E-commerce transactions through the banking channel increased by 13.57 per cent or Tk 30.4 crore in April, the first month of the government announced shutdown to contain the coronavirus, as a significant number of people preferred to purchase essential goods from home. On the contrary, transaction through point of sales (POS), used at shops to collect bills from customers, dropped by 68.35 per cent or Tk 983 crore, to Tk 455 crore in April when shopping malls and restaurants were closed. In March, POS-based transaction amounted to Tk 1,438 crore. The country went into shutdown on March 29 for around two months with the restriction lifted on May 30. As per the Bangladesh Bank data, e-commerce transactions through the banking channel rose to Tk 254.4 crore in April this year compared to Tk 224 crore in the previous month. The BB data showed 5.96 lakh transactions worth Tk 598.1 crore were made from abroad in FY18 and the figure surged to 9.64 lakh transactions worth Tk 771.5 crore in FY19. However, transactions through the banking channel constitute a minor part of the total e-commerce transactions as the majority of e-commerce and f-commerce businesses and the customers still prefer the cash-on-delivery mode of payment. During the shutdown, people preferred to purchase goods from home to avoid exposure to the coronavirus which in turn led to an increase in demand for essential goods sold at online business platforms. Zeeshan Kingshuk Huq, co-founder and chief executive officer of online marketplace Sindabad.com, told New Age, ‘In reality, the growth in e-commerce transactions was much higher than the BB’s estimation as transactions through mobile financial services along with some other non-banking channels were not taken into account in the BB’s report.’ ‘Shopping from online marketplaces was most convenient for people after the shutdown was enforced compared to shopping from grocery shops in a pandemic,’ he said. ‘For Sindabad, the sales growth was much higher than the growth reflected in the BB’s report,’ he said, adding that they had noticed around three times sales growth on their platform during the shutdown and the trend continued in May and June as well. In terms of product category, perishable kitchen commodities, cleaning essentials, personal protective items and certain medical equipment found top priority among customers, the CEO mentioned. The growth in transactions through formal channels also reflects people’s growing confidence over the online platforms. However, the number of transactions through such platforms has dropped to 11,43,680 in April from 11,93,173 in the previous month. In FY19, e-commerce transactions through the banking channel grew by 54.26 per cent or Tk 508 crore compared with the previous fiscal year as customers became more used to ordering products from e-commerce sites. E-commerce transactions in terms of value through the banking channel increased to Tk 1,441.1 crore in FY19 from Tk 936.1 crore in FY18. Under the cash-on-delivery mode, e-commerce and fcommerce businesses receive cash upon delivery of products ordered online.
