With the highly advanced and many fast developing nations well set on the information superhighway, Bangladesh has also started showing positive signs. The speed at which changes are taking place is amazing to many. In the areas of electronic transmission of information, the online media and, lately, e-commerce (electronic commerce), the country is elevating itself to the level of the other countries. Even in conservative appraisals, Bangladesh is seen being poised to carve out a place for it in the domain of digital marvels.
The use of the words 'marvel' or 'wonder' could be viewed by many as a misnomer. The internet-based outlets have for a considerable period of time become integral to socio-economic, cultural and information activities in the modern times. The latest addition to the electronic feats is one that comes from commerce. Bangladesh can claim a remarkable place on the list of countries engaged in electronically conducted commercial transactions. Compared to the likes of the e-commerce icon Jack Ma and his company Alibaba, the country is eons away from having a fully operative nationwide set-up in place. But thanks to its venturesome youths, Bangladesh can now take pride in its fledgling online business. Although nowhere near Alibaba, Amazon or e-Bay, the Bangladesh entities do hold prospects for progress. Until now, there has been no dearth of drive and enthusiasm.
Given the background already created for the progress of digital outlets, the concept of online shopping has not taken much time to make inroads into the enthusiastic clientele. Initially, buying choice products online was limited to the occasions of two Eid festivals. In a few years after its launch by some risk-taking entrepreneurs, the idea appeared to have clicked, and impressively at that. Although earlier confined to Dhaka in the main, online shopping in course time have spread to the other cities and towns of the country. Even the affluent people in the rural areas joined the fad of purchasing consumer items by using the internet. The prompt availability of broadband connection is mostly uncertain in the rural areas, and many have no such facilities at all. The village-based clients have, thus, to depend on the expensive 2-G or 3-G smartphone bytes. Moreover, after placing an order, a rural client has to wait for 7 to 10 days to receive the products. Unlike in many other less advanced countries, Bangladesh has yet to put in place an inefficient product delivery infrastructure as back-up to the online business. In the capital it takes maximum two days for sending the chosen items to clients from the shopping outlets. In the developed countries drones are reportedly being used for such deliveries.
Coming to Dhaka, it is the stifling traffic gridlock which has played a great role in popularising online shopping among the middle and upper middle-class people. The need for service of the online shopping is nowadays acutely felt during the countdown to the Eid festivals. Not long ago, the Dhaka-based middle class used to brave the massive traffic snarl-ups to reach the Eid markets. These days many of them would prefer to complete their shopping in the shortest possible time. The online shopping for Eid items eventually brought many of them relief. The need for visiting crowded shops --- a bitter experience, eventually started diminishing. However, the number of online shoppers in Dhaka is still minuscule. It's only those having broadband connections and smartphones who are able to see an array of Eid wear including clothes, shoes, ornaments and scores of festival items on screen, and order for the chosen products. Upon payment online, the ordered items reach the doors of the clients the next day or the day after. The practice is fast attracting buyers, mainly youths.
These days, outlets specialising in this unique style of shopping engage professional salespersons who take the viewers, meaning customers, round the collections of products on display at their galleries. Due to the desktop, laptop or smartphone-based shopping, many would like to call the process screen shopping.
At present, online shopping in Bangladesh is mainly based on facebook-based page. Besides, most of them being famed for their honesty and reliability, dubious trade practices followed by a few in the sector have lately begun to spoil the image of this business. However, the number of phony companies, with no address and offices, is negligible. But they belong to a syndicate of black sheep. Like in any other thriving business, these elements can wreak havoc on the whole sector. Presently, hundreds of genuine online-shopping entrepreneurs are engaged in the business. All of them have trade licences and the relevant documents. They follow the mandatory policies related to 'return' and 'refund'. That the fraudulent activities of a small number of traders will call into question the whole sector of online shopping cannot be overlooked. The practice warrants prompt intervention of the authorities concerned. Few people are aware of the scale on which e-shopping is growing as business in the country. The present size of the market is Tk 7 billion a year. Apart from Eid times, on average 30 thousand customers a day place purchase orders online. The online shopping has in effect opened the country's passage into the broader e-commerce now active worldwide.
Online shopping is just a small segment of the Bangladesh-based e-commerce. Conducting a major part of business through internet and other digital mediums has already taken root in the country. Alongside those in the domestic sector, trading operations involving overseas countries are now commonplace. For many enterprises and business chains, the use of electronic means has veritably become a sine qua non. With the far-flung centres of the global business now connected online, the ambitious enterprises aimed at going beyond the borders of the home countries have only one option open before them: getting on the information superhighway. It has long become the key to success in doing business, be it in one's own country or in the international sphere. Decades ago, the telephone, telegram and, later, fax communications were deemed prerequisites for achieving success in trade and business. Nowadays, the magic power of business dynamism is essentially defined by e-commerce. The coming decades can brace for a series of other mind-bogglingly radical devices.
© 2024 - All Rights with The Financial Express
