Dr Momin A Babul has been living in the Netherlands for the last 41 years. Last year, his relatives in Bangladesh wanted him to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with them, but with his busy schedule, he couldn’t make the trip. However, Momin did one thing: using his credit card, he bought three cows online, to be delivered to his home from amardesh.com. The Bangladeshi e-portal is a component of the Amar Desh Amar Gram (ADAG) e-commerce initiative of the Future Solution for Business (FSB). Sadequa Hassan Sejuti, managing director of FSB, said: “We developed the ADAG e-commerce initiative to cater for non-resident Bangladeshis and also the busy city-dwellers who want to avoid the hassle of going to the qurbani haat (cattle market for Eid).” The trade for qurbani at amardeshshop.com took off in 2012, as an extension of the existing business of ADAG. “We started selling different agricultural products through the website in 2009. Last year, we introduced the online cattle market for Qurbani,” Sejuti said. amardeshshop.com has “centres” in eight districts across the country – Narsingdi, Tangail, Jamalpur, Kushtia, Mongla, Sirajganj, Rangpur, and Jessore. “Farmers in those areas can come to our centres and upload information regarding their cows. We have two trained individuals in each centre to help farmers with the process,” Sejuti explained. Once a prospective customer logs in and has chosen a particular cow, the rest is taken care of by the website – from the moment of purchase till the delivery of the “product.” “The customer only needs to ensure the online financial transaction,” Sejuti said. The prices are inclusive of service and bank charges, and range from Tk50,000-100,000. Payment is taken by card, direct bank transfer or bank draft. Sejuti says the company offers home delivery services for the clients at a cost of Tk5,000 on average. According to Sejuti, the website sold 25 cows last year. “This is not just a mere business that we are doing with the website. We reach the farmers directly and facilitate the process of selling the products without going through middlemen,” she said, adding that five cows have been sold via the website as of October 7. “Our website now has the pictures and information of 52 cows. Another 70 cows are going to be added to the database,” she said. It’s not just amardesheshop.com; bikroy.com, a popular e-commerce site in the country, says it sells “everything from used cars to mobile phones and computers.” Now, they also have cows and goats on the list: 612, at the last count. Ishtiaq from Shahjahanpur, Dhaka has put up information on two cows he wants to sell on the website. He said: “I have those cows at my village in Munshiganj, and I’m asking for around Tk70,000 each cow. With a site like bikroy.com, it has become easier to do business.” Babul, an electronic goods trader, has posted information about three cows on the website. “I have already received several phone calls from different prospective customers. It’s good business,” he said. An official from bikroy.com said anyone can register with the website and upload information about their cattle. When buying qurbani cows for Eid is this easy, why go to the open, make-shift haats at all?
Tuesday, March 18, 2025
