AN INNER LOOK AT E-COMMERCE GIANT: DARAZ BANGLADESH

Daraz Bangladesh is the pioneer of the e-commerce industry who has brought a new trend of online retail platforms and change in the shopping trend of Bangladesh. They are a cutting edge e-commerce platform which brings the latest local and international goods to people’s doorstep. They offer a wide selection of products from renowned brands in Bangladesh with a promise of fast, safe and easy online shopping experience. From electronics to fashion, there is bound to be something for everyone in Daraz Bangladesh. This leading online retailer platform had established in 2012 by the German investment organization, Rocket Internet and its been running its business since in 2013 in Bangladesh. Daraz is an organization formed with 100% foreign investment. Mainly Daraz group operates its web base marketplace in Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar as well as Bangladesh. In May 2018, Daraz group was acquired by the leading online giant Alibaba Group. Daraz Bangladesh has a young, dynamic and creative team that brings innovation and different innovative concepts for the upcoming and developing digital Bangladesh. Moreover, Daraz Bangladesh brings different campaigns and flash sales which price offerings Bangladeshi people can never dream of.

Trustee between Sellers and Customers

Instead of buying products and selling them to customers (retail model), Daraz acts as a trustee between sellers and customers (marketplace model). Thousands of sellers (screened by Daraz) list their products on the portal.

Daraz always prioritize their customers by:

- Dedicated Customer experience team who are working on rolling out new customer centric projects so that customer experience can be continuously improved.

-Dedicated team who look after issues being brought up by their customers. So that even though the customer has faced any problem, they solve it in the best way possible so that the customer returns to them.

-Daraz is constantly dedicating their time to build and improve their relationship with the customers so that customers don’t just think about prices when they come to them, they think about the complete experience.

Best Prices and Deals One Can Get

The Prices on Daraz are defined by the seller. Therefore, to understand how pricing works in favor of both the seller and customer, we need to appreciate the conditions amenable to competitive  pricing that are available to sellers on the Daraz platform.

Daraz business model has four advantages which directly influence pricing on the website:

Changes Encountered

In 2018, Alibaba, the China-based global e-commerce giant, acquired Daraz Group, one of the leading e-commerce companies in Bangladesh which was launched initially by Rocket Internet. It was a strategic initiative to open up South Asian markets and cast an important limelight on the sector. When Alibaba took over Daraz; their structure, internal process and management become more formal, organized and more secure.

While this was a huge boost to the growth of e-commerce, other factors also played a defining role. Such as- the gradually improving access to the internet and rising smartphone usage across households. The integration with Alibaba has mainly brought changes to the technological side.

Daraz Bangladesh recently launched the biggest sale day 11.11 and achieved huge success from the Bangladeshi marketplace and brings new offers and products for the people like-Fatafati Friday, 12.12 campaign. Various mega deals and other exciting features like Flash Sales, Love Vouchers, Happy Hour, Shake Shake etc. will be available during the 12.12 campaign as well.

New Investments and Women Empowerment

Recently Daraz’s majority of the investment is made on developing logistics infrastructure, including a 200,000-square-feet warehouse, a 150,000-square-feet fully automated sorting center and more than 150 hubs. It already has over 60 hubs across the country.

A portion went towards the creation of entrepreneurs or e-commerce merchants through different projects. The platform is already running some projects such as Nandini, which aims to create female e-commerce entrepreneurs. The main objective of this project is to empower women through e-commerce education and create women entrepreneurs. Dedicated to women, this yearlong project includes various campaigns each month which includes huge discounts, flash sales, attractive vouchers and many more.

A Simple Boost to the SMEs

Daraz Bangladesh has launched DEXPORTS in order to support small-and-medium enterprises (SME) that have suffered significant losses due to the economic fallout caused by the COVID-19 global pandemic. As the product of a collaborative relationship enjoyed by the two companies (Alibaba Group and Daraz Bangladesh Limited), DEXPORTS presents an opportunity for local sellers in Bangladesh to access the international markets and connect with millions of buyers across the world.

DEXPORTS is a platform to enable local SMEs in Bangladesh to obtain access to the global market. Through the DEXPORTS, a Bangladeshi SME can have special access to Alibaba. com to reach a larger global customer base. By using this access, local SMEs can directly communicate with international buyers with locally made products.

This new platform aims to boost government revenue earnings and employment in the country. The main objective of this DEXPORTS program is to strengthen the country’s SME segment by providing global focus through Alibaba.com and creating opportunities for local exporters to interact with approximately 20 million international active buyers registered on Alibaba.com. The DEXPORTS program also minimizes the cost for an SME to pursue globalization and also to establish socioeconomic development by creating employment opportunities.

COVID-19 Situation

Daraz has lost around 5,000 of its import-dependent merchants soon after travel bans were issued around the world in order to curb the spread of coronavirus. But then in May 2020, the company added more than 10,000 local retailers to its platform. To provide customers with a better shopping experience amid the coronavirus crisis, Daraz has completely revamped its logistics technology. Customers from across 48 districts are already ordering their daily necessities or engage in gaming facilities available on the Daraz app.

To combat the changing situation and support buyers and sellers, Daraz increased the number of packaging stations, drop-off and collection points it had. However they also prioritized home deliveries with the reasoning that customers were reluctant to come out of their homes. It also started to undertake some initiatives to benefit sellers. Amidst the ongoing pandemic, Daraz has launched four platforms: D-Mart alongside D-Fresh for groceries, Daraz First Games for gaming and Dpharma for medicine. Since May 2020, the number of sellers on the platform started to rebound again for their new strategies and unique initiatives.

Future Prospects

Daraz has announced its plans to invest BDT 500 crore by 2021 to set up logistics infrastructure and hubs that would help expand its footprint to all 64 districts. They have already started their delivery in all extended areas from this year. To back its expansion, it aims to build logistical infrastructure and local hubs across the country. Infrastructure remains a critical limitation for ecommerce companies in Bangladesh. For instance, a lack of delivery infrastructure continues to negatively affect the consumer experience and the growth of ecommerce in Bangladesh. With the new investment, Daraz aims to tackle some of these limitations and leaps ahead of the competition.