Online mkts expand threefold in a year

Online markets are making a fast buck in the country with a significant rise in the number of classified advertisements being posted every day for e-shoppers.
Such virtual markets have expanded threefold in Bangladesh over the last one year in terms of visitors along with significant rise in the number of products changing hands through them, three leading companies told the FE.

It is believed that currently around 300,000 people visit mainly the three web-based markets each day on an average.
Sources rated the online stores as a very important complement to the physical stores, and, in many cases, the former bear many rare goods.
The number of products posted in the new online markets free of charges is around 18,000 coming in new ads aggregately each day, the leading online market sources said.
But, since the same ads are usually posted in all virtual markets the actual number of products will be lower in this sense.
The sources said new classified online pages are now being dominated by products ranging from mobile, computer and its accessories, fridge, television and bikes to cars and even apartments.
Apart from these, there are a long tally of kitchen products like edible oils, vegetables, fruits and fish.
The value of the online markets in the country could not be known from the sources that talked to the FE as mostly selling takes place in the new places through cash-on-delivery system.
Officials at the online markets said the concepts have opened up opportunities for third-party vendors who serve between the sellers and the final customers. Thus, new employments are being created in the country.
As regards cheating and snatching of money by posting ads for attractive products, representatives at the three companies -- Bikroy.com, Ekhanei.com and OLX -- admitted that there are some unethical practices happening in terms of cheating the customers.
But, they claimed, the trend is now on the decline.
Eshita Sharmin, marketing manager at Bikroy.com, told the FE: "It is unbelievable that a phenomenal growth in the virtual marketplaces has taken place over the past one year."
She said over the last one year the younger buyers that earlier dominated the markets went to a wide variety of customers, from senior executives to housewives.
Ms Sharmin claimed her marketplace gets more than 2.0 million 'unique visitors' each month.   
Explaining the amazing experiences with the new marketing, she said: "Believe it or not, there were advertisements of live pets at more than 10,000."
Bikroy.com, a Sweden-based company, has now 13 main-category products in Bangladesh. And, according to the company, around 10,000 advertisements are being posted each day.
In addition to Bangladesh, it has also operations in Sri Lanka and Ghana.
She said they mainly focus on the old products. "We think that this is a huge potential market in Bangladesh."
She argued about the old product-based market her company campaigning since its beginning in Bangladesh in 2012, saying that this is now very effective model in the present world.
Shamim Ara, communication manager at the Ekhanei.com, another classified ad page, told the FE that they entertain all types of products--be it new or old.
Ekhanei.com, a concern of Oslo-based Schibsted Media Group, was renamed recently from its earlier name Cellbazar. It earlier used to promote such type of selling through mobile phones only.
The Ekhenei.com spokeswoman said they are now promoting cattle products as Eid-ul-Azaha is nearing.
She said many customers are even contacting the cattle-head sellers from abroad and negotiating successfully.
"A seller told us that he had sold out a cow to a Bangladeshi expatriate living in Saudi Arabia as he has none to go to market in Bangladesh," she said.
Ms Shamim said the online art platforms cater for all tastes and budgets and this is one of key reasons for growing rapidly in the country.
A representative at the OLX (short for online exchange) Bangladesh said they are also getting robust clicks about the products.
He however said they are mainly getting very good responses about the mobile phones and electronic products.
He said there is a team to check abuses of the new markets, to verify before posting the ads.
However, the executives of the leading markets said there is need for creating further awareness to avert the cheating on the new platform of trading.

jasimharoon@yahoo.com