With strict lockdowns these past two years, people have gotten more used to shopping online. This year, even though strict restrictions have been lifted, people seem to be more comfortable shopping online.
Over the last two years, the country witnessed strict lockdowns, and a lot of the shopping surrounding the Pohela Boishakh festivity took place online with e-commerce being the most reasonable option.
E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) Vice-President Shahab Uddin Shipon told Dhaka Tribune that the number of deliveries that currently stands at an average of 200,000 per day is expected to increase to 300,000 deliveries per day surrounding the Bangla New Year celebration.
He further said: “After almost two years, people are actually about to celebrate any festivity. The financial situation across households during the pandemic was dire and people only shopped for essentials, and even that level of consumption has helped e-commerce companies to record unprecedented online sales during the pandemic.”
But with brick and mortar shops opening up this time, there should naturally be a good competition between online and offline shops.
Shahab pointed out that despite offline markets opening up, people have become habituated in shopping online and will continue to do so as trust in the sector has slowly returned following the intervention of the government and its structured policies.
On top of that, the month of Ramadan and traffic congestion will also push people towards online shopping, the top brass of the e-CAB stated.
“Registered members of the association have already reported a good amount of online sales which is expected to rise even more by the end of the month as people celebrate two festivities within the span of four weeks,” e-CAB vice president said.
Despite the competition from brick and mortar shops, Daraz, one of the leading e-commerce platforms of the country, is expecting a huge number of orders this time, hoping to surpass even last year’s milestones.
Owing to pandemic-related restrictions and repeated lockdowns, people refrained from going out and visiting brick-and-mortar shops in the last two years. Consequently, people were careful while spending money for shopping, says Daraz.
According to the e-commerce platform, things are looking good and people are once again in a position to loosen their purse strings and it is exciting to welcome people who will be shopping quite a bit to celebrate both Pohela Boishakh and Eid-ul-Fitr.
Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) of Daraz Md Tajdin Hassan said: “Despite the competition, Daraz is expecting a huge number of orders this time, which will hopefully surpass last year’s business.”
He further said: “Daraz is happy about the fact that people are in a festive mood. We hope that the upcoming festivals will be fruitful for all. To multiply the happiness, Daraz has launched the BNY (Bengali New Year) campaign and will host the Eid Shopping Fest campaign, which will continue from April 12 to May 2. There will be many exciting offers and surprises for the shopaholics.”