E-commerce thrives during corona

E-commerce has emerged as a new window of opportunity for Bangladeshi businesses in 2020 as the global pandemic has triggered a boom in e-commerce in the country and around the world.

E-commerce is a business model that lets firms and individuals buy and sell things over the internet.

Since the first coronavirus case was detected in Bangladesh in the second week of March, the country has experienced almost 80 percent year-on-year growth in the e-commerce sector, according to E-commerce Association of Bangladesh (E-Cab).

The Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industries (DCCI) estimated around 166 per cent growth in e-commerce business in 2020 and the market E-commerce thrives during coronasize is expected to reach $3 billion by 2023.

Outgoing DCCI president Shams Mahmud said the pandemic-hit year has transformed the e-commerce sector and created new opportunities for entrepreneurs.

“If we look into the tax registration with NBR in August –September, the rising trend of e-commerce trade can be found. There is no alternative to embracing e-commerce to tackle the future challenges of the business. 2020 was the learning period for the entrepreneurs in terms of sustainability,” he said.

He also said the parallel presence of local and foreign players have made the e-commerce market more competitive than ever before.

E-Cab represented the sector as a forum of entrepreneurs while ICT Division provided policy support to keep the business active amid restriction of public movement during general holidays.

ECab General Secretary Abdul Wahed Tomal said the digital commerce sector experienced almost 80 per cent growth as people have changed their lifestyle amid the pandemic.

“E-commerce has experienced a rapid transition in the outgoing year, mostly backed by the changing lifestyle of people amid the corona pandemic. Some 1500 players are active in the market with innumerous initiates on social media platforms like Facebook. Around 150,000 shipments take place through e-commerce platforms per day,” he said.

Tomal also suggested for keeping the growth of 2020 in mind as a lesson learnt for fostering e-commerce sustainability and expansion to rural areas.