Asaduzzaman Khan has been living in Canada for the last 34 years. Last year, his relatives in Bangladesh wanted him to celebrate Eid-ul-Azha with them, but with his busy schedule, he couldn’t make the trip.
However, Khan did one thing: using his credit card, he bought three cows online, to be delivered to his home from amardesh.com. The Bangladeshi e-portal is a component of the Amar Desh Amar Gram (ADAG) e-commerce initiative of the Future Solution for Business (FSB).
The new trend
Like Asaduzzaman, many in the country have started buying sacrificial cattle during Eid-ul-Azha through e-commerce initiatives, since it has proven to be hassle free.
Mahbubul Haque, an employee of a private firm also opts for buying sacrificial cattle through e-commerce website. “Once it was fun to go to the qurbani haat (cattle market for Eid) with parents. But now with the ever increasing traffic, it’s very hard to move in the city, let alone carry an animal with me. So I opted for buying animals through the e-commerce site”, he said.
Haque said that he has already started looking for sacrificial animals on different websites, including amardesh.com, Bikroy.com, ajkerdeal.com, Kaymu.com and Bengal Meat website. “As soon as I get a good deal, I will buy an animal”, he said.
Nihad Ferdous, a banker by profession said that he has adopted the habit of buying groceries through Chaldal.com. “It didn’t grow easily – the habit of buying groceries through an e-commerce website because I thought if I can’t judge the product first hand, I will be given bad products. But I was impressed with the products and the service. Now I don’t go to the market, rather I buy all the things from the website”, he said.
This year Ferdous wanted to take it to the new level by ordering a cow through an e-commerce website. “Last year, one of my friends bought a cow through Bikroy.com and he got a very good deal without facing the hassle of going to any haat. This year, I am going to do it”, he said.
How it works?
The idea of selling sacrificial animals through e-commerce websites didn’t come to the mind of entrepreneurs all of sudden. Rather they thought of it as the need arose.
Sadequa Hassan Sejuti, managing director of FSB, said: “We developed the ADAG e-commerce initiative to cater for non-resident Bangladeshis and also the busy city-dwellers who want to avoid the hassle of going to the qurbani haat.”
The trade for qurbani at amardeshshop.com took off in 2012, as an extension of the existing business of ADAG.
“We started selling different agricultural products through the website in 2009. In 2012, we introduced the online cattle market for Qurbani,” Sejuti said.
amardeshshop.com has “centres” in eight districts across the country – Narsingdi, Tangail, Jamalpur, Kushtia, Mongla, Sirajganj, Rangpur, and Jessore.
“Farmers in those areas can come to our centres and upload information regarding their cows. We have two trained individuals in each centre to help farmers with the process,” Sejuti explained.
Once a prospective customer logs in and has chosen a particular cow, the rest is taken care of by the website – from the moment of purchase till the delivery of the “product.” “The customer only needs to ensure the online financial transaction,” Sejuti said.
The prices are inclusive of service and bank charges, and range from Tk50,000-100,000. Payment is taken by card, direct bank transfer or bank draft. Sejuti says the company offers home delivery services for the clients at a cost of Tk5,000 on average.
According to Sejuti, the website sold 25 cows last year. “This is not just a mere business that we are doing with the website. We reach the farmers directly and facilitate the process of selling the products without going through middlemen,” she said, adding that five cows have been sold via the website as of October 7.
“Our website now has the pictures and information of 52 cows. Another 70 cows are going to be added to the database,” she said.
Boon for the businessman
This digital haat on e-commerce websites has proven to be a boon for the entrepreneurs, as well as the seasonal businessmen.
Ishtiaq from Shahjahanpur, Dhaka has put up information on two cows he wants to sell on the website. He said: “I have those cows at my village in Munshiganj, and I’m asking for around Tk70,000 for each cow. With a site like bikroy.com, it has become easier to do business.”
Babul, an electronic goods trader, has posted information about three cows on the website. “I have already received several phone calls from different prospective customers. It’s good business,” he said.
Misha Ali, director of marketing of Bikroy.com said that anyone can register with the website and upload information about their cattle. “In the last few years, we used to cater to the price list of the cattle provided by the users and worked as a marketplace, nothing else. From this year, we have started selling the cattle of our own accord. We will also deliver the cattle to the doorsteps of our customers”, he said.