Internet users in Bangladesh spend over Tk7,184.018 crore in online shopping each year, with the amount expected to grow further with the increase in use of smartphones, a survey by Google has found.
A Google research paper titled “Research Insights: Emerging Trends as Bangladesh Goes Digital” found that 22% of the country’s total internet users shop online, spending Tk7,594.10 annually on an average.
According to the survey, 32% of the respondents said they recalled seeing online advertisements; of them, 82% went on to initiate online action, 35% took offline action and 17% went on to buy the product. Of the respondents, 19% admitted they are more likely to discover brands that advertise online.
Sami Kizilbash, Google’s business head for South Asia’s emerging markets, presented the findings yesterday at the first ever Digital Investment Summit in the capital’ Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel.
“Bangladesh has a growing number of internet users, which includes communicators, knowledge seekers, influencers, aspirers, networkers and functionals.
“Using a growing number of smartphones, it also increases the number of internet users. Now people can get many useful mobile applications, while they can also shop online,” he said.
However, Kizilbash pointed out the different obstacles to online shopping in the country, saying: “People still do not have much interest in buying from the online market as there is a lack of sufficient opportunities, while many people do not even know about the existing opportunities. Most importantly, people are afraid of transaction security through online.
“As there is an emerging online market in the country, the government and other private partners should be more concerned to create a secure and fast online market,” the Google executive added.
The findings on the Google report were based on 1,000 offline interviews and 1,026 online surveys between June 2014 and September 2014. According to another recent study, Bangladesh currently has around 43 million internet users.
Compared to the Bangladeshi e-commerce market of over Tk7,000 crore, neighbouring India has reportedly made great strides in the past three years. According to Google, the Indian retail e-commerce sector has grown at a compound annual growth rate of 35% since 2012, expecting to hit $7.69b in 2015.
Meanwhile, the prime minister’s ICT Adviser Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy, who was the chief guest at the summit, also talked about different digital services introduced by the government and expressed his optimism about expanding 3G and broadband services to the union level soon.
Other speakers at the summit urged for better innovations, investment and policy support regarding digital investment in the country.
The day-long program was organised by Telenor group, Accenture and BASIS in collaboration with the ICT Division and Telecom Ministry.
The program was addressed by Telenor group President and CEO Jon Fredrik Bakaas, while State Minister for Telecom Zunaid Ahmed Palak, A2I project Policy Adviser Anir Chowdhury, and BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose were also present.