In a conversation, AHM Hasinul Quddus Rusho, CCAO, Daraz Bangladesh Limited, elaborates on the world’s biggest one-day sale campaign and how it will help to transform Bangladesh’s e-commerce sector.
Since the start of the pandemic, Bangladesh’s e-commerce sector has experienced significant growth both in terms of users and revenue generation. As Daraz’s operations depend on numerous stakeholders (client/vendor/government), how challenging has it been to rise to the sudden surge in demand?
Since the start of the pandemic, Daraz saw around a 200% increase in orders placed per month. It has been gradually surging over time, as going out for shopping has become riskier. Catering to such rapidly altering rates has been challenging for us, but on the brighter side, it has pushed us to evolve as an entity. An enormous amount of facemasks, face-shields, sanitisers and other safety products are still being delivered through Daraz to our customers’ doors. To provide so many families with crucial support in time of need was very motivating for us. At the start of the pandemic, many of our sellers lost a large chunk of capital due to confusion and uncertainty in the market. However, once we ensured proper health safety measures, many sellers returned to business, which helped us cater to the customers’ demands. In addition, our government has been incredibly supportive by issuing directives that eased the supply of necessary items to every doorstep. The various incentives and improved regulatory policies for e-commerce are helping Daraz stand stronger on a more sustainable foundation.
Daraz will organise the World’s Biggest One Day Sale Campaign (11:11) 2021 on 11th November. How is preparation so far?
The preparation is on full-throttle! Alibaba Group launched the 11.11 campaign to celebrate Single’s day among its ecosystem all around the world. Daraz has been hosting the 11.11 campaign every year since 2018 when it became a part of the Alibaba ecosystem. The mandate of this is to give the customers a unique digital shopping experience on its platform. 11.11 has already turned into a signature symbol for Daraz in Bangladesh, as we made and broke many sales records over the past three campaigns. The entire team of Daraz – from our in-house personnel to sellers and logistic partners – are all charged up and ready to witness another execution of what promises to be one of the world’s most successful shopping festivals. We have stocked up on the most demanded products from analysing customer records and made sure that we provide the most cost-efficient deals on those so that 11.11 is a win-win for everyone involved.
As we have already mentioned, Daraz has to operate with multiple business partners or vendors. How does the company supervise its operations during the World Biggest One Day Sale Campaign to deliver the products?
The sellers are compelled to comply with all the laws, rules and policies of the government along with the business policies of Daraz, starting from accepting the orders from the customers, packing the products and dropping off the products to a Daraz designated place for the smooth operation of the campaign. To meet customers’ demands and to comply with the commitment timeline for delivering products to customers’ doorsteps, Daraz ensured active involvement of all its third-party logistic partners. Daraz has also appointed an additional 1500 riders to deliver products through its logistics channel-DEX, closely supervised and monitored by a specialised in-house logistics team. Daraz has set up 77 hub offices across 64 districts to ensure efficient and smooth delivery of products.
The e-commerce industry is going through a crisis right now. How can the one-day sale campaign (11:11) play a role in developing customers’ trust in this crisis moment?
We have to first understand that it takes time for the mass to perceive the fundamentals of any new business industry and its operational chains. E-commerce is a recent phenomenon in the trade industry. The sellers and the customers are still not aware of the process or mode of completing a transaction between the seller and the customer. A few unscrupulous business entities took the grey area as an opportunity to exploit the ordinary people, which is very unfortunate and reprehensible. However, Daraz Bangladesh, as a part of a globally renowned e-commerce chain Alibaba, has installed its credibility and dependability with such efficacy that we could still retain and acquire more customers with time, despite the crisis.
The 11.11 campaign will add to overcoming the e-commerce predicament and engage a significant number of customers into the country’s biggest online marketplace, ultimately benefiting the country’s e-commerce ecosystem.
The 11.11 campaign will add to overcoming the e-commerce predicament and engage a significant number of customers into the country’s biggest online marketplace, ultimately benefiting the country’s e-commerce ecosystem.
As the 11:11 campaign is the world’s most extensive one-day sale campaign, how much engagement are you expecting this time?
Last year, we generated $2.5 million in sales within the first hour. Moreover, we received 400,000+ orders and achieved $10M+ sales in one day. During the peak hours, we received almost five times more orders than on a regular day! And records suggest that these statistics shall only keep rising. Therefore, this year, we are expecting such engagements as well, if not more. Whatever the case is, Daraz Bangladesh is all geared up to meet your demands!
