You have been a part of the Bangladeshi corporate sector for the last 17 years, working for giants like Grameenphone, Huawei and Banglalink; compared to your previous organizations, how does it feel like working at Daraz?
Yes, I have worked with the giants of the corporate sector and Daraz is no less than any of those. In fact, Daraz is the largest e-commerce platform in Bangladesh and is a concern of the world’s biggest conglomerate Alibaba. My role at Daraz demands that I have very good negotiation skills, persuasion tactics, strategic ideas, awareness of local and foreign relevant markets in order to maintain relationships with both internal and external stakeholders, and to deal with individuals from all walks of life — which I enjoy the most. And e-commerce has actually given me a much wider scope to expand and enhance my portfolio of work.
Here at Daraz, every day is a new beginning filled with challenges, and for this, I never get tired or bored. Daraz, alongside its traditional e-commerce platform, has acquired the online food platform HungryNaki. It also operates an online pharmacy under the brand name dPharma, grocery line dMart, and many more, thereby expanding its footprint into diversified businesses.
Since my position demands ensuring compliance, promoting goodwill and reputation of the company alongside with stakeholder’s management, I find this job to be more rewarding and fulfilling to the goal that I set for myself as a corporate leader.
What motivated you to join the e-commerce industry, that too at a time when a lot of trouble had begun brewing in the sector?
I have worked for around 17 years in the corporate sector. During my tenure in this highly competitive sector, I have experienced both the ups and downs of the corporate world. Having worked in the telecommunications sector for a long time and thereafter shifting to e-commerce, which is expected to be the dominating sector in this digital era, was an informed choice. This choice was filled with excitement, fear, and unforeseeable challenges.
It is true that the industry is currently going through its most critical time and has been going through some revolutionary changes, so challenges are obvious. However, I feel motivated to push my limits and explore new options.
The e-commerce industry has been down on its luck for the past few months. Is it a good idea to run the 11:11 campaign amid this crisis?
The recent controversy surrounding some of the e-commerce platforms has created an imbalance in the whole ecosystem. To counter this imbalance and rebuild the lost trust among the customers, it was very important to come up with something that customers can count on.
Our 11:11 sale campaign is such an endeavour that has the potential to attract more customers towards online marketplaces again. Nothing superficial is offered in this campaign; rather, we try to give the best offers and deals for the customers through this one-day sales campaign.
Daraz had orders worth Tk25 crore in the first hour of its 11.11 sales campaign last year — do you think you will surpass that record this year? Or are there any chances of falling short of that target as the industry is facing a lot of turmoil this year?
We strongly believe there is no chance that we will fall short of our target. We arrange this campaign every year and create new records as far as sales are concerned. This year, we have designed our entire campaign keeping in mind the current crisis the e-commerce sector is facing, and as such, we are confident that we will be able to surpass the previous records and create new ones as Daraz has dedicated customers who rely on us for their necessities.
Despite the unrest in the e-commerce industry, we are hopeful of reaching new milestones in the upcoming 11:11 campaign.
Daraz usually receives a huge volume of orders during the 11.11 sales campaigns. What are your refund and return policies during this period?
For the fourth time in Bangladesh, Daraz is hosting Alibaba’s World’s Biggest One Day Sales Campaign 11.11. And we are expecting to serve about 3 million of our valuable customers during the campaign duration. Therefore, to deal with the huge number of orders and to give our customers a happy shopping experience, we have increased our manpower to accommodate the situation and kept our refund and return policies as it is in accordance with the SOP issued by the Ministry of Commerce.
In addition, we are arranging live sessions to create awareness and educate our customers on various topics of digital shopping, including the refund and return policy. We have a newly introduced chatbot through which customers can get the answers to most of the frequently asked questions. We are also working closely with all of our payment partners to ensure a smooth payment process.
Running this big a campaign seems like a logistical nightmare — how big is the team that handles this? What logistics infrastructure do you have in place to deal with the 11.11 campaign?
We have the strongest e commerce logistics team, with over 7,000 members, to deal with the biggest campaign of the year. Our countrywide logistics infrastructure covers all 64 districts of the country with 84 hubs.
We also have the largest e-commerce logistics fleet of the country with over 450 vans and more than 1,800 two-wheelers. Moreover, our daily delivery capacity has increased from 100,000 to 300,000 packages per day, which is a milestone for any e-commerce firm.
Is the 11.11 campaign fully compliant with the SOP introduced by the Commerce Ministry?
Even prior to the publishing of the standard operating procedure (SOP) for the e-commerce industry, Daraz’s operating policies were stringent and pro-consumer. Therefore, it was easy for Daraz to follow the SOP issued by the Commerce Ministry. For the purpose of the 11.11 campaign — or any other campaign for that matter — we always design the campaigns in compliance with the SOP.
What kind of awareness programs should be run to educate customers on saving themselves from e-commerce scams? What role can Daraz and other established e-commerce firms play in this?
Awareness is the only thing that we need right now to get over the crisis the e-commerce industry is facing.
Firstly, we need to talk about consumer rights so consumers are aware of what they are entitled to in terms of delivery, returns or refunds, and complaint management. Daraz, in an attempt to educate the customers, has been conducting seminars and live talk shows, distributing banners, and meeting fans in various districts of Bangladesh.
Daraz has also introduced a very smooth refund and return policy in order to bring back customers’ trust in the e-commerce marketplace.
Could you give us a brief idea about the good governance practices that Daraz implements to secure consumer trust?
Daraz always keeps customers at the top of the priority list. As a mark of our good governance, Daraz scores the sellers associated with us so it reduces the scope of customers getting deceived.
Moreover, if any seller keeps providing substandard products, they are then punished in accordance with the gravity of the complaint. In the meantime, we have a dedicated team at Daraz for solving customer complaints. They always try to solve any complaints in the shortest possible time.
The government has already formed a committee to help bring order to the sector. What kind of directives or legislation would you prefer to facilitate sustainable growth in the industry?
In the time of the fourth industrial revolution and growing digital literacy, e-commerce has become one of the most promising sectors, and it is expected to grow exponentially over the coming years.
Therefore, keeping in mind the rapid growth and innovative nature of the field, the directives or legislations for this sector should be dynamic, global standard, which can be adaptable to changes in the sector, and keeping in mind the interest of every stakeholder in the ecosystem — customers, sellers, and the marketplace.