Covid-19: A blessing in disguise for Bangladeshi e-commerce sector

The e-commerce sector has witnessed a massive boom these days as forced lockdown during the Covid-19 pandemic turned out to be a blessing in disguise.

Industry leaders and businesses said the shift of consumer attitudes towards online shopping for daily necessities is a key achievement.

During the lockdown, the e-commerce platforms sold products worth Tk3,000 crore, according to the industry data.

Before the pandemic, the number of members of the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) was 1,000, which increased to 1,400 in the next six months – about 40% rise, showed a recent Covid-19 impact analysis by e-CAB.

In this regard, e-CAB General Secretary Muhammad Abdul Wahed Tomal told Business Insider, "The trend we have observed is that a segment of consumers, who did not previously think of using e-commerce services to meet their daily needs, has now shifted their position."

Earlier, many of the member firms used to get 300-500 orders a day – now they are getting around 2,000 orders daily, he added.

The e-CAB data showed that its member companies had provided 20,000 delivery vehicles across the country during the lockdown.

During Eid-ul-Fitr, the government allowed the sale of clothing, gazettes, and electronics products in compliance with health regulations.

The government move also helped the e-commerce based garment, gazette and electronics retailers resume businesses.

At that time, at least 50,000 people in Dhaka took these services every day from home, as per e-CAB data.

During Eid-ul-Azha, the sale of sacrificial animals on various online platforms across the country began.

According to the report of e-CAB, 26,000 sacrificial animals were sold online, creating a record in online cattle market history.

Home delivery of meat after processing the slaughtered cows also received wide acclaim from buyers, the report showed, observing that e-commerce was helping the society in many ways.

For example, the onion price went up due to sudden negative news about onion imports in September.

The government then took an immediate action and decided to sell onions online at Tk38, which was Tk90 in the local market.

The move reduced the onion price in the market overnight. In the wholesale market alone, the onion price went down by Tk20 in 24 hours.

E-commerce has been in Bangladesh since the late 90s. Initially, it observed a slow growth; but in the last five years, there has been a major rise in the popularity of e-commerce.

The e-CAB has been created to improve the e-commerce sector of Bangladesh.

E-commerce is not an isolated sector but related to banking, mobile network, courier etc.