Internship report on

Financial Performance Analysis of E- Business sectors in Bangladesh:

A case study on Shobchai.store

Supervised by:
Joyeeta Datta
Senior Lecturer
Department of Business Administration
Victoria University of Bangladesh

Prepared by:
Samsul Islam
ID No. 1119480051
Batch: 48th
BBA program
Victoria University of Bangladesh

Date of submission: 25th May 2022

 Declaration

I’m Samsul Islam proclaim that the presented internship report on “Financial Performance
Analysis of E- Business sectors in Bangladesh: A case study on shobchai.store” submitted as a
necessity for degree granting of Bacheler of Business Administration program (BBA) of Victoria
University of Bangladesh, is written by myself. I gave my best push to accumulate powerful data
that made the report particular and unique. This report isn't submitted for some other course,
degree, and association. Entire report is particularly arranged by myself.

______________________
Samsul Islam
ID: 1119480051
Batch: 48th
BBA program
Victoria University of Bangladesh

1
 Letter of Transmittal

25th May 2022

To,
Joyeeta Datta
Senior Lecturer , Victoria University of Bangladesh
Department of Business Administration
Subject: Submission of internship report on ‘Financial Performance Analysis of E- Business
sectors in Bangladesh: A case study on shobchai.store’

Dear Ma'am,
It's my pleasure and amazing privilege to present an internship report titled “Financial
Performance Analysis of E- Business sectors in Bangladesh: A case study on shobchai.store”. This
is a privilege for me to meet the prerequisite for the partial fulfillment of the course- Bachelor
of Business Administration (BBA).

I am extremely grateful to you ma’am for your wide range of help and supportive guidelines
amid the way toward composing this report.

I am really indebted to you for your suggestions and recommendations. I will feel glad if
you please render your valuable comments and observations.

Sincerely Yours,
_________________________
Samsul Islam
ID: 1119480051
Batch: 48th
BBA program
Victoria University of Bangladesh

2
 Supervisor’s Certificate

This is to certify that the Internship Report on “Financial Performance Analysis of E- Business
sectors in Bangladesh: A case study on shobchai.store” is done by Samsul Islam as a partial
fulfillment of the requirement of Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), Major in Finance
from Victoria University of Bangladesh.

The Report has been prepared under my guidance and is carried out successfully.

………………………..
Joyeeta Datta
Senior Lecturer
Department of Business Administration
Victoria University of Bangladesh

3
 Acknowledgement

To prepare this report a significant amount of document and information inputs from several
sources were involved. I would like to take this chance to convey my sincere gratitude to those
without whose blessing and cooperation this report would not have been possible. At the very
outset I would like to pay my gratitude to almighty Allah for keeping me well and to successfully
complete this report.

After that, I want to pay my gratitude and special thanks to my course supervisor Ms. Joyeeta
Datta for helping me in all approaches to finish this report. I am exceedingly satisfied with giving
me such an opportunity.

Last but not least I also acknowledge my family and friends for their support and
encouragement throughout my internship period and also while preparing this report.

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 Executive Summary

The whole world is experiencing a major transformation in retail business, and Bangladesh does
not differ from the global trend. E-commerce in Bangladesh is still a young and emerging
industry; it is growing fast. In this paper, we have presented the characteristics of Bangladesh
e-commerce, its past and present development based on secondary data from different sources.
Also, a questionnaire-based survey conducted to know the perception of online consumers and
their previous shopping experience. The study highlighted the challenges and areas for
perfection in the e-commerce market in Bangladesh. The article comprises a suggestion for
improvements in marketing activities for the Bangladesh online stores.
During late years, E-commerce has opened another period throughout the entire existence of
the shopping pattern in Bangladesh.It has created huge opportunities for both consumers and
merchants. This paper highlights especially the financial performance of e-commerce business
in Bangladesh. Toward the start of this paper, history and evolution of e-commerce business in
Bangladesh, objectives methodology and limitations of the study are illustrated. Based on the
secondary data, current market conditions and opportunities of this sector have been described
briefly.Moreover, threats of this business sector have been identified along with important
technical,legal regulatory aspects of this particular sector of business. Finally, this report
concludes with a few recommendations to improve this e-commerce sector.

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 Table of contents

TITLE PAGE NO

Declaration 01

Letter of Transmittal 02

Supervisor’s Certificate 03

Acknowledgement 04

Executive Summary 05

Chapter 01 Introduction 08

1.1 Objectives of the report 11

1.2 Methodology 12

1.3 Limitations of the report 13

Chapter 02 Literature Review 14

Chapter 03 E-Commerce in Bangladesh 17

3.1 Emergence and History of E-commerce in Bangladesh 19

3.2 Growth & Present Status of E-commerce in 21

Bangladesh

3.3 Current Business Situation 24

3.4 E-commerce Market Size & Revenue in Bangladesh 27

3.5 Top 10 E-commerce Websites in Bangladesh 28

Chapter 04 Financial Performance Analysis 31

4.1 Areas of Financial Performance Analysis 33

4.2 Advantages & disadvantage of Financial Statements 33

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 4.3 Financial Performance of Shobchai.store 35

Chapter 05 Prospects and challenges of E-commerce in 36

Bangladesh

5.1 Problems of E-commerce in Bangladesh 38

5.2 Opportunities of E- Commerce in Bangladesh 39

Chapter 06 Rules and Laws for e-commerce Business in 40

Bangladesh

6.1 Various consumer rights in e-commerce 42

6.2 Prohibitions and requirements 42

6.3 Registration of all marketplaces 43

6.4 Records and processing payments by online 43

marketplaces

Chapter 07 Findings, Recommendations & Conclusion 44

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 Chapter: 01

Introduction

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E-commerce or Electronic commerce has brought revolutionary changes in the business. The
inception of internet technology made it possible. The whole world is experiencing a
tremendous transition in business, now a day’s internet is used as a tool for business. According
to data statistics, 52% of the world population are internet users. That gives us an indication of
how e-commerce is going to make an impact on the future or currently impact on our business
and social life. E-commerce business principles can apply in all business models, i.e., B2B
(Business to Business), B2C (business to consumer), C2C (Consumer to Consumer) and C2B
(Consumer to Business). Last two decades the world has noticed incredible growth in
e-commerce. In 2017, the worldwide e-commerce sales amounted to 2.3 trillion USD and
projected to raise 4.88 trillion USD by 2021 (eMarketer, 2018).
In Bangladesh e-commerce is still in the developing phase, though it started in the late 1990s
(e-cab, 2016). During that time, small numbers of non-resident Bangladeshi used e-commerce
services to send gifts and books to their loved ones in Dhaka, capital city of Bangladesh. Later in
the year 2001-2008, it experienced little growth due to lack of knowledge and infrastructure.
The situation started changing in 2012-2013 when two e-commerce sites akhoni and ajkerdeal
introduced themselves to the online consumers. It has received good appreciation from the
consumers mainly in Dhaka. The outcome of the E-com venture not only enticed business
entrepreneurs to invest and hit the market from Bangladesh but also from abroad as well. Some
foreign investors like Olx, daraz, and kaymu joined the competition along with locals. There has
been decent growth in e-commerce in the last couple of years; some e-commerce service
providers launched their service. A site like rokomari.com, who have adopted a similar business
strategy like Amazon, started selling books. Currently holding the top position in the industry
and began expanding their business into other product categories. Bikroy.com is another
example; they adopted a unique business model. They provide both buying and selling options
for the consumer goods in their platform. FMCG and grocery sector also step into the
e-commerce industry othoba.com, pickaboo and chaldal.com represent respective areas.
Renowned business conglomerates and business groups of the country showed interest to join
in e-commerce trade. Online food delivery services also got a very positive response from food
lovers. Due to high traffic congestion and inadequate driving conditions consumers prefer to
order food online then visit the restaurant. Hungry Naki and Food panda two very well known
delivery e-commerce platforms in Dhaka and Chittagong (export.gov, 2017).
The growing popularity of online shopping and increased number of internet users shows great
prospects of e-commerce development in Bangladesh. The application of e-commerce will be
different in Bangladesh than it is in China, Europe and America because of the social and
cultural difference, overwhelming popularity of traditional business models, typical consumer
behaviors, and consumer expectations.

9
The majority of Internet users in the globe are concentrated in South and East Asia. At the same time,
the number of its users are increasing rapidly in Bangladesh as well. By the end of December 2020, the
total number of Bangladeshi Internet users had risen to over 112 million (Raman & Sathi, 2020).
Ecommerce is spreading its influence all over the world including Bangladesh through the internet.

Figure1: Bangladesh e-commerce market size (in million).

Source: Rayn, A. (2021, February 11). What is Evaly and How it’s Changed Bangladesh eCommerce
Industry. Fixipixi. https://fixipixi.com/how-evaly-change-the-bangladesh-ecommerce-industry

Although the use of ICT data and the internet has increased tremendously in Bangladesh, ecommerce is
still in the developing phase (Internet Subscribers in Bangladesh, 2021). At present some sectors of
e-commerce are operating in Bangladesh but its full activities will start in the future (Faruq, 2017 ). B2C
(Business 2 Consumer) e-commerce is now most popular in this country. Also, three more types of
e-commerce have become popular, those are (Islam & Saeed, 2021) (i) Business-to-Business (B2B), (ii)
Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C), and (iii) Business-to-Employees (B2E). Even then, the country is making
great strides in online
shopping, banking transactions, telecommunications, etc. There are more than 2,500 ecommerce sites in
Bangladesh and a total of 1 million digital buyers and about 50,000
Facebook-based stores that deliver almost 30,000 goods every day. Dhaka, Chattogram, and
Gazipur accounts for 80% of all internet sales at the moment (Khan, 2021). According to
Bangladesh Bank data, around 1 million mobile users utilize mobile banking services each
month, with over 100 core transactions being completed (Uddin, 2020). It is obvious that
Bangladesh's e-commerce business is rapidly expanding. Even now people are getting all kinds
of services to their doorsteps (Hasan, 2021). E-commerce is a great opportunity for new
entrepreneurs and small or medium enterprises businesses to reach out to buyers.

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 1.1 Objectives of the report

The objectives of the report can be viewed in two forms:

● General objective
● Specific objective

General objective
This internship report is prepared primarily to fulfill the Bachelor of Business Administration
(B.B.A) degree requirement under the Department of Business Administration, Victoria
University of Bangladesh.

Specific objective
To get a clear picture of the past and present situation of e-commerce in Bangladesh. How it
evolves over the years, current status, infrastructure development, government policy and
consumers perception about e-commerce all these issues will be addressed and discussed.

There are also:

● To know more about E-commerce Business in Bangladesh
● To have a very practical idea and overview the finance & control functions and
performance in Bangladesh.
● To understand E-commerce Business in Bangladesh
● To find out the efficiency and effectiveness of working capital
● management system.
● To analyze pros and cons of E-business.
● To analyze the present infrastructure of e-commerce in Bangladesh.
● To know the major types of ecommerce.
● To identify the advantages & disadvantages of ecommerce.
● To know the challenges and limitation in ecommerce in Bangladesh
● To identify the motivation factors and recommendation for future development in
Bangladesh for online shopping.

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 1.2 Methodology

Our study is primarily based on secondary data. The data and information have been collected
from government reports, websites, newspapers, online blogs, Journals, and research papers,
etc. We have conducted a small survey to get the primary data to learn about consumer’s
perception of e-commerce. Dhaka and Chittagong are two major cities that have seen
significant development of e-business. So our questionnaire is distributed to those areas and
data is collected from local consumers.
This paper analyzes those data that present in reports and surveys. We also discussed the
various factors that have a substantial impact on E-commerce development in Bangladesh. Our
aim is to help the businesses that want to expand e-business in Bangladesh. Provide them with
a better understanding of Bangladesh's e-commerce development, distinctiveness, and hurdles.
The understanding of e-consumer behavior, preferences, and expectations are enormously
crucial for business people, to ensure that they can apply the appropriate strategy when
expanding e-commerce in Bangladesh.

Sources of Data:

Primary data: I have conducted a small survey to get the primary data to learn about
consumer’s perception of e-commerce. Moreover at the time of doing different task, from there
different information is collected by me.

Secondary data: This research is based mostly on a secondary source, because secondary data
is easy to understand because it is analyzed and interpreted data and it can be used by another
organization or author after proper editing. The data, information, fact, and statistics have been
collected from government reports, websites, newspapers, online blogs, Journals, and Research
papers, etc. Basically, all information has been collected from these through the internet.

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 1.3 Limitations of the report

There were surely following limitations while making this report. They are-

● Sufficient publications and articles were not available related to this study.
● Lack of available and/or reliable data.
● Lack of prior research studies on the topic.
● Such a study was carried out by me for the first time. So inexperience is one of the main
factors that constituted the limitation of the study.
● Limited access to data.

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 Chapter 02

Literature Review

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A literature review is an overview of the previously published works on a specific topic. The
term can refer to a full scholarly paper or a section of a scholarly work such as a book, or an
article
This paper contains a brief discussion of e-business or e-commerce, literature survey, current
and future prospect, comparative study of e-commerce in Bangladesh perspective on online
shopping. The buzzword e-commerce is spreading widely in the present world of ICT by its
simple applications. The basic objective of this review paper is actually exploring the difference
between the traditional & online shopping and the effectiveness of e- Commerce in Bangladesh.

As we all know, the internet and e-commerce are entirely committed towards every developed
country. But we think it can be accomplished and can make a remarkable benefit to developing
countries also if an ideal business purpose can be made. E-commerce is a revolution & turning
point in online business practices and can make a huge contribution to the economy.
E-commerce organizations have increasingly become a fundamental component of business
strategy and a strong catalyst for economic development. A huge amount of research work has
been done on e-Commerce which is basically on online shopping. A large group of researchers
has found out and also pointed out the necessity and possibilities of Online Shopping. On the
other hand, limitations of e-commerce are found and at the same time, they provided essential
suggestions and came to a prediction to make Online Shopping more useful for the consumers.
E-commerce is part of e-business which is 1(p xii), ‘All electronically mediated information
exchanges between an organization and its external stake-holder’. From these broad definitions
we can say that, for a successful e-business, we need an electronic medium of information
exchange for both internal and external processes. Internal processes involve warehousing,
staffing, training, day to day operations, research & development etc. External processes include
Sales Management, distribution management, and communication with customers, suppliers,
retailers and dealers. The powerful tool available for performing these electronic
communications is the computer system. Specifically, the advancement of internet and internet
based software platforms constitute the base for e-business. E-commerce is basically
communication of business information between organization and external stake-holders of
businesses, which is being performed by hosted websites (.coms) that work as virtual webstores.
Dot-coms are 1(p55) ‘businesses whose main trading presence is on the internet’.

E-commerce simply can be defined as the process of purchasing and selling products or services
using electronic data transmission via the internet and the World Wide Web (www) (Grandona
and Pearson, 2004). However, it has many more aspects and various definitions of E-commerce
have been presented over time. For instance, in 1997, Kalakota and Whinston had opined that
E-commerce can be defined from communication, business process, service and online
perspective. While the communication perspective and online perspective basically implies the

15
exchange of information, products, services or payments as E-commerce, business perspective
states it to use technology to automate and smooth the business process. Service perspective
on the other hand focuses on cost efficiency, quality and productivity of Ecommerce
implementation. For this study, the communication perspective of E- commerce has been
considered exclusively (Chaffey, 2009). So, any organizations in Bangladesh that exchange
information, product and service and have transactional capacity online are playing in the
E-commerce industry of the country. The reason behind choosing this definition is that web
presence does not require much cost implications, but in order to have transaction facility as
well in online and to have integrated services, firms require substantial amounts of investment
and hence become an obstacle for many firms. Some authors also argue that the adoption
process is a longitudinal process that initiates from awareness till the full integration of the
business process with it and the system to get routine. The benefits of E-commerce are
manifold and various researchers agree on the multiple benefits this channel can bring for
companies (Gefen et al., 2003). They argue that not only large organizations, but also small
medium enterprises (SMEs) can hugely benefit from e-commerce adoption in developing
countries. Adopting E-commerce channels offer these companies numerous competitive
advantages in the form of cost saving, timely market response and improved relationship
management with customers (Wen et al., 2001). However, it has been seen that not too many
small medium enterprises are using E- commerce channels despite its multiple benefits (Ho et
al., 2010). This can be termed as lack of E-commerce adoption which means IT adoption and
using it in a setting where marketing is integrated with technology (Pavlou and Fygenson, 2006).

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 Chapter 03

E-Commerce in Bangladesh

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E-Commerce in Bangladesh: The economic growth of Bangladesh is quite steady and showing
an upward trend. Last one decade it has shown significant improvement, even during the world
financial recession the GDP growth was remarkable. Now it is considered one of the fastest
growing major economies in the world with a GDP growth rate of over 7.1%. It also got
attention and emerged itself as one of the leading frontier marketplaces for global investors. In
2016, the IMF stated that it was the 2nd fastest-growing major economy in the world (Payal,
2017).
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, it received better
appreciation from the consumers. In 2013, the government allowed the purchase and sale of
goods and online services by using international credit cards (export.gov, 2017). 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, Bangladesh experienced tremendous growth in this
sector. In 2016, the internet penetration rate was 13.2%, and the number of internet users was
21.39 million (internetlivestats, 2020). In 2017, the number increased triple times, the internet
users increased to 80.43 million and the penetration rate was 48.4% (Internet w. s., 2021).
According to Bangladesh telecommunication regulatory commission (BTRC), latest statistics
shows that the number further increased to 87.79 million users and the penetration rate is
52.77% (BTRC, www.btrc.gov.bd, 2021)

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 3.1 Emergence and History of E-commerce in Bangladesh:

For the convenience of understanding, we had already recorded significant events in the table. We
would discuss this in detail later.

The late 1990s The idea of e-commerce started with gift cards to loved ones who live in Dhaka
which was introduced by NRB (Moslem, 2021).

June 1996 Internet connection started in the country (Azad & Islam, 2020).

2000-2008 E Commerce began to expand slowly and gradually (Moslem, 2021).

2009 Online payment has been allowed by Bangladesh Bank (Ramachandran, 2016).

2010 SSL COMMERZ created its first payment aggregator (Moslem, 2021)

2012 Daraz officially starts their business (Moslem, 2021)

2012 Ajkerdeal and akhoni were the first to introduce the concept of an online
marketplace (Moslem, 2021).

2013 The usage of debit and credit cards for online payments has been allowed by the
Bangladesh bank (Ramachandran, 2016).

2013 Chaldal.com is a Bangladeshi internet store that sells groceries and culinary goods
(Gani et al., 2019).

2013 Bikroy.com was launched (Hasan, 2012).

2013 Rokomari.com was another significant addition to the e-commerce sector (Moslem,
2021).

2014 Food delivery services like HUNGRYNAKI started their business (Moslem, 2021)

2016 Bangladesh's government launched eCommerce sites in each of the country's

districts (Government initiative to take, 2016)

2016 Pickaboo.com has launched two marketing campaigns: an online mobile fair and an
online television fair (pickaboo.com organizes, 2016).

2016 FBCCI recommended the removal of tax on eCommerce (Withdraw all taxes, 2016).

2017 Kaymu merged with Daraz (Desk, 2017)

12 July 2021 Chorki, a subscription video-on-demand streaming service launched (Samaddar,

Chorki 2021).

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The story of the emergence of e-commerce in Bangladesh is older than we thought. In the late 1990s,
our country saw a limited version of e-commerce to serve NRBs seeking ways to send presents to their
loved ones in Dhaka (Moslem, 2021). Later, from 2000 to 2008, the spread of e-commerce was very slow.
During this time there were many failings in payment gateway, delivery system, customer education
about e-commerce, etc.
Later, with the advent of SSL COMMERZ in 2010, e-commerce gained momentum in the country. Finally,
when two ecommerce sites, akhoni and ajkerdeal, were introduced to online customers in 2012, the
situation began to change. It has received positive feedback from customers, particularly in Dhaka. Along
with locals, foreign investors such as Olx, Daraz, and Kaymu entered the competition. A platform called
rokomari.com, which follows a similar business model to Amazon, has begun selling books. Bikroy.com is
another example of a corporation with a distinct business approach. They provide both purchasing and
selling alternatives for consumer items on their site. FMCG and grocery companies have also entered the
e-commerce industry, with websites such as othoba.com, pickaboo.com, and chaldal.com representing
their respective industries. Hungry Naki and FoodPanda are two well-known food or grocery delivery
e-commerce services in Dhaka and Chittagong. As a result, the spread of e-commerce is rising by the day.

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 3.2 Growth & Present Status of E-commerce in Bangladesh

E-commerce in Bangladesh is still a new and developing industry, although it is rapidly

expanding (Shehabuddin, 2001). Thus a new shape of business structure has been introduced
by it. Bangladesh entered a new era of e-commerce in the 2000s. Since then, the Internet has
made great strides in this country. Bangladesh's Internet users grew to 116 million in March
2021 (Internet Subscribers in Bangladesh, 2021). Bangladesh's population was 167 million at the
time, and 70% of the population had access to the internet. Bangladesh launched the 4G
network on February 19, 2018 (Bangladesh enters 4G era, 2018). Bangladesh ranks ninth in the
world in terms of internet usage (Johnson, 2021). The Statista has said that Bangladesh is in the
47th position in the world of e-commerce. It can be stated that Bangladesh's economy is
undoubtedly growing; it is a developing country with a wide range of commercial opportunities
in its many areas. With the changing business environment, online transactions have gradually
increased over time. At present all the banks in this country are maintaining transactions and all
activities through the internet. According to the most recent Statista data, the industry in
Bangladesh was worth $1,648 million US dollars in 2019, and it is expected to grow to $2,77
million this year and $3,77 million by 2023 (Hasan, 2020). Especially during the Corona
epidemic, only this sector benefited the most. Even at this time, the cattle market has been
brought on the digital platform for Eid. There are 36 million active social media users in the
country, and 8.4 million of them using Facebook. The Facebook commerce (f-commerce) market
is worth around Tk 312 crore (Experts suggest, 2021). Along with hundreds of entrepreneurial
organizations, over four lakh female entrepreneurs sell products on Facebook and other online
platforms (Fariha, 2021).During this time, online usage has increased by 50%. Five lakh people
would be engaged in Bangladesh e-commerce during the next five years, according to official
government statements (Kabir et al., 2020). Around TK 700 crore is currently exchanged in this
industry per month. To put it another way, the yearly transaction currently exceeds 8000 crores
TK. Approximately 1,200 organizations are now involved with e-commerce in Bangladesh.
According to e-Cab sources, this industry in Bangladesh has expanded by 100% in the last three
years. In other words, this business is nearly tripling every year. China's Alibaba is currently the
market leader in Bangladesh's e-commerce sector. Amazon, the world's largest e-commerce
company, is also interested in Bangladesh. Alibaba had already entered the Bangladeshi
e-commerce industry with the acquisition of Daraz. In 2018, Alibaba Group acquired Daraz
Group, one of Bangladesh's leading eCommerce companies. Daraz said in June 2020 that it will
invest $59 million in Bangladesh by 2021 to enhance its eCommerce logistics infrastructure,
including its warehouse and sorting facility. Almost everything may now be bought and sold
online in Bangladesh. As a result, Bangladesh's e-commerce market has reached one and a half
billion US dollars, according to the Germanbased research company Statista (Islam & Ahamed,
2021). People are increasingly buying their favorite items online from the comfort of their own

21
homes. Every day, around 35,000 people visit e-commerce sites; Dhaka, Gazipur, and
Chattogram account for roughly 80% of ecommerce customers; and the majority of purchasers
are aged 18 to 24 (88%), with 174 male respondents and 76 female respondents (Karim, & Qi,
2018).

Source: Hasan, A. (2020, August 23). The growth of e-commerce during the pandemic in
Bangladesh. New Age.
https://www.newagebd.net/article/114200/the-growth-of-e-commerce-during-the-pandemic-i
n-bangladesh.

Figure3: age and gender Age of respondents

source: Karim, M. T., & Qi, X. (2018b). E-commerce Development in Bangladesh. International
Business Research, 11(11), 201.

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In this sector, 90 percent of the products are cash on delivery (Hasan, 2020). 6 percent on
credit/debit cards & 4 percent on others.

Figure4 : Online Shopping Payment system

source: Karim, M. T., & Qi, X. (2018b). E-commerce Development in Bangladesh. International
Business Research,

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 3.3 Current Business Situation

According to the e-commerce association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), the following three types of
e-Commerce are popular in Bangladesh.

● Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
● Consumer-to-Consumer (C2C)
● Business-to-Business (B2B)

Business to consumers
The Business-to-consumer segment grew through the growth of home-delivery of food.There
are other companies based on Facebook that allow people in Bangladesh to buy products from
the United States, the United Kingdom and India. The majority of the transactions are carried
out through cash on delivery. A wide list of businesses like Daraz, Bhumika are already hitting
the booming B2C e-commerce business model including social commerce where entrepreneurs
use Facebook or Instagram to sell to customers.

Consumer to consumer
There are a number of companies that act as classifieds, including Bikroy.

Business-to-business
There are a number of companies that offer office supplies, stationery, computers, cleaning, and
chemicals for other companies.

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Business to Consumer

Business to Consumer has become popular in major cities in Bangladesh. A report published by
e-CAB shows that E-commerce shoppers remained highly clustered. Dhaka, Chittagong, and
Gazipur are three main cities that contribute 80% of the total shoppers. Dhaka (the capital city)
draws the highest traffic 35%, Chittagong 29%, and Gazipur 15% respectively. Sylhet and
Narayanganj are two other cities that are showing promising growth (e-CAB, 2018). Another
report shows that there are more than 2500 e-commerce websites and around 8,000
e-commerce pages on Facebook that operate business (export.gov, 2017) UNCTAD B2C
(business to consumers) E-Commerce Index 2016 shown that Bangladesh is one of the top 10
economies by the difference between the predicted and actual share of internet users buying
online (UNCTAD, 2016). In November 2017, a report published by New Age (daily newspaper)
mentioned that the e-commerce sector expected to grow 70% and the market size is estimated
at $110-115 million compared to 2016, which was $65-70 million. Though e-commerce only
contributes 0.7% of the country’s total retail market (newagebd, 2017). The market is growing
fast, and the sales volume is surging. The very recent report shows that the current e-commerce
market size increased to $230-240 million and annual growth is 45-50%. According to Goldman
Sachs, Bangladesh e-commerce market size will grow to $20 billion by 2020 (newagebd, 2017).
If the current uprising trend persists, the prediction might become true or maybe more.
Previously most of the traffic comes from the urban area, but recently some of the e-commerce
sites extended their business in the rural area as well. The response is quite encouraging,
“Customers from rural areas are also purchasing huge volumes of products, which is a new
phenomenon for this kind of business” a former president of e-CAB Razib Ahmed said to the
news agency. One of the major drawbacks of Bangladesh e-commerce business is delivery lead
time, which is very high. A couple of product delivery companies noticed this and took the
initiative; they built their own warehouse for some companies that are helping them to make
faster deliveries.

Consumer to Consumer

Consumer to Consumer businesses are also rising, a significant amount of e-commerce websites
are involved in C2C e-commerce. These sites adopted the eBay business model. They are
individual and auction-based online marketplaces. Recently, the C2C sector has seen some
merging, Telenor Group purchased CellBazar and Ekhanei.com purchased playeOLX (export.gov,
2017).

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Business to Business

Business to Business is the model where a company conducts its trading and other commercial
activity through the internet with business/trading partners. Generally, B2B is engaged in
providing manufacturing and supply-chain solutions. Few websites facilitate the B2B business in
Bangladesh, for example, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers Employee Association
(BGMEA) has deployed B2B e-commerce solutions for international RMG orders and
procurement. Other websites feature business directories, trade deals, and information about
suppliers such as Bangladesh Business Guide, Addressbazaar, and Biz Bangladesh (export.gov,
2017).

26
 3.4 E-commerce Market Size & Revenue in Bangladesh

The size of the e-commerce market in Bangladesh would reach $3 billion by 2023, e-commerce
business experienced a significant 166 per cent growth this year. At present, the size of the
e-commerce market in Bangladesh is around $2.0 billion and it is increasing at a rate of 50
percent every year.

According to the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), official reports, and industry
insiders, online sales rose about 70% in 2020 from the previous year, and market size of the
industry stood at nearly $2 billion as of August that year.

E-CAB Vice President Mohammad Sahab Uddin estimates that valuation of the sector in 2022
might have crossed Tk20,000 crore — about $2.32 billion. By 2023, the market is predicted to
reach a size of $3 billion.

● Revenue in the eCommerce market is projected to reach US$8.03bn in 2022.

● Revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2022-2025) of 22.27%,
resulting in a projected market volume of US$14.68bn by 2025.
● With a projected market volume of US$1,412.00bn in 2022, most revenue is generated
in China.
● In the eCommerce market, the number of users is expected to amount to 75.5m users
by 2025.
● User penetration will be 35.0% in 2022 and is expected to hit 43.8% by 2025.
● The average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to amount to US$136.70.

27
 3.5 Top 10 E-commerce Websites in Bangladesh

E-commerce website is a website that allows customers to sell and buy various products or
services via the internet. In Bangladesh, many eCommerce websites are providing the best
service to customers.
Nowadays, Around 50 million people are using the internet daily in Bangladesh. So that
e-commerce business is growing rapidly. Currently, Bangladeshi customers are happy to shop
online on trusted online shopping sites.

Bangladesh's Top E-commerce Platforms and Their Traffic:

Evaly
Evaly Online Shopping Mall launched December 2018. From the beginning, it became popular.
All kinds of products like home appliances, beauty, and fashion, baby products, accessories,
clothes, electronics, etc are available here.
If you are a small business owner, you can open a shop on this platform to sell your product
online. The payment option is as follows: Visa Card, Master Card, bKash, Cash-on-delivery, Etc.

Daraz Bangladesh
Daraz.com.bd is currently one of the leading online e-commerce sites in Bangladesh. They
began their journey in 2015. It has gained a lot of popularity all over the country. Daraz provides
a wide range of products such as home decor, fashion, and beauty, health, toys, sports, home
appliances, electronics, etc.

Chaldal
Chaldal.com is the best online grocery store in Bangladesh. Customers can easily get their day to
day food items from here. Not only grocery items they also provide all kinds of fruits,

28
vegetables, rice, fish, meat, beverages, cleaning tools, but baby products are also available here.
The payment option is as follows: Credit Cards, bKash, and Cash-on-delivery.

Ajkerdeal
Ajkerdeal.com.bd are very popular from the beginning of their business. Ajkerdeal is the sister
company of BDjobs and ran as a business from November 19, 2011. They provide a daily
necessary product to the customers.
All kinds of daily necessary things, fashion, and beauty, electronics appliances, household
things, Clothes, mobile phones, jewelry, food items, etc are available here at a cheap cost. They
also have a refund option for damaged products. The payment option is as follows:
Cash-on-delivery, DBBl Banking, iPay, Master Card, Visa Card, bKash, etc.

Rokomari
Rokomari.com began its journey on January 19, 2012. Mahmud Hasan Sohag is the founder of
Rokomari. It is the first online bookselling site. But now they also sell DVDs, video tutorials,
sporting goods, calculators, watches, Pendrive, computer accessories, and more.

Almost every category of books is available here. Like- science fiction, fairytale, politics,
business, novels, art and crafts, world history, etc. Rokomari is one of the most trusted
e-commerce sites in Bangladesh. Rokomari was the first to introduce cash-on-delivery in
Bangladesh. The payment option is as follows: bKash, Payza, Master Card, Cash-on-delivery,
Rocket, etc.

Priyoshop
Priyoshop.com started its journey in 2013. It provides all kinds of products such as clothes,
footwear, jewelry, accessories, books, health, and beauty.

They offer a replacement guarantee to the customers. It is the leading retail online platform in
Bangladesh. The payment option is as follows: Cash-on-delivery, bKash, Visa Card, American
Express.

ClickBD
ClickBD.com is very popular for electronics products. They started their site in 2005. This
platform is not only for buying products but also for selling products through this platform.

This site provides electronics items, cameras, computers, phones, fashion accessories, music
accessories, travel tools. The payment option is as follows: Visa Card, Master Card, and
Cash-on-delivery.

29
Bagdoom
Bagdoom.com started its journey in 2010. It is the rebranded name of Akhoni.com. Bagdoom
provides both national and international brands products.

You can find here your day to day life accessories and almost all kinds of lifestyle products. They
offer an easy replacement policy to their customers. The payment option is as follows:
Cash-on-delivery, bKash, Debit Card, Credit Card, Payza.

Othoba
Othoba.com started its journey on November 28, 2015. This is the sister concern company of
PRAN- RFL Group. They provide various kinds of products such as fashion accessories, food, and
groceries, electronics products, health care kits, sports, gift items, etc. It has a replacement
policy for damaged products. The payment option is as follows: Cash-on-delivery, bKash, and
Payza.

Pickaboo
Pickaboo.com started its journey in 2016. It is one of the most popular e-commerce sites in
Bangladesh. The marketplace always provides the best and authentic product to the customers
such as genuine smartphones, mobile, computer, electronics, perfume, watch, etc.
Concentrating solely on electric and tech items, Pickaboo has successfully made its place for
online users. So, there is no need to go out for electronics products. They also provide 24-hours
fast delivery. They also have a return option for faulty products. The payment option is as
follows: EMI payment, bKash, Swipe on delivery, Cash-on- delivery, Visa Card, Master Card, etc.

30
 Chapter 04

Financial performance analysis

31
Financial performance analysis includes analysis and interpretation of financial statements in
such a way that it undertakes a full diagnosis of the profitability and financial soundness of the
business. The financial analyst program provides vital methodologies of financial analysis.

Firms and interested groups such as managers, shareholders, creditors, and tax authorities look
to answer important questions like :

● What is the financial position of the firm at a given point of time?

● How is the Financial Performance of the firm over a given period of time?

These questions can be answered with the help of a financial analysis of a firm. Financial
analysis involves the use of financial statements. A financial statement is a collection of data
that is organized according to logical and consistent accounting procedures. Its purpose is to
convey an understanding of some financial aspects of a business firm.

It may show a position of a period of time as in the case of a Balance Sheet, or may reveal a
series of activities over a given period of time, as in the case of an Income Statement. Thus, the
term ‘financial statements’ generally refers to two basic statements: the Balance Sheet and the
Income Statement.

The Balance Sheet shows the financial position (condition) of the firm at a given point of time. It
provides a snapshot that may be regarded as a static picture. “Balance sheet is a summary of a
firm’s financial position on a given date that shows Total assets = Total liabilities + Owner’s
equity.”

The Income Statement (referred to in India as the profit and loss statement) reflects the
performance of the firm over a period of time. “Income statement is a summary of a firm’s
business revenues and expenses over a specified period, ending with net income or loss for the
period.”

However, financial statements do not reveal all the information related to the financial
operations of a firm, but they furnish some extremely useful information, which highlights two
important factors: profitability and financial soundness.

32
 4.1 Areas of Financial Performance Analysis

Financial analysts often assess the firm's production and productivity performance (total
business performance), profitability performance, liquidity performance, working capital
performance, fixed assets performance, fund flow performance and social performance. Various
financial ratios analysis includes

1. Working capital Analysis

2. Financial structure Analysis

3. Activity Analysis

4. Profitability Analysis

4.2 Advantages & disadvantage of Financial Statements

Advantages of Financial Statements:

Financial Statements are useful for the following reasons:

● To determine the ability of a business to generate cash, and the sources and uses of that
cash.
● To determine whether a business has the capability to pay back its debts.
● To track financial results on a trend line to spot any looming profitability issues.
● To derive financial ratios from the statements that can indicate the condition of the
business.
● To investigate the details of certain business transactions, as outlined in the disclosures
that accompany the statements.
● To use as the basis for an annual report, which is distributed to a company’s investors
and the investment community.

33
Disadvantages of Financial Statements:

There are few downsides to issuing financial statements. A possible concern is that they can be
fraudulently manipulated, leading investors to believe that the issuing entity has produced
better results than was really the case. Such manipulation can also lead a lender to issue debt to
a business that cannot realistically repay it.

34
4.3 Financial Performance of Shobchai.store

35
 Chapter 05

Prospects and challenges of

E-commerce in Bangladesh

36
On a very optimistic estimate, the size of Bangladesh’s e-commerce sector is projected to be
around $3 billion by 2023. Bangladesh is also set to graduate from a least developed country to
one of middle income around the same time. There has also been strong historical evidence of
consumers spending more money on fashion, food, and consumables when they have higher
expendable income. So, there is potential for growth in this sector, and the growth of mobile
financial services and stronger internet coverage in suburban regions have been credited to the
growth of e-commerce in the past years. Owing to the Covid pandemic, e-commerce saw a
natural boost globally as nationwide or regional lockdowns have been in place. Companies have
been innovative and acquired extra market shares by giving consumers what they wanted while
consumers have been able to order consumables, conventional and non-conventional goods
and services from the safety and comfort of their homes. The evidence in Bangladesh lies with
the online sale of cattle during Eid-ul-Adha, for example, as sales have been significantly higher
than last year.

There are several contributing factors to a weaker customer penetration ranging from
operational challenges, culture, and overall poor digital literacy. Although there is a strong road
and railway network in Bangladesh, it is undeniable that we still do not have a strong and
developed delivery channel. We have a few conventional courier delivery services and in the
past few years, modern app-based delivery service providers can facilitate a swift delivery but
mostly the same day or swift delivery services are limited to Dhaka and a few other cities. We
are comparatively a small nation and this makes the distance between central hubs in the
capital Dhaka and other cities significantly lesser than many nations in the west and yet we do
not have a strong and dependable delivery channel that buyers and sellers can depend on.
Last-mile delivery refers to the specific journey of a goods from the hub to the consumer’s
doorstep and there is still a long way to go to develop a digitally equipped workforce and
courier solution that is scalable and reasonable. While the rest of the world is exploring
sustainable drone technology driven by AI to deliver goods and services, we are way behind as
we still do not have a dependable service. Quality of packaging is also another concern, as
companies attempt to save costs by using cheaper packaging at the risk of damaging the goods.

37
 5.1 Problems of E-commerce in Bangladesh

Establishing Trust
E-commerce promises a seamless shopping experience, but in Bangladesh, many shoppers still
harbor doubts. There is still a distrust from people that the products they receive don't match
the image seen on their screen at the time of purchase. However, e-commerce ventures take
steps to ensure quality.

Funding is the Biggest Obstacle

E-commerce in Bangladesh has been slow to develop, due in part to a lack of funding and
inadequate familiarity with the industry by potential lenders. Banks, for example, are paying for
marketing and promotion costs for credit cards with the top brands. But they are not doing this
for e-commerce startups because those startups do not have any collateral. Investors have to
spend money for over 5 years in E-commerce. But everyone is only focused on short term
investment.

Logistics Challenge
Logistics is the backbone of any ecommerce venture, and with Bangladesh's approach, it's a big
issue. Ecommerce companies sometimes have trouble managing their transportation and
logistics. They have to deal with a lot of different deliveries every day. However, e-delivery
services in Bangladesh are now emerging to help entrepreneurs of the new business model with
their large delivery requests.

Unstructured and Unorganized Supply Chain

The supply chain in Bangladesh for E-commerce is not working well yet. The merchants do not
have a place to store the products, and they also usually don't do things right like having an
organized way of managing inventory. They are doing some things with the ecommerce
companies to fix these problems.
Example: Kiksha.com is collaborating with suppliers to find new ways for storing products and
managing sales from the online marketplace.

38
 5.2 Opportunities of E- Commerce in Bangladesh

In recent years, factors such as smartphones and affordable internet connections have led to
the rapid growth of e-commerce. The penetration of the internet on mobile phones and the
active use of those phones have been great. Alongside, it has made it so that more people can
afford smartphones and feature phones. That has helped expand the e-commerce market a lot.

Meteoric Rise in Internet

Since the rollout of 3G internet in 2012, online shopping has grown at an average annual rate of
19.4%. Still, as of June 2018 there are only 87 million people with an internet subscription. But
internet subscribers may not be the most active internet users as anyone who used the internet
one time in the past 90 days is also called an internet user. There are 40 million people in
Bangladesh who use the internet. That is 24% of the total population and this number has
grown since November 2017.

Access to a Smartphone
Though many might assume that smartphone penetration is the same across all socio-economic
classes in Bangladesh, this careful analysis of Internet access suggests otherwise. As of
December 2017, 145 million people have mobile phones. 45 million of those are smartphones.

Huge Young population

Bangladesh has a lot of people who are young and vibrant. This is making e-commerce websites
more popular. The population of Bangladesh is 160 million. Of those, 86% are under the age of
35 and over 40% are teenagers or younger.

39
 Chapter 06

Rules and Laws for e-commerce

Business in Bangladesh

40
The Ministry of Commerce (MOC) has issued a list of standards and rules applicable to
e-commerce operators, the Digital Commerce Operational Guidelines 2021 (“the Guidelines”).
The digital commerce sector is booming in Bangladesh, estimated at growth of 70% to 80%
during the pandemic, and with over 2,500 sites selling products online targeting Bangladesh,
not counting traditional stores with an online facility. But there have been serious problems as
well. Several high-profile court cases and even criminal proceedings have caught headlines in
Bangladesh in recent months with allegations going from taking advance payments and never
delivering to a wide range of other consumer rights issues.
Partly in response to these problems, the MOC issued these Guidelines with reference to the
earlier National Digital Commerce Policy 2018 (as amended in 2020) The purpose of the
Guidelines is to “protect the interests of consumers and sellers”. But the main operation is to
inject more accountability, liability, and transparency into digital business, all while recognizing
it is a source of new business and employment.

The timeline for delivery of goods and services has been set out in the Guidelines. Product
deliveries within the same city should be made within 5 days if payment has been made, and
deliveries to a different city should be done within 10 days. The threshold of delivery timeline
was not mentioned in the National E-commerce Policy 2018, it is a new addition. For goods
used regularly or perishable goods, delivery should be sooner, and the buyer must be made
aware of the same. If there is some kind of force majeure preventing the seller from delivering
within that threshold, then the money has to be returned first to the buyer, the Guidelines
state.
The Guidelines say they apply “to Bangladesh ''but, given the fundamental global nature of
e-commerce, there is no explicit reason to believe that this delivery time only applies to
Bangladeshi local sellers with local goods. Imported goods ordered from sites such as Amazon
are permitted in Bangladesh provided proper taxes are paid on import.
The Guidelines do not state if customers and sellers can deviate on the timeline by contract, but
the Guidelines do note that extensions are possible. We believe that if the terms and conditions
are clear, and the delivery timelines are explicitly agreed in the contract between seller and
buyer, it is unlikely that the 5/10 day period poses a huge legal problem.

41
 6.1 Various consumer rights in e-commerce

The Guidelines state that the product or service should be described clearly and transparently,
including a product description, features, conditions for returns and exchanges of products,
delivery times, etc. If there is any special software or cookies on the e-commerce portal,
consumers need to be notified beforehand . If any personal information needs to be collected
during the buying and selling of any products or services , the seller must obtain prior consent
by informing buyers where that information will be stored and how it will be processed and
used . A check box option for acceptance of the terms and conditions can be included to obtain
buyers ' prior consent . The Guidelines also state that terms and conditions must be available in
Bengali language on the marketplace .

6.2 Prohibitions and requirements

Products and services offered through e-commerce must adhere to a wide range of normally
applicable rules and regulations, such as:

● To sell medicine, approval must be obtained from the relevant authorities.

● Betting or gambling of any kind is not permitted.
● Any type of financial services or digital vouchers require prior approval from Bangladesh
Bank.
● MLM (multi-level marketing) businesses are not allowed to be conducted through
an e-commerce platform.
● Raffles or prizes require prior approval from commercial authorities.

42
 6.3 Registration of all marketplaces

Business registration of market places that are Bangladesh businesses is already a fact. For
example, “Daraz” is one of the countries’ largest local e-commerce marketplaces and is
registered as a normal local company. The problem of registration exists primarily for the
foreign marketplaces. Aside from a foreign marketplace actually opening a branch or a
subsidiary (conducting business in Bangladesh), it is not clear if and how a foreign or global
marketplace doing business with Bangladesh can register in Bangladesh at this point in time.
The Guidelines set forth that gradually, a unique business identification number will be made
mandatory for all “marketplaces”, also the foreign ones. The system is to ensure that
marketplaces take the necessary contact details and register sellers, rather than sellers getting
their own business registration. So, the foreign marketplaces that conduct business in
Bangladesh must in time be registered in Bangladesh and must obtain the necessary approvals
from the concerned authorities, the Guidelines state. This evolution can be associated with the
push for VAT registration in Bangladesh by foreign online businesses such as Google and
Facebook.
It is also noteworthy that the National Digital E-Commerce Policy 2018 stated that foreign
e-commerce providers, investors in Bangladesh, can only conduct business in Bangladesh with a
local partner, but no details were provided. In the National Digital Commerce Policy 2020 this
was actually amended to state that foreign investors in this area would instead “need to comply
with existing laws and regulations” (3.6.7 of the National Digital Commerce Policy 2020).

6.4 Records and processing payments by online marketplaces

The Guidelines state that for transparency, all details of transactions conducted via e-commerce
sites need to be preserved for at least six years from the transaction date, and e-commerce
business owners must provide that information immediately if requested by any appropriate
governmental authority.
Furthermore, marketplaces are required to pay third-party sellers Their payment upon
deduction of the necessary charges/commission within
10 days, unless otherwise agreed between them.
Marketplaces are also required to include the necessary phone number, email, or other means
of communication through which consumers may file a complaint. Such complaints must be
recorded and a solution must be provided to the consumer within 72 hours. Marketplaces are
also instructed to ensure there is a proper rating and review system so that buyers can view
them and make an informed choice. Such reviews cannot be deleted by the platform.

43
 Chapter 07

Findings, Recommendations &

Conclusion

44
 7.1 Findings

● Inadequate delivery mechanisms

● A relatively low internet penetration rate
● The lack of a robust online transaction system
● Prevalence of online fraud
● Undeveloped online marketing practices
● The lack of a robust privacy policy

The most significant barrier to the growth of the e-commerce industry remains the unstable
internet connection, particularly in rural areas.

In a report published last year by Ookla, Bangladesh was ranked 98th out of 181 countries in
terms of broadband internet speed and 135th out of 137 countries in terms of mobile internet
speed.

The second impediment afflicting this industry is decaying public confidence. There have been
widespread complaints about various e-commerce platforms failing to deliver products on time
even after receiving payment.

On top of that, some of the most popular e-commerce platforms were discovered to be
involved in money laundering and violations of fair trade policy in 2021. These companies
deceived unsuspecting customers out of billions of takas under the guise of providing lucrative
discounts and offers, resulting in the imprisonment of some of their owners and officials.

Such incidents have instilled widespread skepticism in the public about e-commerce platforms,
and the result has been disastrous.

Transactions in October 2021 fell 41.53 percent to Tk 743 crore, compared to Tk 1,277.4 crore in
June 2021.

It will take nothing short of a miraculous effort on the part of all stakeholders in the
e-commerce industry to regain the trust of the general public, which is currently at rock bottom.
The road to recovery will undoubtedly be long as well.

45
Furthermore, a reluctance has been seen in the relevant authorities to take necessary steps to
ensure that these platforms show compliance with anti-competition laws at all times. Due to
inadequate implementation of these laws, the big players frequently engage in deep
discounting, giving them an unfair advantage over smaller platforms with smaller pockets.

It is also harmful to customers because when these big platforms realize that they have driven
out all competitors, they start exploiting their monopoly by selling products and/or services at
exorbitant prices.

Moreover, with the exception of a few, most e-commerce platforms most often fail to meet the
standard of customer service expected of them.

Another major impediment is the lack of digital access and literacy of a large section of the
population, especially those living in rural areas.

In fact, according to a survey conducted in 2019 by BRAC Institute of Governance and

Development, three-quarters of the surveyed households had no to low digital access, while
77% of rural households were found to have no to low digital skills.

There are only a few traditional courier delivery services that exist, and in recent years, modern
app-based delivery service providers have been able to facilitate same-day or quick delivery, but
these services are mostly not available in areas other than Dhaka and some other cities.

46
 7.2 Recommendations

First, the existing law and regulations should be amended and those should be implemented
properly for taking actions on the fraudulent e-commerce organizations.

Second, institutional capacity of the relevant organizations and departments such as the
Ministry of Commerce, Bangladesh Bank, Directorate of National Consumers’ Right Protection,
Financial Intelligence Unit, and Competition Commission should be enhanced through sufficient
and skilled human resource and adoption of technology.

Third, coordination among the various institutions including the Ministry of Commerce,
Bangladesh Bank, law enforcing bodies and other relevant organizations should be increased
and the role of these bodies needs to be clearly defined.

Fourth, financial intelligence should collect regular data on E-commerce and share those with
relevant bodies and also with the public on a regular basis to increase accountability of these
businesses and make customers aware of the activities of E-commerce businesses.

Fifth, awareness among the e-commerce customers should be increased so that they behave
responsibly and do not fall prey to such traps of dishonest e-commerce organizations.

Sixth, private associations like e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) have a role to
collect information of new businesses before registering, assess their sustainability and allow
membership of the businesses by monitoring the operations of these businesses.

Seventh, the Government should solve the problem through the legal framework of the
Company Act and not by investing public money on these fraudulent companies.

47
 7.3 Conclusion

In near future E-Commerce will be the leader with popularity and prosperity in the e-trade
sector. From the above discussion we can come to a view that eCommerce has changed the
business strategy and made life easier for the people of Bangladesh as well as other countries.
Developing countries like Bangladesh, we faced some problems in this sector but we think we
can overcome this very strategically in future. In this sector Government role is also very
significant for the growth and implementation. Government should simplify friendly policy and
government services. Here social support and practice is also needed for the improvement of
online shopping.
E-commerce in Bangladesh is still a young and emerging industry. Bangladesh is a country that is
starting to use e-commerce. With the prevalence and affordability of mobile phones,
Bangladesh has a lot to offer for e-commerce. Though there are some problems like lack of
funding and infrastructure, they will get better over time. For now, it is a good idea for
businesses to take advantage of these opportunities. They might not be able to do this later.
E-Commerce is not an IT issue but a whole business undertaking. Companies that use it as a
reason for completely re-designing their business processes are likely to reap the greatest
benefits. Moreover, E-Commerce is a helpful technology that gives the consumer access to
business and companies all over the world. 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.
Moreover, E-commerce in Bangladesh is quickly boosting the country's economy and business.
It contributes significantly to the country's GDP and general development. Bangladesh, as a
major member of the LDCs, might be a prospective e-commerce consumer. According to
UNCTAD, Goldman Sachs, and other sources, Bangladesh's e-commerce is rapidly developing
and becoming competitive in Asian markets. At the moment, the country's large corporations
are also beginning to provide all of their services via e-commerce. The reason why ecommerce
prospered so fast was because the people of the country showed a positive attitude towards it.
Young people in particular (18 to 24 years old) are especially attracted to it (Islam, 2017).
However, except for some big cities, not all the people in the country have been able to avail the
benefits of this e-commerce. If this sector is further enriched, all the people of the country will
benefit from it. The E-marketplace is a data source that serves as an information agent,
providing product information to buyers and sellers. To make this sector more prosperous and
large, everyone needs to know the details about it. So in this paper, we have discussed some
concepts about e-commerce, its activities, emergence and growth in Bangladesh, etc. As well as
some of the best e-commerce websites and their activities and some policies have been

48
suggested to prevent them from spreading in the country. Because I found that both consumers
and businessmen have a lack of knowledge about the whole e-commerce system. If everyone
knows the current state and full details about e-commerce in Bangladesh, many people and
entrepreneurs will be interested in investing in it, as well as foreign investors will be interested
in investing in this progressive sector. It can be concluded that just as businessmen can benefit
from the use of e-commerce, so too can buyers improve their quality of life by purchasing
everything at a very low cost.

49
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