E-groceries reshaping Bangladesh’s retail scene

Bangladesh is seeing a rapid change in the way the retail industry works. With the advancement and fast adaptation of technology, e-commerce is gradually picking up. New entrepreneurs have come up with businesses conducted using the internet, lowering operating costs and making the shopping process easy for the consumer. E-commerce is flourishing in the urban cities of Bangladesh. When we visit sites like Bikroy.com and Ekhanei.com, we can see how e-commerce businesses are gradually seeing success in Bangladesh.
Internet penetration in Bangladesh had been quite low until the last couple of years. The internet savvy young generation is one of the main groups of consumers who can fully realize the importance of the internet. Within the next five years, the e-commerce industry’s targeted customers will be the new generation who will rely on technology to complete many daily tasks of their lives, including
shopping online.
Poor infrastructure and traffic congestion all over the Dhaka city make it very hard for city dwellers to travel for grocery shopping. Moreover, it is even harder to find good quality grocery items which are free of toxic chemicals. To address these issues, a number of innovative businesses came to the scene, including Chaldal.com, Sobjibazaar and Direct Fresh.
At Chaldal, they believe time is valuable to city dwellers, and that they should not have to waste hours in traffic, brave bad weather and wait in lines just to buy basic necessities like eggs! If you visit the site, you will be amazed to see the wide variety of items they are selling.
Another such business venture is Direct Fresh. The idea of this venture first came to mind of the director when he realised how difficult it is to get fresh salad in Bangladesh. The time it takes to traverse in the crowded markets for fresh vegetables and the obstacles in the path are very high. And so the idea to bring fresh food at the doorstep of the common people had been created.
Direct Fresh also recognised that Bangladesh had a problem of food safety and they have tried to solve it. Direct Fresh has built strong connections with farmers to make sure the food items they send to people are fresh. With the help of the internet, they keep track of the farms they do business with. Mohammed Tareq, a senior executive at a leading IT company,  finds it difficult doing groceries, given his office hours-“At home, we love trying out foreign recipes like Italian food and that requires cheese, fresh vegetables, high quality meat and whatnot! Buying my ingredients online has been the easiest solution for me, particularly because they are fresh”, he said.
A lot of people in Dhaka are doing what Tareq is doing, for a lot if not all of their grocery needs. Going back to where we started, 5 years from now, and this young generation of Bangladeshis is going to be more dependent on online shopping, and as we become more and more health conscious, promising initiatives like Chaldal and Direct Fresh will be key in achieving that.

E-groceries reshaping Bangladeshs retail scene

Bangladesh is seeing a rapid change in the way the retail industry works. With the advancement and fast adaptation of technology, e-commerce is gradually picking up. New entrepreneurs have come up with businesses conducted using the internet, lowering operating costs and making the shopping process easy for the consumer. E-commerce is flourishing in the urban cities of Bangladesh. When we visit sites like Bikroy.com and Ekhanei.com, we can see how e-commerce businesses are gradually seeing success in Bangladesh. Internet penetration in Bangladesh had been quite low until the last couple of years. The internet savvy young generation is one of the main groups of consumers who can fully realize the importance of the internet. Within the next five years, the e-commerce industrys targeted customers will be the new generation who will rely on technology to complete many daily tasks of their lives, including shopping online. Poor infrastructure and traffic congestion all over the Dhaka city make it very hard for city dwellers to travel for grocery shopping. Moreover, it is even harder to find good quality grocery items which are free of toxic chemicals. To address these issues, a number of innovative businesses came to the scene, including Chaldal.com, Sobjibazaar and Direct Fresh. At Chaldal, they believe time is valuable to city dwellers, and that they should not have to waste hours in traffic, brave bad weather and wait in lines just to buy basic necessities like eggs! If you visit the site, you will be amazed to see the wide variety of items they are selling. Another such business venture is Direct Fresh. The idea of this venture first came to mind of the director when he realised how difficult it is to get fresh salad in Bangladesh. The time it takes to traverse in the crowded markets for fresh vegetables and the obstacles in the path are very high. And so the idea to bring fresh food at the doorstep of the common people had been created. Direct Fresh also recognised that Bangladesh had a problem of food safety and they have tried to solve it. Direct Fresh has built strong connections with farmers to make sure the food items they send to people are fresh. With the help of the internet, they keep track of the farms they do business with. Mohammed Tareq, a senior executive at a leading IT company, finds it difficult doing groceries, given his office hours-At home, we love trying out foreign recipes like Italian food and that requires cheese, fresh vegetables, high quality meat and whatnot! Buying my ingredients online has been the easiest solution for me, particularly because they are fresh, he said. A lot of people in Dhaka are doing what Tareq is doing, for a lot if not all of their grocery needs. Going back to where we started, 5 years from now, and this young generation of Bangladeshis is going to be more dependent on online shopping, and as we become more and more health conscious, promising initiatives like Chaldal and Direct Fresh will be key in achieving that.