Mango trading gains momentum online

This is the season of mangoes that runs from May through August.

But due to the coronavirus pandemic, people this year show a lack of interest to buy the juicy summer fruit by physically meeting the sellers at the traditional markets. And this gives rise to the popularity of online platform where prospective buyers can work out a deal with the sellers to get the must-try fruit delivered to their doorsteps.   

Sellers are marketing their product through their respective Facebook pages, while buyers can choose from different varieties of mangoes on the virtual marketplace and order their desired item. Within two-three days into placing the order, mangoes are being delivered to the customers. This demand for mangoes online amid this Covid-19 pandemic has brought smile on the faces of growers and the people involved in selling the fruit. 

The traders said they struggle to deliver mangoes against the orders they receive each day. Some said the price of the fruit is a bit higher as supply is comparatively lesser than the demand. 

As the demand grows, sellers are passing a busy time packaging the fruit, which is being delivered across the country through different courier service providers.

Customers can pay using the payment system of different mobile financial service providers, whereas some traders are offering cash-on-delivery facility.

However, traders said there were instances when delivery guys had found customers’ phones switched off; after waiting for hours, the delivery people had to return with the undelivered product. 

Nazim Uddin, an employee of online marketplace Megashop BD, said they buy mangoes at wholesale rates from Chapainawabganj and deliver the product across the country.

Based in Dhaka’s Farmgate area, this organsiation on an average receives online orders ranging from 450 to 500 kilograms, he said.

Apart from selling mangoes online, the organsiation sells the juicy summer fruit at the capital’s Karwan Bazar and Rajshahi at wholesale prices.

Cash-on-delivery service is available for customers inside Dhaka, while customers outside Dhaka have to make the full payment prior to get the product delivered to their doorsteps, he said.  

Asked about this, Nazim said delivering the product outside Dhaka without receiving the pre-payment is sometimes a bit risky.

Courier services don’t offer guarantee against shipping perishable goods, he said, adding: “If the customers don’t receive the product, we have to incur a loss.”

Therefore, they have made such arrangements, added Nazim.  

Another entrepreneur, Fahim Rahman Khan has started selling mangoes online for the first time using the Facebook platform.

Every day, he is receiving orders for mangoes ranging between 10 and 12 maunds, said Fahim, founder of the Fruits Caravan – an online shop.     

Due to the shortage of manpower in the coronavirus pandemic, he is relying on usual courier service companies to deliver the fruit to the doorsteps of customers, he said, adding that he was happy with the success so far.

Ananna Rahman, a homemaker from the capital’s Mohammadpur area, said, “My kid loves mangoes. But in this (pandemic) situation, I can't summon up the courage to buy mangoes visiting the traditional markets. Therefore, I have no option except to buy the fruit from online shops.”

Though the price is a bit higher, Ananna said, she is satisfied with the quality.

There are also allegations of delivering unripe mangoes and not delivering on time.

A private job holder living in the capital’s Banasree area, Ferdous Alam said, “Since I don’t visit market in the fear of getting infected with coronavirus, I prefer buying fruits online.”  

“In this season, I have bought mangoes from online shops four times. Quality of the product was good in two deliveries, while the remaining two chunks did not meet my expectations,” he said.

There is also an issue regarding the quantity of mangoes usually sold online. Most of the online shops don’t take order if the quantity is below 15 kg.

If the mangoes are bought in bulk amount, many of them get rotten before being consumed, said some customers. To them, it will be helpful for the customers if the online shops offer smaller packages of mangoes alongside the big ones.   

With a view to keeping the farmers economically active at this pandemic time, agriculture ministry earlier urged traders to buy and sell mango, litchi and watermelon, among other agricultural products, online.

Ahsanul Haque Chowdhury, additional deputy director (flower-fruit) of the Department of Agricultural Extension, told The Business Post that they don’t have any clear statistics on how many online-based mango markets are there across the country.

Whoever are selling mangoes are doing so using Facebook platform – so they don’t have to get registered for running the business, he said.

Since the government has taken an initiative this time around to expand agriculture market online, many people for the first time have been interested to sell seasonal fruits online, he added.