Waiz Rahim, third generation of the industrious &enterprising family business, Rahimafrooz, was born and raised in Dhaka city. He went to school in the city and had an enthusiasm for taking things apart and putting them back together with his tool box. He studied Industrial and Systems Engineering at the University of Southern California, Los Angeles. However, in the beginning he was conflicted about whether to pursue engineering or computer science as a discipline. He could see that information technology had made its way into almost every aspect of our industries, and would only become more integrated as time went on. He started an online retail brand with a friend during his second year of university and eventually had the chance to work with Amazon on a student project. The project with Amazon allowed him to look into the supply chain aspects of the company. Waiz Rahim saw a great deal of potential in the growing economy that is Bangladesh. The population density, large number of youth and increase of the middle income consumer base all spelled opportunity for retail businesses. He claims about 97%of these retail services were being done via informal channels. Only 2.5% is done via organized outlets like Shwapno and Meena Bazaar, while only 1% was being done via e-commerce. He believed he could bridge the gap in between. Thus, after finishing his graduation in

2016, he returned to Bangladesh.

He wants to do so by making consumers aware of the following:

1. The availability of a higher variety of products on online platforms.
2. The lower pricing due to the elimination of expenses like rent and overhead on the part of the seller
3. The convenience of buying things without leaving home

Business Model:

Waiz understood that most people in Bangladesh, even the ones who use smartphones on a regular basis, are highly reluctant to buy things online. This was not only due to a lack of awareness of the nuances of ordering online, but also because of the logistical problems associated with home delivery. It is a nightmare on both the part of the consumers and the platform. Most platforms actually lose money trying to deliver goods to their consumers. Online platforms usually charge around BDT 50 for deliveries, but it usually costs them more. Waiz’s Deligram removed the problem altogether. While Deligram still makes home deliveries, it encourages customers to pick up their deliveries from nearby grocery stores that are Deligram agents or ‘dgAgents’. Convenience stores are far easier to locate and make deliveries to, thus making the entire process easier. Deligram even makes free deliveries to said stores, charging no extra delivery fees at all. Deligram currently has 300 agents throughout the country that act as pick up and drop off points. Deligram plans to expand this number to 1,000 by December, with each store having an operational radius of 500 feet ideally.

Deligram has given tablets to their ‘agent’ stores. The agents have a separate app, called the reseller catalogue app that allows them to keep track of their sales, look at the products and categories available, their prices and delivery timelines. Deligram makes 60% of its revenue from assisted services provided by these convenience stores. The stores benefit from these interactions as well. They make a flat BDT 10 per order and get sales commissions. Deligram wants to ensure that its dgAgents make at least BDT 10,000 additional income from their orders. This will provide them greater incentive to persuade customers to purchase products using Deligram. Deligram understands that people don’t want to go through the hassle of buying things online themselves.

They will, therefore, enjoy being assisted with the purchasing process by people they trust, familiar faces like the owner of the convenience stores that are active in their areas. This in turn, also increases the portfolio of products that the store can offer, making them diverse and more attractive to customers.

All in all, it sounds like a win-win-win scenario all around. The customers get the guarantees and hassle free experiences of purchasing goods that they want, because it is being dealt with by shop keepers they trust. The store owners are making commissions on both orders and sales, and offering a wider selectin of products than ever before. And the logistical catastrophe of home delivery is solved by delivering to convenience stores that are easier to find.

Challenges:

While it is a win-win scenario in theory, Deligram’s barriers are the same on the consumer side as it is on the vendor side. Many convenience stores are run by middle aged men, who through interested, are not tech savy enough to operate their app on a regular basis and market its products to customers. So the demographic criteria for shop owners (between the ages of 20 and 40) limits their options.

Future Plans:

Deligram wants to expand their reach like bKash did with its money transfer services. Deligram wants to make it possible for customers to walk into convenience stores and have the shopkeeper book travel tickets on their behalf. People still use travel agents, despite the high costs associated with them, simply because of the convenience they provide. Assisted service is the norm when it comes to travel. Deligram wants to make it so that your convenience stores will be able to book tickets on your behalf, thus reducing costs by a substantial margin. Deligram started operations commercially in Marchof 2019, after a trial period of almost a year following a six month app development period. In the past7 months, Deligram has been operating in Dhaka, Comilla, Gazipur and Narayanganj, with having just started operations in Chittagong and Shylet. Deligram wants to expand its number of dgAgents to 1,000 by December of this year.