, and who runs the most theater.

Whose September reductions were real

• Khaadi: 40% median real reduction (610 matched products) — September's most genuine sale.
• Outfitters: 29.1% (810) · Sana Safinaz: 27.5% (1,187) · Nishat Linen and Sapphire: 23.1%.

What it means for shoppers

Next time a "70% Off" banner appears, ask the first question: how much, really? Every product's price history is free on TrendCompare — and now so is the whole index: trendcompare.pk/fashion-index.

Data: TrendCompare Pakistan Fashion Discount Index (DIX-1.0) — advertised discounts from live brand listings (anchors beyond 3× the price excluded), real price movement from 950,000+ stored price observations, monthly product medians, matched pairs, published only at n ≥ 300. Free under CC BY — trendcompare.pk/fashion-index.

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