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e-Commerce

By Asif Tarafdar December 2021
What are the primary operational and focuses on their well-being and engagement with the
logistical challenges? company. At the end of the day our riders are our first line of
Last year, there was a pause in HungryNaki's ground-level staff, and we rely on them to provide our
operations for a brief period, and anything that customers with the best services possible. To encourage that,
begins after a pause comes with a set of we have to holistically manage our operations so that our
challenges. We need to ensure that an adequate financial packages make sense for our riders.
operational pace is attained. One of our
prevailing challenges is meeting the As a woman in a leadership position, how would you
assess the current environment for women working in
overwhelming rise in demands after
KEEPING promotional activities. We are keeping a close still exist in our corporate culture?
Bangladesh? Are there gender-specific challenges that
eye on what's happening at the ground level
If I look at it from our company's perspective, a significant
because it's quick commerce and things can
number of our workforce are female employees, and we are
change in a matter of seconds. As demand
PACE usually snowballs beyond the predictions, continually working towards building a diverse and inclusive
workforce. I think in the tech industry, we need more women
maintaining the accuracy of demand forecasting
in the workforce because they bring in more diversity.
is a lingering issue. There is no historical data
Moreover, female enrollment in the education sector is now
that we can use for forecasting, as the market is
so fluid and dynamic, that you have to adjust to
However, a few things still need to be addressed in terms of
the changing scenario. It has shown us to think higher than it used to be a few decades ago.
both long and short term. We have to consider career development for women. There is a need for structural
Tahmina Ferdousi, the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of HungryNaki, is passionate about driving changes in HR policies regarding hiring women and retaining
them after marriage. Our government policy regarding female
change for the better. Tahmina started her career at Unilever Bangladesh Limited as a workers needs to be reassessed and restructured as it was
Management Trainee in 2005 and kept rising up the ranks during her eight-year stint at the devised during the British Era and was primarily intended for
company. She has earned an esteemed track record in multi-category development and FMCG factory workers. Things have drastically changed; we have
scale-up while working for Berger Paints Bangladesh Limited and Marico Limited. In an women working in different positions across various
industries. Therefore, it is about time a proper policy is
interview with ICE Today, Tahmina Ferdousi elaborates on the current scenario of the online implemented which addresses women's issues in aggregate.
food delivery industry and how HungryNaki is evolving to rise to the shifts in consumer Furthermore, we see a significant drop in female employees
demands in a post-pandemic world. after childbirth due to a lack of childcare facilities in the
workplace. Lack of proper childcare facilities is one of the
biggest impediments to the progress of women working in
Bangladesh. The corporate sector can start by providing child
What’s the current scenario of the into their busy lives. Therefore, the industry is growing with care and other supporting facilities so that women can come
online food delivery industry in the combination of new and existing users. the long term infrastructure and processes we back and join because otherwise, we lose a lot of talent in the
Bangladesh? In short, the industry is evolving as a result of a shift in need to bring on board, and the capabilities we process. At the government level, there is a mandated
We can dissect the online food market in consumer behaviour regarding online platforms and need to develop to ensure all facets of six-month maternity leave which all companies have to
Bangladesh into various segments. The consumption. People are now accustomed to ordering online, HungryNaki are working hand in hand. comply with. Additionally, policymakers need to look at the
entire ecosystem is the online given the convenience. This trend will continue. There are HungryNaki is scaling up to serve the broader structural changes required to create an equitable workforce.
environment, and within the online multiple players, however, the market will consolidate as we Bangladeshi consumer base with new leadership In reality, there isn't any difference between men and women
environment, there is another segment scale up. and greater operational efficiency across the in terms of aptitude and attitude. They have equal ambition
called quick commerce, which is board. We anticipate that the demand for riders and aspiration. However, what we have seen is there is an
basically anything delivered within 1-2 HungryNaki has recently been acquired by Daraz will rise significantly as we scale up. In terms of issue regarding security.
hours. From that angle, the online food Bangladesh, a concern of the Chinese e-commerce logistics, there are a few challenges. There is a Both men and women coming from outside Dhaka face
market has boomed. It was already giant Alibaba Group. How will the change in leadership demand-supply issue from a rider perspective housing and safety issues. Most offices do not provide
growing, but from 2020 the market has impact its operations? which we have addressed by facilitating a new transportation to return home after work, so safety and
grown at an astonishing pace. There has been no change in the DNA or what the company ordering system that ensures better visibility security becomes a concern, especially for women.
From a consumer angle, the pandemic stands for. We want to provide food to the broader and efficiency for the riders. From an interim These are some of the things that policymakers need to think
has catalysed the mass adaptation of the Bangladeshi consumer base, and we want to partner with perspective, the solution is to recruit more about. Having said that, I will also add that the situation has
ecosystem across various segments. It’s restaurants and create a good working environment for our riders. But HungryNaki always has fixed riders improved a lot compared to when I joined the workforce.
not just internet savvy using the riders. The acquisition will allow HungryNaki to leverage the in its paybook as dedicated resources. While the Companies are now realising the importance of having both
platform; the user base has expanded to strengths and scale of Daraz and the technical knowledge a market operates in a freelance model, we have men and women in the workforce as different perspectives
the mass population. Additionally, global company brings to the table. We have the local insights, continued to keep full-time employees as it help provide holistic solutions. HungryNaki, as a company,
existing users are increasingly but to scale our operations smoothly and efficiently, we also allows certain operational advantages. To practices inclusivity and diversity. In terms of retention, we
incorporating the use of quick commerce have the support and technical know-how of Alibaba and ensure efficient recruitment and retention of will ensure that the structural scaffolding is in place to retain
Daraz. riders, we have devised a full HR policy that our talent, irrespective of gender.

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