Harnessing potential of e-commerce

There was a time when it used to be said that the USA was a land of opportunity. That is still true to a great extent but in the same breath we can say that Bangladesh is also a land of opportunity. There are plenty of lucrative business sectors where entrepreneurs can invest and contribute to the economy of Bangladesh. With automation business is getting easier, with the internet business is getting smarter. The advent of IT has changed the entire scenario of trade and commerce in the world and Bangladesh has also started to make profit with the help of information technology.

The fast and super-fast technology is making it possible to sit in Bangladesh and order a camera or a car from a supplier in Japan, China or Europe. This has come to be known as e-commerce. This unique business means buying and selling products and services by using computers or smartphone. E-commerce is classified into four categories: business to business or B2B, business to consumer or B2C,  consumer to consumer or C2C and Business-to-Government or B2G. Different kinds of technologies are used in e-commerce, such as, electronic data interchange (EDI), electronic mail (e-mail), electronic funds transfer (EFT) etc.  

It is worth mentioning that in Bangladesh e-commerce saw its inception in the late 1990s and gradually many important sectors like banking, logistics communications and payment methods started to introduce this modern method of doing business. Market observers are of the opinion that online business is increasing at the moment for various reasons. During the last two years, lockdowns forced people to stay indoors. This created the opportunity for the financial institutes to offer internet payment systems using credit, debit card services and digital wallet. In Bangladesh retail e-commerce is growing at 72 per cent a month.

It is being said by experts that with faster and stable internet connection more and more businesses are going for e-commerce to buy and sell goods and services. Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) reports that in 2016, internet penetration rate was 13.2 per cent and the number of internet users was 66.6 million. The number in 2017 reached 80.6 million with the penetration rate of 48.4 per cent. In 2019, the number of internet subscribers reached 96.199 million.

Currently, more than 35,000 individuals and 25,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are part of this sector. Till 2018, the number of e-commerce business sites and e-commerce pages were 2,500 and 150,000 respectively. Reportedly, the number of deliveries per day added up to about 15,000 to 20,000 at the retail level.

Although the e-commerce sector has grown over the last two decades, some obstacles come in the way that need to be removed.  Among the key challenges are net neutrality, high-speed net, parcel delivery logistics and assurance of quality products. Local startups also face competition from foreign firms. One major obstacle is the lack of a reliable transportation system that restricts e-commerce from expanding. Other challenges are government policy, bank loan facility etc.  

 The e-commerce companies have yet to extend services to rural or semi-urban areas because of lack of poor infrastructure and inability to access remote areas. Almost 65 per cent of the operations of the e-commerce companies take place in the capital city of Dhaka and port city of Chattogram since there is stable internet connection.

Every business creates the opportunity of resorting to fraudulent activities to make a quick buck. Sometimes, because of absence of proper law, the actors in such scams remain outside the dragnet of the law enforcers. It so happens that by the time the law enforcers go to apprehend the culprits a large number of unsuspecting people get cheated of huge sums. There is no exception in Bangladesh. One fraudster who has cheated people of Tk.1100 crore has now landed in jail. Another company that came with a big bang is now faced with the possibility of going to jail.           

Therefore, the government must not allow such cheats to destroy the prospects of this blooming business. Create necessary laws to help thwart the future frauds from cheating more innocent customers.