Prospect and Problems of E-commerce Operations in Bangladesh

Abstract

The e-commerce business in Bangladesh has grown fast since the early 2000s, when the country required widespread internet access and secure online transaction infrastructure. Online commercial transactions are referred to as e-commerce platforms. Consumers can easily purchase goods or services via the Internet using e-commerce. Several companies presently use e-commerce to trade both tangible and intangible items. Bangladesh is rapidly moving towards digitalisation. The country has yet to realise its e-commerce potential. E-commerce business has been categorised into six types. C2C and B2B are the most popular platforms in Bangladesh. The global move to the digital economy is expected to continue, according to emarketer.com. Global e-commerce retail sales are expected to reach 3.2 trillion dollars by 2020. The Bangladesh e-commerce Association is the country's business core for e-commerce. According to the organisation, Facebook alone has 8,000 eCommerce pages. Low credit and debit card usage and the Lack of PayPal have hampered the industry's expansion, though it has been announced that PayPal will be available soon. In 2016, Bangladesh's first-ever and now largest authentic e-commerce platform GHOORI from a local company called Chorki Limited. The central bank of Bangladesh ' The Bangladesh Bank' first permitted online transactions in 2019. The bank then allowed international credit cards to buy and sell products and services online in 2013. Bangladesh is ranked 146th out of 186 countries regarding information and communication technology development. However, the number of internet users grows year after year, which is a good indicator. While only 2% of the population has access to fixed broadband, 30% has mobile broadband. To develop e-commerce and enable the improvement of this sector, the government imposed the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Act, 2016, and numerous types of training has been initiated. Facebook is the most widely used platform for customer engagement and the main e-commerce platform in Bangladesh. The benefits and complications of e-commerce and its roadblocks will be discussed in this paper.