Present E-commerce Scenario of Bangladesh & Integrating ACI Limited Brands with their own websites.

Abstract

Technology is slowly eradicating the physical existence of a market and placing it on our fingertips. With e-commerce ushering in our daily lifestyle, it isn’t unbelievable anymore to think that there won’t be any actual marketplace in the near future. E-commerce – the process of buying and selling through the Internet is the new technological trend. With rapid Internet penetration and easy access to online shops, people are now engaging in e-commerce – from social network sites to job sites. With an estimated 3.2 billion Internet users by the end of 2017, online business is ready to redefine what we call “shopping”.

With around 6.5 million internet users and more than 100 million mobile phone users in the country, Bangladesh is taking active participation in the e-commerce scenario in the recent years. With the constant improvement measures taken by the government to digitalizes the entire nation, online shopping is taking a new shape every day – which is further backed by more than 200 registered ISPs and multiple mobile phone companies.

Annual online transaction volume has seen a massive increase from 450 million BDT in 2012 to around 2000 million BDT by the end of 2013. With a rapid boom in the smartphone sector, mobile shopping is being intensified as well. More and more smartphone companies are entering the Bangladesh market to gain market share. All these facts prove that Bangladesh has a strong potential to be a huge e-commerce based market.

This allows the major local and multinational companies to gain the competitive advantage over each other. ACI Ltd being one of the prime conglomerates of the country isn’t far behind from others. It has been conducting business with few e-shops for quite a while now. But even they realize it’s time to step up the game to stay strong in the ever growing competitive market.

The likes of local competitors such as Square, Pran etc and MNCs like Unilever, Reckitt Benckiser etc, it will be difficult to get a hold of the market share unless new business strategies aren’t introduced. Marketing and innovation are what leads to a growing competitive advantage. With huge opportunities in the e-commerce sector, ACI is ready to take up the challenge. As a result, a complete personalized website of its own is in the process to not only help the busy local customer base but also the NRBs.