eCommerce in Bangladesh – An Analysis Overview 2023

What is eCommerce?

Before we talk about eCommerce in Bangladesh, let’s know what is eCommerce. eCommerce is based on traditional commerce or business. Traditionally, selling products was physical involvement like showing products in a shop or display center, and people used to go there to visit and purchase. But in the modern era, everything gets digitalized. So, traditional commerce gets digitalized too. The “e” from eCommerce mean “electronic”, so eCommerce mean Electronic Commerce.

How does eCommerce Work?

In eCommerce, sellers open a shop/store online instead of opening a physical shop/store. The online space could be a website, or multi-vendor marketplace, or could be a social media(Facebook) page, etc. Then add products with their information, photos, price, etc. People visit the online space, see the product listing, choose, and finally submit orders with relevant information like name, address, contact number, delivery option, etc. to get the delivery. The customer gets the option to pay the price online using cards, mobile wallets, online banking, voucher code, or orders with cash-on-delivery options so they can pay when receiving the products. And finally, customers can submit feedback after receiving and experiencing the products. Also, if the customer receives faulty products or something different than what s/he ordered, they can return it within a certain time or receive the products. Warranty is also applicable depending on the seller/supplier like a physical shop. This is how eCommerce works in most countries, and here too.

E-commerce Scenario in Bangladesh

E-commerce in Bangladesh is still suffering from a lot of issues. But it’s growing noticeably over time. People use smartphones common in the country. MFS(mobile financial service) gets popular in the last few years. When Covid-19 locked people in the house for a long time, e-commerce played a great role in the country. A lot of non-technical people even used to or at least heard from someone that e-commerce is a place where people can buy daily products. People are being used to purchasing their household and luxury products from eCommerce day by day. The most popular products I believe smartphones and their accessories, also cloth items are blasting the transactions. Daraz is the first known online marketplace in Bangladesh and is currently the most popular one. When a brand gets so many customers, they get bad experiences too, Daraz also has some bad publications but they recovered very fast. Daraz is backed by Alibaba, so their experience and implementation are like no other. There are many others in the multivendor category, like, Pickaboo, AjkerDeal, Othoba, Deligram, PriyoShop, Chaldal, Rokomari, Walmart, Monarchmart, etc.

Last year, govt. imposed Digital Commerce Policy 2021. But who cares. No monitoring is another problem. When an eCommerce is sued for a policy violation, they sort that out. Then another, then another. Not that self-responsibilities are shown actually. But at least there is an authorized policy that today or tomorrow will be maintained well.

Best eCommerce Marketplace in Bangladesh & Why?

From a general customer perspective, Daraz is the best eCommerce marketplace in Bangladesh yet. It has operations in a total of five countries. Their mobile apps are full of practical features for shopping. Their AI integration in apps is also balanced. The app suggests products like they can read my mind. Prices are competitive as they got a lot of merchants on their list in different categories. They have got their own delivery channel, also they use country top courier services to ship products around the country not only city area but also the village areas. Their refund system is also hassle-free. Offer is a common fashion at Daraz. Customer support is also charming. They must have some minor issues with their services, but they are quick learners. When they identify an issue, they don’t sit back, they run to fix that, run to serve the customer. I’ve purchased so many products and never faced any major issues.

Secondly, Pickaboo is a real hero for its customer service. They don’t have a lot of products and categories, but when a customer faces any issue with the products or services, they cate care of that very politely and quickly. And they introduced EMI facilities in e-commerce transactions for the first time in the country. Daraz now provides EMI in some products, though.

Chaldal is also a superhero in the grocery, kitchen, stationery, medicine, and health products categories. They offer deliveries in only 30 minutes, can you believe this? It’s really happening. They have scheduled shipping too. Like, I ordered at midnight and selected delivery and 9 am, they will deliver the products to doorsteps on time. I love these features a lot.

Rokomari is also unbeatable in the books & stationery category. They are a very old player in e-commerce, especially for books. They started with selling books and started adding more items in the tech and lifestyle category, but they are well known for the books business and pretty much unbeatable in the race of online book shops.

The problem of eCommerce in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is a fast-growing economy in Asia. Its e-commerce is also growing with its growth. But e-commerce in Bangladesh has some serious problems too. The customer isn’t digital commerce friendly.

There is definitely a difference between shopping physically seeing and touching the products and shopping online using e-commerce. The traditional shopping experience is pretty obvious here. But when someone orders something in e-commerce then they should be careful about a few certain things like the size of the product, the color of the product, warranty policy, delivery schedule, etc. Who argues that e-commerce in Bangladesh is tricky basically doesn’t shop e-commerce or don’t carefully shop e-commerce. Besides the product specifications, there is some basic notices/info about the product like which date it could be delivered, how long the warranty seller offers, what is the return policy, what is the refund policy, etc. When people order something not see those things properly, there is a chance to ruin the experience if something happens with the delivery, product, refund, or warranty.

Second, we have major issues with the delivery system. Mostly the delivery persons are polite and hard working. But there are rumors that a very very minor percentage of the delivery persons are not that honest. People sometimes receive the package broken, missing products, delivery at an unusual time, etc. Sometimes, the delivery man returns the delivery because of couldn’t reach the customer on the first call. There are some incidents in my known circle who received nothing in their package, no product, and when they complain it to the company, the cs/authority asks for video proof of the blank package, seriously!

Problems with the return, warranty, and refund are also peculiar. Sometimes, the seller sends different sizes/colors of products that the customer needs to return. Most of the marketplaces allow this, but who will give the customers time back? The customer needs to wait for the resolution or correct product. Warranty is a nightmare even for physically purchased products from the biggest brand’s official showroom in Bangladesh. Then availing of the warranty for products purchased via eCommerce gets critical most of the time. Refund also takes a long time too.

Hope and Conclusion

Along with these things, there are hope and massive possibilities for eCommerce in Bangladesh. To be honest, as a general consumer, I prefer to purchase my groceries from farmer’s markets than online. This happens for clothes and sneakers too, at least for yet. But for electronics and gadgets, I always prefer checking online marketplace like Daraz for good deals. For books, always Rokomari. And occasionally for fruits and urgent vegetables, I do check Chaldal. I believe our eCommerce industry just started walking and soon will be run like a rocket overcoming all the negatives.

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