By Farzana Tamannur (TON)

To unlock the true potential of Bangladesh's eCommerce market, trends and practices Bangladesh Brand Forum organized the country’s first ever Bangladesh E-Commerce Summit 2022. It was presented by Daraz, Powered by Dotlines and in Association with eCourier & The Business Standard; under the idea Revitalising the E-Commerce Industry. The summit took place at the Sky Ballroom, Le Meridien Dhaka, with an objective to help Bangladesh to achieve its prospective market as it now has a flourishing e-commerce industry. 

The Bangladesh E-commerce summit 2022 investigated the continued increase of eCommerce and how covid changed the background for the eCommerce business in Bangladesh. The summit brought together a big and various communities of change-makers Ecommerce expert and established retailers altogether and engaged with the leading Leaders, Global Experts, retailers and brands, who shared their knowledge on the main trends in the E-commerce industry. The summit aimed to build a sustainable e-commerce ecosystem and explored what the future of retail will look like as customers continue to hold new ways of buying in our growing digital world. 

During his inauguration speech Shariful Islam, Founder & Managing Director Bangladesh Brand Forum said,” Bangladesh has forecasted a very keen viewpoint concerning the e-commerce flourishment based on the efficiency and ease of access revolving around it. The future will dictate the matured ecosystem to reach and support the overall business with commitment.”

Welcome words at the summit were given by A. H. M. Hasinul Quddus (Rusho), Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, Daraz Bangladesh which was followed by the speech of Ashiqur Rahman (Rean), Chief Growth Officer, Dotlines. 

Bangladesh Ecommerce Summit housed 03 Keynote Sessions, 04 Insight Sessions, 03 Panel Discussions, 02 Case Studies, 01 Fireside Chat & 01 Deep Dive Session. 

ON A very positive estimation, the size of Bangladesh’s e-commerce sector is projected to be around $3 billion by 2023. Bangladesh is also set to graduate from a least developed country to one of mid income around the same time. There has also been strong historical proof of customers spending more money on food, fashion, and consumables while they have higher expendable income. So, there is potential for development in this sector. And the development of mobile financial services and stronger internet coverage in suburban areas has been credited to the development of e-commerce in the precedent years.

Because of the Covid pandemic, e-commerce saw a natural boost internationally as nationally or local lockdowns have been in place. Companies have been inventive and acquired additional market shares by giving customers what they wanted while customers have been able to order consumables, conventional and non-conventional goods and services from the safety and comfort of their homes. The proof in Bangladesh lies with the online sale of cattle during Eid-ul-Adha, for instance, as sales have been considerably higher than last year.

The e-commerce industry in Bangladesh is a promising industry. This sector is steadily growing and attaining competitiveness. The local e-commerce corporations which have been in the market since beginning of the e-commerce industry must be given protection. Simultaneously, foreign investments are requisite in this sector. The payment processes offered by e-commerce sites need to be made more secure. Low-cost, high-speed internet needs to be guaranteed in the rural areas.

The e-commerce industry needs to put more highlight on delivery logistics and client service. Immediate action to ensuring customers rights needs to be taken since a regulatory authority is not present to stop consumers from being cheated and given low quality or date-expired products.

In spite of the obstacle, the sector has a lot of prospective and in the next few years, contribution of e-commerce to the country's GDP is likely to be important. The government should be more approaching in supporting this sector as part of its Digital Bangladesh initiative.

The e-commerce sector has not yet realized its prospective in the country, and the biggest cause behind this is a lack of domestic brands, particularly beauty products, said Shinthia Sharmin Islam, co-founder and CCO, Shajgoj Limited, at a panel discussion, "From heart to cart: create a love language between products and people", at the summit.

Presently, less than 1% of the people in the country purchase beauty products online, she said, forecasting that at least 15% of people will purchase beauty products online by 2030.

"We are delivering about 5,000-6,000 orders every day from our e-commerce site, and 90% of them are females. Three of us girls started our online platform."

She emphasized the need for patience and inventive ideas in succeeding in e-commerce industry. "If one starts an e-commerce trade, one must wait patiently for 5 to 10 years. There will be diverse problems. We have to take new steps to deal with them."

In order to gain the trust of online consumers, one has to offer product details with each product, she said, adding, "You have to attach more significance to client care than to your own business. We send some gifts with each box of ordered products and write something that emotionally touches clients."

Morin Talukder, founder and CEO of Pickaboo.com, said, "We started our online mobile sales activities in 2016. At first, we faced several problems; however the challenge was to gain the trust of the clients. So far, we have done that. People are getting real products from our platform."

Hundreds of change-makers, e-commerce specialists, established retailers, and e-commerce enthusiast attended the e-commerce summit.