News Title : Bangladesh has huge potential online marketplace

News Date : 2015-10-18

-Says Daraz CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen in an interview with New Age - Ahmed Shawki
With rapidly growing internet users in the country there is a huge potential for online marketplace in Bangladesh, said Daraz.com co-CEO Bjarke Mikkelsen. Daraz.com is an online shopping platform currently operating in three Asian countries—Bangladesh, Pakistan and Myanmar—which was started in Germany under the Rocket Internet. The total investment of Daraz is 50 million Euro while a major portion is invested in Bangladesh through Daraz.com.bd. ‘Daraz is a unique marketplace in this market. For us the most important thing is to gain trust of the customers. So we make sure that we only offer original and brand new products unlike some other online stores. We also try to create additional value or unique proposition for the customers of Daraz which distinguish us from others,’ Bjarke said in an interview with New Age on Wednesday at the company office in the capital. Explaining a plan to attract the offline customer, he said, ‘We are focusing on regular market through events like Black Friday which we will launch soon. That day we will offer our partner products with great discounts and deals. We will provide phone numbers so that those who don’t have internet can just call and make the order.’ ‘In future we have plans to introduce products which will only be available in Daraz. For example, currently we are in talks with a Chinese phone brand for an exclusive launch in our website for Bangladesh market.’ He said, ‘We also encourage community partnership where anyone can become our partner and sell products on behalf of us in his/her community. Our community partners can also earn commission through the process.’ Bjarke said Smartphones are the hottest product in Daraz, ‘There is hype about smartphones in the country and people are getting more engaged with the internet through their phones. Fashion items are also popular.’ When asked about a recent government notice that warned about sale of illegal or unauthorised smart phones through online platform, Bjarke said, ‘Obviously we will comply with any such regulatory orders. Currently, we place our product with enough screening. But sometimes we don’t have full control on these issues but we are working to make things better here.’

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