Introduction

Rapid growth of world`s internet population and adoption of ICT in different sectors have
reshaped the way of communication and demand utilizing its potentials to the development of
trade and commerce. Speed, efficiency, effectiveness, energy and other uniqueness of the
technology made it as the fastest adopted and diffused technology until the 21st century.
The explosion in the use of electronic commerce (e-commerce) by the business sector has been
tremendous since its inception only a few years ago. From governments to multinational
companies to one-person start-ups, e-commerce is increasingly viewed as a key business
modality of the future. Ease of transaction, widening markets, and decreased overheads are
factors that make e-commerce solutions more and more attractive, as evident with the growth of
online sales.
The world trade organization and different round discussions on the trade related issues have
opened up a new arena of global competition. Developing countries technological fitness is must
in searching new market and making buyer-seller relationship to achieve the competitiveness in
the global market. The World Wide Web (WWW) can be considered as the right way which
provides the opportunity to overcome the barrier of time and place in building buyer-seller
relationship. Thus, E-Commerce should be adopted as the effective media for marketing and
selling of a product or services through the internet.
This paper contains a brief discussion on different aspects of E-Commerce through the internet:
The Bangladesh Perspective which includes Internet activities, e-business and e-commerce
concepts, types, payment systems, m-commerce, e-commerce in Bangladesh.

E-commerce Concept
E-commerce is a narrower part of e-business dealing with the purchase and sale of goods and
services over the internet, including support activities such as marketing and customer support.
The ability to made transaction for personal or professional use over the internet is known as
electronic commerce or e-commerce. Chaffey (2007) defined e-commerce as “The exchange of
information across electronic networks, at any stage in the supply chain, whether within an
Organization, between businesses, between businesses and consumers or between the public and
private sector, whether paid or unpaid.”

Types of E-Commerce

Adam (2003) categorized e-commerce in 4 categories which are:

i) Business-to-Business (B2B)

Business-to-business e-commerce deals between the businesses or among the businesses. Most
of B2B applications are used in the area of distribution management, inventory management,
channel management, supplier management and payment management.

ii) Business to-Consumer(B2C)

Business-to-Consumer e-commerce is involved between the businesses and the consumers. Most
of B2C e-commerce deals with purchasing of physical goods like books or any consumer
product, information goods like software, e-book, games, song etc., and personal finance
management like e-banking
iii) Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)

Consumer-to-Consumer e-commerce deals between individual consumers. Online auction and

peer-to-peer system for money or file exchange could be the examples of C2C e-commerce.
Business-to-Government e-commerce is involved between the business organizations and the
government.

iv) Business-to-Government (B2G)

B2G is generally used for licensing process, public purchasing and other government operations.
Though this type of e-commerce is insignificant compare to other kind of e-commerce, but it
could be a driving force for operating public sectors which is refer as e-governance.
Other e-commerce classifications are

i) Government-to-Business

ii) Government-to- Government

iii) Government-to-Customer

iv) Customer-to-Business

v) Customer-to-Government and

vi) M-Commerce

Table 1. List of e-commerce sites

Name Website Type of

Business
Rokomari www.rokomari.com B2C
Ajker Deal www.ajkerdeal.com B2C
Daraz www.daraz.com.bd/ B2C
Chaldal www.chaldal.com/ B2C
Othoba www.othoba.com/ B2C
Pickaboo www.pickaboo.com/ B2C
Bagdoom www.bagdoom.com B2C
Clickbd www.clickbd.com/ B2C
Priyoshop www.priyoshop.com B2C
Meenabazar www.meenaclick.com/ B2C
Kiksha www.kiksha.com B2C
Sheba www.sheba.xyz/ B2C
Ghoori www.ghoori.com.bd B2C
Cellbazaar www.cellbazaar.com/ C2C
Buysellbazar www.buysellbazar24.com/ C2C
Kaymu www.kaymu.com.bd C2C
Bikroy www.bikroy.com C2C
Ekhane www.ekhane.com C2C
Addressbazar www.addressbazar.com/ B2B
 Bizbangladesh www.bizbangladesh.com/b2b- B2B
trade
Busytrade www.bangladesh.busytrade.com/ B2B

SWAT ANALYSIS

Strengths:
 Faster buying and selling producer
 There is no theoretical geographic limitations
 No need of physical company set-ups

Weakness
 Lack of security and privacy
 Very minimum number of users of websites
 Small number of Credit Card users

Opportunity
 Quick and 24 hours business.
 Lower cost
 Higher profit

Threats
 Lack of awareness at government level
 People’s mindset is services Internet is very slow and expensive
Internet Users and Infrastructure Development
Bangladesh has seen e-commerce inception in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. Even though
there was a lack of infrastructure, internet facilities, and government policy but it received
better appreciation from the consumers. In 2013, the government allowed to purchase and sale
of goods and online services by using international credit cards (export.gov, 2017). Before
that wireless internet service, WiMAX and 3G roll out some major cities and internet speed
got faster. To some extent, that gave a major boost to the online business. Initially, the growth
was not that significant, but it was promising. In 2016, the e-commerce industry recorded a
67% growth in the first three quarters, and the country's e-commerce transaction reached 3.59
billion takas (50 million U.S. dollars) (Xinhua, 2016). Fastest internet connection and internet
users are the key factors that help to boom e-commerce business. Last couple of years,

60.00%

50.00%

40.00%

30.00%

20.00%

10.00%

0.00%

Internet Users

2016 2017 2018

Bangladesh experiencing tremendous growth in this sector. In 2016, the internet penetration
rate was 13.2%, and the number of internet users was 21.39 million (internet live stats, 2016).
In 2017, the number increased triple times, the internet users raised to 80.43 million and the
penetration rate was 48.4% (Internet w. s., 2018). According to Bangladesh
telecommunication regulatory commission (BTRC), latest statistics (June 2018) shows that
the number further increased to 87.79 million users and the penetration rate is 52.77%.
Figure 1 shows a graphical presentation of users and penetration rate.
The statistic looks very promising and encouraging to the e-commerce traders and investors.
The data also revealed that mobile internet users hold the majority of shares among a total
number of users. Based on the latest data, 82.02 million users subscribe to the mobile
internet, 0.081 million subscribe to WiMAX, and 5.685 million subscribe to ISP + PSTN
connections. Figure 2 shows the breakdown of internet subscribers; the data source is the
BTRC website (BTRC, www.btrc.gov.bd, 2018).

0%

7%

Mobile Internet
WiMAX

ISP + PSTN

Figure 2. Total Internet Subscribers

In February 2018, mobile operators in Bangladesh launched 4G internet service in major
cities, which subsequently introduced to all 64 districts (Shariar, 2018). The mobile
operators are updating their infrastructures to provide un-interruptible internet and
communication services. Recently the government has decided to test-run of the fifth
generation (5G) mobile data service by July this year; the test will be run with the support
of a leading telecom vendor Huawei (Dailystar, www.thedailystar.net, 2018). There is
another news came out that the government is eyeing on to launch the fifth-generation
wireless technology from 2020 (Hitler, 2018).

Another data statistics from BTRC shows that the total number of Mobile Phone
subscribers has reached 150.945 Million at the end of June 2018 (BTRC, www.btrc.gov.bd,
2018). The gaining popularity of the Mobile and the increased numbers of Internet users are
prerequisites for the E-commerce development. The government took multiple initiatives to
provide high aptitude fiber-optic submarine cable bandwidth and state of the art Internet
Transfer facilities. Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Limited (BSCCL) was formed
in 2008 to run a smooth operation and provide better communication service. BSCCL is a
party in both SMW-4, and SMW-5 Consortium’s offer more capacity and redundancy in
Submarine Cables for Bangladesh (BSCCL, 2018). The BSCCL annual reports indicate that
in 2016 the total bandwidth capacity is increased to 500 GBPS, previously it was 200GBPS.
Figure 3 illustrates to us the current bandwidth capacity and utilization scenario of
Bangladesh. The data are retrieved from BSCCL annual reports (BSCCL, 2018).
 Figure 3. Bandwidth Capacity and utilization

In UNCTAD report, it is mentioned that internet users one of the leading indicators along
with the other three factors to judge e-commerce growth and development. A recent report
shows that there are more than 60 million active 3G users by December 2017(though the
number rises to 87 million by June 2018), 40 million users actively use the internet every
day and 10.87 million new sims added in 2017. The report also reveals that mobile
transaction getting popular among consumers, average 891.42 crore taka mobile transaction
per day in October 2017 (Md. Farhan, Khaled, & Mehrab, 2018). The whole scenario
presents an excellent illustration of the current situation and its future growth. It is very
lucrative and enticing for the possible investors. The recent acquisition by Chinese internet
giant Alibaba has proved this assumption. It has acquired Bangladesh’s one of the leading
e-commerce venture “Daraz” Though the acquisition took places four other Asian countries
as well (Dailystar, www.thedailystar.net, 2018). The figure 4 collected from The Daily Star
online version and the image designed by Mr. Shahriar Rahman (www.thedailystar.net,
2018).

Figure 4. ICT and Telecom in Numbers

Current E-commerce Industry Scenario in Bangladesh
The buyers and sellers both have much power nowadays as a result of the massive utilization of
ground-breaking technologies just as the internet. A large portion of the business at present is
working under the e-commerce criteria over digital networks. The web connects the general
population with companies. The E-commerce market in Bangladesh, made a quantum jump in
2017; developing at an incredible 70% from 2016. In 2017, the B2C E-commerce business
market measure adds up to USD 110-115 million (around BDT 900 crore) against the 133,571
crores total retail market. On the contrary, the measure of the Indian mega e-commerce business
market remains at USD 17 billion. As indicated by the specialists, Bangladesh E-commerce
business is at a phase where the Indian market was most likely 5-7 years prior. The extent of the
E-commerce business market crossed the Tk 17.0 billion-stamp in 2017 from Tk 4.0 billion in
2016, as indicated by the information accessible with the e-Commerce Association of
Bangladesh (e-CAB). The market measure is relied upon to reach Tk 70 billion (Tk 7,000 crore)
by 2021.

E-commerce business in the Asia-Pacific overall is blasting with 71 percent of APAC buyers
making an online buy. Bangladesh is a noteworthy player in this region. Starting in 2016, a sum
of $50 million was invested in this sector. Of the total, $10 million came as Foreign Direct
Investment. Be that as it may, the sum would be a lot higher as Chinese e-commerce giant
Alibaba had recently acquired leading online marketplace Daraz. The Retail E-commerce is
developing at 72 percent a month in Bangladesh. Currently, 35,000 individuals and 25,000 little
and medium enterprises (SMEs) are included with this division. The quantities of e-commerce
business sites and E-commerce pages are 2,500 and 150,000 respectively. The quantity of
delivery is assessed at 15,000 to 20,000 at the retail level every day.

E-commerce Growth Rates & Usage Statistics in Bangladesh:

This chart will show the current growth rates, quarter-on-quarter, as of 2014 are already very
high. Growth rates of over 30% quarter-on-quarter are not commonplace for most sectors in
Bangladesh. The predicted growth rates for 2015 and 2016 are even higher and imply a
persuasive case for more market entry and business expansion in this sector
E-commerce Trend in Bangladesh: Here is the e-commerce present scenario of e- commerce
in Bangladesh from (Jan, 2016 to Mar, 2017).

Source: https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=2016-01-01%202017-03-
20&geo=BD&q=e-commerce%20in%20Bangladesh

F-commerce Delivery Ration in Bangladesh: More than 50k people are engaged with e-
commerce business. At present per day approximately 20 thousands & per month 5-6 lakh
parcel was delivered all over the country.

E-commerce Age Brackets & Statistics in Bangladesh:

The current consumer demographic of E-commerce in Bangladesh is primarily made

up of youth with male consumers making up the majority (75%). The most prevalent
age group is 26-30 years old consisting of 50% of the consumer group. Majority of the
consumers are either young professionals (44%) or university students (33%) with one-
third of them has a monthly income of BDT 30K+. Fashion wear and consumer care
products are the top selling categories in the market.
 [Source: Light castle partners survey on Digital Consumers, 2016, support document]

E-commerce Users in Bangladesh:

The most actively involved e-commerce users in Bangladesh fall under the age bracket of
25-34 years where 83% are male & 17% are female of the total activity. New online
shopping visitors stand at 49% of the total traffic, while returning visitors are 51% [5] 73.5%
of the respondents surveyed have bought things as varied as books or show tickets online at
least once in the last 12 months, while 13.1% have considered online shopping but have not
progressed till product purchase phase yet. 43.2% of the online shoppers are occasional
buyers, meaning they sometimes buy things online. About 28.7% of these online shoppers
have been frequently buying things online.
[Source: Light castle partners survey on Digital Consumers, 2016, support document]

[Source: Light castle partners survey 2016, support document]

 [Source: Light castle partners survey 2016, support document]

Only 23% of Internet Users in Bangladesh Shop Online

E-commerce traffic in Bangladesh:

Over 80 percent of e-commerce traffic comes from three major cities in Bangladesh; Dhaka
is top with 35% of total traffic, closely followed by Chittagong at 29%. But Gazipur in third
place with 15% of the total e-commerce activity each year will come as a surprise to many.

[Source: Light castle partners survey 2016, support document]

 [Source: Light castle partners survey 2016, support document]

F-commerce Transaction in Bangladesh: Bangladesh has led to a 72% growth in e-

commerce transactions over the course of 2016, with business-to-consumer (B2C) accounting
for 90% of all transactions. With over 60% of online shoppers between the ages of 25 and 34,
the market is young and tech-savvy. Cash-on-delivery is still the most popular mode of payment
for ecommerce transactions. Cash-on delivery constitutes 95% of all the payments that take
place, followed by bank/wire transfer (2%), bKash/Ucash (2%), and credit cards (1%). These
statistics are expected to change in the next 5-10 years as regulations for online payments with
credit cards mature, and overall financial literacy of citizens, increase.
[source: U-Lab e-commerce report series, support document]

78% of the online shoppers are low-cost item buyers. Average basket size for online shopping
remains below 1000 BDT with higher concentrating in lower price groups. However, this base is
to pick up as consumers show interest in trading up for their online purchases in near future.

[Source: Light castle partners survey 2016, support document]

 Bulk share of online shopping takes place before and during cultural events (like Pahela
Baishakh, Bijoy Dibosh) and major religious festivals (like Eid, Puja) in Bangladesh. This
finding resonates with our occasional buyer heavy respondent base which purchase/
increase purchasing things online around specific shopping seasons within a year. Quite
interestingly, during sales/discounts offered by stores, only 11.33% of the respondents
increase their order size and/or frequency.

[Source: Light castle partners survey 2016, support document]

10 Trending Products to Sell Online in 2017: Smart watch, Facial Mask, Phone cases,
Enamel pins, Bluetooth speakers, Dad Hats, VR Products, Fairy Lights, Rechargeable Lighters,
Highlighter cosmetics.
 Popular e-commerce in Bangladesh:

[Source: Daraz survey 2016, support document]

Approximately 60% of the participant picked Daraz as the top site. While Kaymu being the
second one with 29% of the people’s support to rival Daraz. Only 7% and 5% people chose
Pickaboo and Bagdoom respectively as the top site in Bangladesh.

Most 5 popular e-commerce site in Bangladesh list are given below

 Daraz.com.bd (www.daraz.com.bd/)
 Ajkerdeal.com (www.ajkerdeal.com/)
 Bagdoom.com (www.bagdoom.com/)
 Chaldal.com (www.chaldal.com/)
 Rokomari.com (www.rokomari.com/)

Some Important Facts in e-commerce & f-commerce :

 49.3 % people are very positive to purchase product from e-commerce
 72.0% people go online using mobile phone & wifi connection.
 Age groups between 19-24 & 25-40 spend highest amount of time online.
 The people of Dhanmondi spends more time than Uttara,mirpur & Gulshan.
 About 70.8% visit e-commerce sites between one & five times a month.
 Higher income groups and Dhanmondi respondents are the most likely to
visit e- commerce sites compared to respondents in other locations.
 69.3% purchasing products online one or two times a month.
 Transaction sizes for e-commerce purchases are still relatively small. About 70.5%
of e-commerce users spend less than BDT 5,000 a month.
Age group & Gender Fact in e-commerce /f-commerce:
All 424 respondents within the target age group of 20-35 years answered to the Yes/No
question of online shopping. Among them 247 (58.3%) were male and 177 (41.5%) were
female. Total 281 (66.3%) participants have already shopped online and only one-third of the
surveyed population (143 people, 33.7%) has not done any online shopping at the time of the
data collection. Total 262 respondents were from the age group of 20-25 years and 68.3% (176)
have shopped online. On the other hand 63.5% (129 out of 203) people in the higher age group
of 26-35 have already shopped online. The number of non-online shopper is higher in the
higher age group, 36.5% compared to 31.7% in 20-25 years of age group. This ratio supports
an argument that upcoming credit holders in Bangladesh are more perceived towards online
shopping. In terms of gender, more male (37.1%) are shopping compared to female (29.1%).

Limitation:
E-commerce is a new era for our country so it’s a matter of sorrow that I got few data in web
& the other e-commerce company employee are not ready to publish any company data to
their competitor. So that I tried to level my best to complete the analysis of E-commerce
overview in Bangladesh. I hope you pardon my mistakes & realize the scarcity of data
collection. As per you know there is a time limitation so it is very tough to collect exact data
within a short period of time.

Suggestion:

As we already know most of the big big company already run their own e-commerce so it is
very difficult to survive in these sector. But e-commerce is a very profitable & long lasting
business. So in B2C model like us there are so many competitor we have they are
Amikinee(BTI), Othoba(Pran-Rfl), Daraz(Rocket Internet), Ajkerdeal(Bdjobs),
Rokomari(Onnorokom group), Kiksha(Ananto group) & so on. If we look at B2B there are
only one well known e-commerce company named Sindabad.com (concern of Ananto group).
There is also another market leader named Pickaboo.com (concern of Symphony) they only
sell electronics, Onnorokom.com (concern of onnorokom group) they only sell book. So if we
choose to select one item to sell so that we can easily target our targeted audience & make our
own brand identity like pickaboo, chaldal, onnorokom.

Conclusion
The e-commerce in Bangladesh is still a young and emerging industry. In this paper, we have
presented the characteristics of Bangladesh e-commerce, its past and present development.
According to the report from UNCTAD, Goldman Sachs and other sources, Bangladesh e-
commerce is growing with good pace and becoming competitive in Asian markets. In 2018,
two major players in the global e-commerce industry Alibaba and Xiaomi announced their
interest to run business in Bangladesh. From e-commerce business perspective it is excellent
news for the government, consumers, and traders. This two company already established
themselves as a global business leader, their experience and investment will be the significant
boost for local e-commerce traders. It will definitely entice the other global players to come
to Bangladesh and invest in the e-commerce industry. This paper we have pointed out some
drawbacks of the current e-commerce industry, now policymakers need to shift their focus to
those shortcomings, and act fast to take necessary measures to solve the problems.
Besides that, they should provide healthy and level playing environments not only for local
investors but also for foreign investors.
The number of websites/online stores and the number of online shoppers in Bangladesh
growing steadily. According to our survey, the consumers of Bangladesh shown positive
attitudes on e-shopping and at the same time expressed their concern about safety and privacy.
So, e-commerce traders should take the initiative to build a long-term relationship with
clients and earn their confidence, let them share their thoughts, create communities, listen to
their opinions and use their ideas, more importantly, focus on the transparency of the
operation. They should improve their marketing activities and develop a consumer-oriented
strategy to entice more customers.
Recent time, global consumer’s data privacy become a major concern. In our study, we found
that both consumers and merchants have a lack of knowledge about the whole business
system. So, the government has to play a prominent role here and ensure consumers data
safety and provide the necessary platform to learn about e-commerce.