Walton Group, the country's leading electronics and technology products manufacturer, marketer, and exporter, has officially launched its online market platform named Walcart Ltd (https://walcart.com), aimed at building the largest local online service and delivery network.
The platform was officially launched on Sunday at its corporate office in the capital where State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak inaugurated it as chief guest.
A subsidiary organization of the brand, Walcart was launched with the motto of re-building customers’ trust and faith in the e-commerce sector of the country.
“Under the guidance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and under the leadership of her IT adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy, we are able to provide 90% government services through a digital platform. We have created 20 lakh jobs in the hardware and software sector of the country," Palak said.
"We have gone from an importing country to a producing one, and from there to being an exporting country. Walton is playing a groundbreaking role in this. Our goal is to generate $5 billion in export revenue from the ICT sector by 2025. We expect one-fifth of that to come from Walton,” the ICT state minister also said.
Walton did not lay off its employees amid the Covid-19 pandemic but hired 5,000 new employees who are producing and exporting digital devices. Walton is the pride of Bangladesh who has come up with such a timely initiative in the e-commerce sector,” he added.
Walcart, aiming to be the top e-commerce company in the country, currently offers products and services in more than 30 categories, including Walton products, with thousands of sellers across the country connected to this platform.
Incorporated on November 22 last year, the platform already has more than 20,000 likes on its official Facebook page and offers more than 100+ categories entailing fashion and lifestyle, grocery and essentials, baby care, consumer electronics or appliances and accessories, range of services, beauty, and personal care, as well as many others
As per its website, Walcart currently has brand partners such as Pran, Square, Ispahani, P&G, Fogg, Godrej, Dabur, Arla, Oppo, Puma, Bata, Apple, Realme, Samsung, VIVO, etc, offering discounts up to 30%.
It also has two separate business models for product delivery to its customers- business-to-business (B2B) model and business-to-consumer (B2C) model, delivering those nationwide in two ways- in-house delivery and seller-side delivery.
The platform also claims delivery within 3-5 days in Dhaka City and 5-10 days outside Dhaka following order confirmation.
However, customers may avail of same-day delivery services for grocery items in some areas only.
Walcart also offers a return, refund, and cancellation policy without charging any delivery cost, if sufficient proof is provided on not being liable for uncertain circumstances such as the delivery of a damaged product.
“We must meet the target of the government of Bangladesh and its expectations of Walton in growing the export income of the ICT sector. Walcart will work accordingly by bringing in global exposure and fame leaving the mark of our red-green flag on the world,” said Golam Murshed, managing director and CEO of Walton Hi-Tech Industries Ltd.
Shomi Kaiser, president of E-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (eCAB), Syed Almas Kabir, president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), Shahid-ul Munir, president of Bangladesh Computer Society (BCS), and Waheed Sharif, president of Bangladesh Association of Call Center and Outsourcing (BACCO) were also present at the program.