COMILLA, – E-commerce makes easy the life of Amena Begum, a private service holder living in city’s Jhawtola area. She is one of the thousands in Bangladesh who see e-commerce as a blessing for them.
Amena feels tired after returning home from her office amid huge traffic jam every day. She even doesn’t want to go outside during her weekly day-off and tries to give time to her family, specially her kids.
So, she has no extra time for shopping. She opts for different e-commerce sites for shopping different commodities, including daily essentials.
This has been possible thanks to ‘digital Bangladesh’ envisioned and implemented by the present Awami League (AL) government under the dynamic and visionary leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Amena said more time is needed to buy anything from a market. “But I’m buying my required items staying home. And we don’t need to go anywhere,” she added. A couple – Ayesha Akther and Monir Talukder – said people have learnt many things during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Now they are buying daily essentials, including rice, salt, pulses and oil, from e-commerce sites. People can buy electronic items, clothes and other items from those sites, they said, adding that it was really difficult for service holders to purchase those items going to markets.
Ayesha said people, especially those in different cities, are inclined to shopping through online and from different e-commerce sites. This practice is becoming more popular among the busy people.
In fact, people from different cities and even from rural areas are getting the benefits of ‘digital Bangladesh’. For this, the common people are choosing different e-commerce sites.
Even, many people from rural areas have become entrepreneurs by running different e-commerce sites.
Like in other big cities, the people of Cumilla City Corporation are buying their daily essentials from different e-commerce sites. The online sites had drawn attention by offering discounts on many products during the holy month of Ramadan. The number of users of the e-commerce sites has been increasing day by day across the country. Even, the people of rural areas are getting the benefits from those online platforms.
Actually, the e-commerce sector started gaining momentum in Bangladesh since 2013. At first, the Bangladesh Bank lifted ban on international purchase by using credit cards.
In the same year, the mobile operators started the service of 3G internet. Later, they started the 4G service. The number of smart phone users is also rising tremendously. Besides, the e-commerce sites also got new investment. According to e-CAB, they have 1,200 members till now and the amount of selling is about Taka 8 crore every year.
On the other hand, there are also many small entrepreneurs on different social media, including facebook. Even, many shop owners are also selling their products online.
The people’s interest in buying online has been increasing gradually. People used to gather at different shopping malls and markets during festivals, including Eid and Puja.
But now, the day has changed and the people are buying their products sitting home. For this, the scope of online shopping has been increasing.
On the other hand, its impact is also being seen in city’s mega shopping malls. People linked with e-commerce informed that the number of buyers has increased this year compared to the last year. The trading is also getting momentum on different social media along with different e-commerce sites. Pages are being opened by different companies.
The companies are using the social media platforms to campaign their products. VIP Fashion’s proprietor Farzana Kamal Soma said that she started business through e-commerce a few days ago. “I’m getting positive response through my online page. I’m doing my business along with my studies,” she added.
Information technology (IT) experts said there are massive changes in trading in country’s big cities. For this, crowds in traditional markets have dropped by about 40 percent.
Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services former president Fahim Mashrur said about 40 percent trading have taken place through different e-commerce (without facebook) which was only 20 percent before COVID-19 situation.
