1.

Introduction

The study of strategic management has drawn so much attention among business practitioners and
academic researchers in the last two decades as globalization came fully into limelight. Bangladesh’s retail
industry is growing at an impressive rate due to the country's booming economy. A few retail companies
have crossed the milestone of 100 retail outlets in the country. More importantly, multiple formats of
retailing are getting deployed, indicating that the industry is reaching a new level of sophistication. Retail
chains in Bangladesh today are not necessarily built with multiple shops bearing a common name and logo.
Rather, the leading retail companies are implementing newer formats with integrated distribution chains.
Retail companies are expected to face multiple challenges as they grow. Some of these will be related to
changing customer behaviors, sustaining growth and the need to innovate continuously. To overcome these
challenges successfully, retail companies will need to employ the right kind of technology. A number of
large retail companies today use at least one software application to manage their organizational activities.
While some of them have implemented globally recognized retail solutions, others have chosen locally
developed ones. Most of these companies use software at the point of sale and to manage their finance and
accounting. Globally, most revenue gains have occurred through online channels. Moreover, the growth
rate of online channels has been several times higher than that of total retail growth. At the same time,
traditional retailers have been experiencing flat or declining sales due to their absence from online channels.

Strategy is considered to be a detailed plan for a business in achieving success. Managers employ strategy
to achieve result. Strategic management practices and organization performance goes together, but most
business enterprises place less emphasis on making effective strategy for improved performance. Strategic
management is based on the belief that an organization should continually monitor internal and external
events and trends so that timely changes can be made as needed. An organization must be capable of
astutely identifying and adapting to change. The need to adapt to change leads the organization to key
questions such as: what kind of business should the firm engage in? is the firm in the right field? Should
the firm reshape its business? What strategies should it pursue? Other cognate questions could also be
raised. So, in this study we will discuss the effect of firm objectives on strategic management practice.
1.1 Objectives of The Study
Retail sector has grown tremendously in Bangladesh. The impact of strategic management in the retail
sector of Bangladesh is significant. So, this study is prepared with some objectives:
 To know about strategic management practice.
 To find out current scenario of retail sector in Bangladesh
 To discuss some of the major retail brands in Bangladesh and their goals
 To analyze the different e-commerce websites that are significantly contributing in Bangladeshi
retail sector.

1.2 Methodology
This study is mainly based on secondary data related to strategic management practice in the Bangladeshi
retail sector. Secondary data and information have gathered from Internet browsing, Books, Journals,
Research paper etc. Primary data and information also have collected through using observation and taking
other respected person opinion.

1.3 Limitation
The major limitation factor for this report is that information from different sources were quite inconsistent
which created some problems in making the assignment & compelled us to verify the information
diligently. The time limit was also a fact because at this moment the vacation is going. So, it was quite hard
to keep everything at a run.
 2. The Concept of Strategic Management Practice
2.1 The Concept of Strategy
A business strategy is an overall plan of action which defines the competitive position of a firm. Strategy
is frequently described as a deliberate set of actions to achieve competitive advantage, giving coherence
and direction to the organization. Literature suggests that firms can have a single strategy or multiple
strategies and these strategies are likely to exist at three levels. They are the corporate level, business unit
level and functional level business strategies. A business strategy is an overall plan of action which defines
the competitive position of a firm. For example, a firm may choose to compete by producing high quality
goods or by producing at low cost. Business strategies are implemented through the major functional areas
in finance, production, marketing, human resource management (HRM), and research and development
(R&D). In turn each functional strategy is made up of several activities. Therefore, activities act as guides
to the realization of the overall business strategy.
There are three levels at which strategy is practiced in organizations; corporate, business and functional
level.
 Corporate strategy determines what the business should be and how the activities should be
structured and managed. The strategy is responsible for defining theirs’s overall mission and
objectives, validating proposals emerging from business and functional levels and allocating
resources with a sense of strategic priorities.
 Business strategy is concerned with maintaining competitive advantage in each strategies business
unit. Business strategy or competitive strategies are concerned with how an organization is going
to compete in a specific business or industry.
 Functional strategy or operational strategies are the short-term (less than a year) goal directed
decisions and actions of the organization’s various functional areas. Functional areas are such as
marketing, operation, production, finance, and human resources. The company needs to maintain
its competitive strategy from each functional area in order to support business & corporate strategy.

2.3 Strategic Management Practices

Strategic management is an on-going process that evaluates and controls the business and the industries in
which the company is involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing
and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy regularly to determine how it has been
implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed
circumstances, new technology, new competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial,
or political environment. Strategic Management defines the purpose of the organization and the plans and
actions to achieve that purpose. It is that set of managerial decisions and actions that determine the long-
term performance of a business enterprise. It involves formulating and implementing strategies that will
help in aligning the organization and its environment to achieve organizational goals. Strategic
management provides overall direction to the enterprise. Firms that pursue sustainable strategic
management base the formulation, implementation, and evaluation of their strategies on an analysis of the
ecological issues they face, the values they hold that support sustainability, and the ecological interests of
their stakeholders.
Researchers have associated business strategies with performance, distinguishing between strategies
associated with high and low performance. Strategies which result in high performance are identified with
activities that generally lead to success in the industry; that is key success factors. These activities are
associated with initiatives in industry. Researchers have identified such initiatives to include emphasis on
product quality, product and service innovations, development of new operating technologies, and
discovery of new markets. Activities associated with high performing strategies also include emphasis on
customer service and support, extensive advertising, and use of external finance. Thus, the existence,
survival and growth of retail industry are indispensable for business as a whole.
.
2.3 Impact of Strategic Management Practices on Performance of Organizations:
The performance of an enterprise is determined by the business strategy it adopts. Strategies which result
in high performance are identified with activities that generally lead to success in the industry; that is key
success factors. These activities are associated with initiatives in industry. Researchers have identified such
initiatives to include emphasis on product quality, product and service innovations, development of new
operating technologies, and discovery of new markets. Activities associated with high performing
strategies also include emphasis on customer service and support, extensive advertising, and use of external
finance. Further, because high performing strategies involve initiative-taking, they are often referred to as
proactive strategies.

Firms which perform below average tend to follow others in the industry and to react to events in their
environment. Such firms are characterized by strategies which emphasize risk avoidance and involve little
innovation. Strategies of low performing firms include limitations of more successful firms in the industry,
but usually fall short in some important respect. The activities that comprise these strategies are often not
well integrated and are mismatched with the demands of the environment.
Focusing on business strategy items and performance, some studies have identified that there are some
relationships between strategy activities and performance. The activities of improving existing products to
meet changing customer needs, developing new products and emphasizing product quality are associated
with market share increases by attracting new customers and retaining existing ones. In contrast, low
performing firms are likely to ignore these innovative and risk-taking activities. High performing firms are
implementing new production technologies, emphasizing cost effectiveness and concerned with employee
productivity to compete with competitors within the industry more so than the low performing firms.
When firms are advertising more, identifying brand names for products, greater emphasizing customer
service and credit, exploring marketing techniques, it leads to an increase in high performance. As far as
financial strategic activities are concerned, they also stated that high performing firms use more debt
financing and assessment of costs and benefits associated with alternative sources of external funding than
the low performing firms. Research shows that owner-managers, who seek the assistance of experts and
make networks within the industry, perform better than those who do not. Some empirical studies
investigated the different strategy typology (orientation) and performance of firms. Average performing
firms exhibit a combination of proactive and reactive strategies.
 3. Bangladesh Retailing Industry
3.1 Overview
Retail trade is one of the traditional businesses of Bangladesh. This trend caught on in Asia in the late
1990s-2000s with China being the first Asian country to bring the concept of retail marketing. Bangladesh
is part of a fourth wave that just barely has emerged in the last few years. In Bangladesh supermarkets have
successfully made a breakthrough in the urban lifestyle with the idea of “all essential commodities under
one roof.” In 2001, Rahim Afrooz Ltd changed the face of retailing in Bangladesh by launching the first
retail shop – Agora. However, many consider Aarong to be the first retail shop in Bangladesh. Its first retail
store was opened in Dhaka in 1978. Retail industry in Bangladesh offers more variety, convenience and
hygienic commodities which are otherwise not offered in traditional wet markets more commonly found.
This industry’s expansion is keeping pace with population growth and changes in consumption patterns,
which are consistent with the growth of the economy. This expansion has not been structurally organized,
because, until recently, retailing had never been perceived as an industry, but rather as an individual or
family business entity with a very limited scope of organized expansion. Little to no market information is
available on the retail sector, but some secondary sources indicate that Retail is one of the biggest sources
of employment (12 percent), and it contributed 13 percent (wholesale and retail trading) to Bangladesh’s
GDP. Organized retail is booming and creating huge opportunity for enterprises.
Retailing in Bangladesh is one of the pillars of its economy which provides largest employment
opportunities in the country. Comprising of organized or unorganized sectors, retail industry is one of the
fastest growing industries. Retail shops in Bangladesh range from open-air temporary shops to well-
equipped modern supermarkets. Retailing has advantages both for customers as well as wholesalers and
manufacturers. It provides bulk breaking, assorting, storing and informing facilities to customers. Besides
it helps wholesalers and manufacturers to distribute goods to the customers, collect information from
customers and absorb risk. Moreover, retailing provides economic utility by creating form utility, time
utility, place utility and possession utility.

3.2 Type of retailers:

The target market of Bangladeshi retailers can be categorized in the following sections. Types of retailer
available in our country are as follow:
1) Department Stores: These retailers are general merchandisers offering mid-to-high quality products
and strong level of services, though in most cases these retailers would not fall into the full-service
category. While department stores are classified as general merchandisers some carry a more selective
product line. For instance, In Bangladesh, the most common name is Almas, Priyo and PQS. It is easy to
find toys, cosmetics, apparels, shoes and so forth. So the range of products sold by them is highly
diversified. The target groups for these retailers are specialty market.

2) Category Killers or Big Box Store: Many major retail chains have taken what were previously
narrowly focused, small specialty store concepts and have expanded them to create large specialty stores.
A large retail chain store that is dominant in its product category. This type of store generally offers an
extensive selection of merchandise at prices so low that smaller stores cannot compete. The “category
killers” are found in such specialty areas as electronic (e. g., Best Buy), office supplies (e. g., Staples) and
sporting goods (e. g., Sport Authority). In Bangladesh, there is a presence of this kind of retailers like
BATA, Apex, Diamond World, Artisti Collection, etc. They all have specialized themselves in one
particular product category.

3) Super Store or Hypermarket: A hypermarket or a superstore combines a supermarket and a department

store. The result is a very large retail facility which carries an enormous range of products under one roof,
including full lines of groceries and general merchandise. In theory, hypermarkets allow customers to
satisfy all their routine weekly shopping needs in one. Jamuna Future Park or Bashundhara City could
be a close proximity as they provide large parking lot and wide variety of shopping items.

4) Supermarket: These are markets which are small compared to hypermarkets. In most cases these
markets are self-served. Their target consumers are not really the mass market. They lie somewhere in
between the specialty market and the mass market. In Bangladesh the perfect example of super market is
Nandan, Agora and Meena Baazar. They are the leaders in super market industry.

5) City Market: City market is quite available in Bangladesh. The famous city markets of Dhaka are New
Market, Karwan Bazar and Town hall market. The price is very cheap and the customer service is low
as well. The sellers don’t have to pay high rent for their shopping carts, and so they can charge lower prices.
The target customers are mass market. In terms of profit, these sorts of market are the most profitable.

6) Convenience Store: They are small stores that carry a limited line of high-turnover convenience goods.
They are the stores which are just located besides our house. In Bangladesh they are widely available. The
target customer is again the mass market. The level of customer service sometimes depends on the personal
relation with the seller.
7) E-retailer: This type of retailer enables customers to shop on-line via the internet and buy products
which are then delivered. This type of retailer is highly convenient and is able to supply a wider geographic
customer base. E-retailers often have lower rent and overheads so offer very competitive pricing.

3.3 Types of Fashion House:

There are two kinds of fashion clothing stores:

1. Retail fashion store:

It specializes in selling new clothing products created by fashion designers which may (or may not) be
dictated by celebrity trends. Some retail fashion stores have gone to such specialized extent that they only
offer the works of their in-house designers. Others have a number of brand names and designer names
offered in one roof.

2. Fashion boutique:
It specializes in personalized service; cozy ambience and unique merchandise are offered here.

3.4 Online shopping in Bangladesh:

Online shopping is becoming popular in Bangladesh, encouraging new entrants to open e-portals for
consumer goods and household essentials. In the past one year, nearly a dozen online shopping portals or
e-trading platforms launched operations, offering products and services from vegetables, clothes, computer
accessories to books and travel tickets, said IT sector insiders. The trend started after Bangladesh Bank
cleared ways for payment by debit and credit card in the local currency. The extent of visits and deals made
through these online portals is rising. An increased use of internet-enabled mobile phones also added vigor
to online shopping. Some online stores have already kept provisions to place orders by mobile phone. The
total number of Internet Subscribers has reached 67.245 million at the end of February, 2017 in
Bangladesh (according to BTRC). Among them Dhaka has 22 million active Facebook users (according to
a study conducted in 2016). It resulted in a number of growing online businesses in Facebook. Such as-
Butterfly by Shagufta, Mumu Maria, and Vogue by Prince etc - they all started their business online first.
After a certain period, when they started to gain popularity and became well-recognized, they opened
physical store and made many branches also. Now they are very accepted and well-liked boutique houses
in especially Dhaka.
Bangladesh’s headway in online retailing coincides at a time when online portals account for a major share
of daily retail trade in the developed world. Some 150 merchants are linked with akhoni.com that promotes
clothes, electronic gadgets, mobile phones, travel packages and restaurants. They receive many orders from
different parts of the country. PriyoShop, Bagdoom, Daraz, BdShop, AjkerDeal, EasyShoppingBD,
Zuumzuum s etc are some of the major online retail shops. More online shops are growing very rapidly
now-a-days to facilitate consumers.

4. Popular retail brands in Bangladesh and their strategic planning

 4.1 Agora
In 1998, Mr. Rahim recognized that a gap existed in the Bangladeshi food retail sector. Despite the
existence in Dhaka of a large, educated population, food retailing remained undeveloped, with the advent
of modern supermarkets still to come. The Rahimafrooz business group, already diversified into the
manufacture of acid batteries, cotton textile mills, and the distribution of tires, batteries, and accessories,
felt that further expansion into a stable sector such as food retailing would be beneficial, and a chain of
modern supermarkets would both allow the company to take advantage of the gap in the retail food market
and further diversify its business portfolio.
After a year of careful consideration and informal market studies, Mr. Rahim hired some filmmakers, who
produced a video that captured the great diversity in food retailing in Dhaka – from street-side vendors
with their small quantities of fresh produce to the slightly larger outlets in the kaccha bazaar1 (local
markets). The video proved what had been Mr. Rahim’s suspicion: that while food was an important part
of the consumer budget and a large part of the retail system, little had changed in the way business was
done since he was a young man. He wondered how much of this lack of change was due to a lack of
consumer demand and how much was due to simple inertia in the food retailing system.
The Business Plan
Before the Agora project was implemented, a detailed business plan was written to ensure that the
implementation would be well thought out and smoothly run. Major components of the business plan are
defined below.
Strategy: The strategy behind Agora was in line with that of the Rahimafrooz group as a whole: to create
the best long-term value for all stakeholders, including customers, employees, suppliers, and others. The
wider vision associated with this strategy was to change the quality of the shopping experience for
consumers, create a good working environment for employees, and form mutually beneficial, long term
partnerships with suppliers.
Key characteristics of the strategy were its customer focus and the company’s “total commitment to
customer satisfaction.” The benefits of this customer focus would exceed all expectations. Components of
the business plan that demonstrate this obsession with customer service included:
 A Human Resources Department that would recruit, select, and train staff members who were
customer oriented and displayed a high degree of customer care. This would require continuous
staff training and development and the creation of a customer-oriented service culture.
 Operating procedures that would ensure a hygienic, comfortable, convenient, exciting, and friendly
environment as well as a memorable shopping experience. This atmosphere would be supported by
a stock of high-quality products with reputed brands, carefully selected to offer customers total
value for their money. It entailed setting new industry norms in standards of retailing and customer
care and improving these norms continuously.
  Procurement practices that emphasized long term relationships with suppliers, developing them as
partners who would share in this new effort to bring quality products to Bangladeshi consumers and
ultimately develop new, local products for the market.

Financing the Venture: Rahimafrooz’s strong business reputation and previous borrowing history gave
the company a significant amount of leverage with banks, so interest rates lower than those given to new
entrants could be achieved. It was decided that a debt equity ratio of 70:30 would be maintained for the
supermarket project.
Developing an Organization: The human resources plan was to recruit new college graduates and put
them through rigorous training for their work at the new store. At the central administrative level, more
experienced personnel with broader business backgrounds were being sought to provide support to Mr.
Rahim. Lining Up Suppliers: The initial assessment indicated that Agora would need to be very selective
about suppliers, so considerable effort was devoted to developing a plan to recruit, educate, and retain
suppliers who would also become partners in the effort to revolutionize retailing. An ad was placed to find
such suppliers, to which over 500 people applied. They were supplemented by a list of potential suppliers
compiled from the initial analysis of competitive retail outlets.

Marketing Strategy

Products: Product decisions were based on an analysis of product ranges at existing retail
outlets. A mix of local and international brands was maintained to ensure that customers found
the variety of items they required to meet their needs. Overall, the strategy was to promote local
brands because they were easier to procure and there would be fewer problems of tampering with
expiry dates. It was also recognized that in the initial years, the expected volume of sales would
not justify the direct import of international brands, but every effort would be made to ensure that
Bangladesh was not used as a “dumping ground” for inferior foreign products. While screening
for quality sometimes led to limiting the product range, the emphasis on quality was never to be
compromised. There are over 8500 SKUs2 in each store organized in eleven departments – bakery,
cosmetics, dairy, fast food, fruits, fish, grocery, household, meat, pharmacy, and vegetables. Each
product has its own SKU, which suppliers must provide and which facilitates customer handling,
inventory, and supplier management as well as demand and sales pattern analysis.

Prices: The strategic importance of competitive pricing was recognized very early in the planning
process. Supermarkets are generally low margin businesses that rely on high volumes to be
profitable. While supermarkets were a new and unfamiliar concept in Bangladesh, qualitative
research suggested that consumers associated them with higher prices because of the new and
unfamiliar retail features. Therefore, it was critical to be price competitive from the beginning to
ensure that new customers did not feel that Agora’s products were beyond the reach of their
pocketbooks.

To ensure such competitiveness, it was decided that regular monitoring of prices for a typical basket
of goods was necessary. The specific items in the basket varied by season, but included those that
were likely to be in demand for the particular week being surveyed. For example, one week in
February the following items were monitored in the Kaccha bazaar:
 Vegetables: potato (new, red, small), garlic (China, local, single), onion (Indian, local),
ginger, cauliflower, capsicum, brinjal (long), kheera, tomato, barboti, radish, carrot
(local);
 Fish: shrimp (large), batashi, bach big, kajoli, taposhi, rui (large), rupchanda;
 Fruit: jackfruit (kathal)
 Meat: chicken (local), broiler (S/O);
 Grocery: sugar, chinigura, nazirshail (5kg), fresh oil, teer oil.


Prevailing market prices were used to determine the price for comparable items offered at Agora.
For the first store in Dhanmondi, the price comparison point set was the kaccha bazaar in New
Market; for the second store it was the bazaar at the Gulshan 1 market. For specialty items not
available in the local market, such as imported fruits like strawberries and cherries, there was
greater freedom in setting prices.

Place: The plan involved opening four supermarkets in the first two years of operation. Each
supermarket was to have at least 7,000 square feet on a single floor with adequate parking.
Market demographics suggested that Dhanmondi, Gulshan, Shantinagar, and Uttara, with their
high concentrations of middle to high income households, were likely locations for the first new
supermarkets. Gulshan, with its high concentration of affluent and foreign households, was
considered likely to be immed iately successful, while Shantinagar, with a more middle-class profile,
would hold promise for future success. Mr. Rahim considered the Shantinagar store to be
strategically important because success in this very middleclass area would suggest a broader and
larger potential target market than previously imagined.

Promotion: While price competitiveness was a key strategic decision, Agora’s difference was not
going to be based on low prices but on the “total shopping experience” it promised. Therefore,
sales promotion incentives such as bonus offers, coupons, and raffles were encouraged over price
discounts to contrast Agora from supermarkets such as Nandan and Meena Bazaar, which
emphasized price more than value or incentives.

The advertising and communications budget come from a fixed percentage of monthly sales and
revenue from the rental of in-store space and in-store promotions by product manufacturers and
distributors. This budget is shared by the marketing department, which is responsible for media
advertising, and the store managers, who are responsible for store promotions.

Implementation: Agora Becomes a Reality

When the first Agora store opened in Dhanmondi in January 2001, the response from customers
differed from expectations in two ways: the actual number of daily shoppers was double what
had been estimated, but the value of the average market basket was smaller than expected.
Overall revenues were higher than had been planned for, but not as high as they could have been
if the predicted average basket amount had been achieved.

The higher customer count required Mr. Rahim and his team to act quickly to ensure that the
planned level of customer service could be maintained. More check out counters had to be added,
staff hired and trained, aisles redesigned, and promotional activities shifted. This additional work
in Dhanmondi pushed back the opening date of the Gulshan store.

Agora’s second branch opened in Gulshan one and a half years after the Dhanmondi store, in
June 2002. Early results from the Gulshan location were the exact opposite of what had been
experienced at the Dhanmondi branch: the number of shoppers was lower than expected, but the
value of an average basket of goods was higher.

Follow up investigations suggested that Dhanmondi customers, drawn from a more middle class
background, shopped for food and groceries themselves. Gulshan residents were more dependent
on their servants and drivers to do their shopping. Gulshan customers also purchased more
imported, higher value products, such as fruit, processed items, snacks, and personal care
products. The local/imported product mix is more balanced in the Dhanmondi store while the mix
is biased towards imported products in the Gulshan store. Customer responses to advertised
products also vary by store location.

Current Status

Suppliers: Over the past two years, the number of suppliers has grown. The goal is to have at
 least three suppliers for each item, more for perishable items. Currently there are over 500
suppliers, of which approximately 150 specialize in the importation of foreign goods. Agora’s
growing reputation now attracts suppliers who are eager to be associated with this innovative
food retailer.

Evaluation of Progress

The modern food retail sector in Bangladesh has experienced a great deal of activity since the first
Agora store opened in 2001. It is interesting to note that the rapid growth of competing modern
retail outlets has not had an impact of Agora’s growth patterns. Since opening the first store, Agora
has experienced an average annual revenue growth rate of 32%. Agora’s continued success
despite the emergence of strong competition can be attributed to its overall strategy. Agora has
created a strong brand name in the mind of consumers, a brand that is associated with high quality
and good service, thereby creating value in the eyes of consumers.

While Agora expects to become profitable in the long term (5-7 years), the immediate goal is to
make each store self-sustaining in the medium turn.

4.2 Shwapno
Operated by ACI Logistics Limited, Shwapno is the top retail brand in Bangladesh. As the largest
retail chain in the country, Shwapno touches the lives of over 35,000 households each day. ACI
Logistics made its entry into retail in 2008 as “Fresh and Near” in order to fulfill the company’s
“Seed to Shelf” vision of connecting farmers directly with consumers. Starting off with fresh
produce and daily household needs, Shwapno outlets now carry everything from apparel, home
décor, electronics and much more. This includes a number of grocery private label brands as well
as the in-house fashion label Shwapno Life. Today, Shwapno operates 56 outlets across Dhaka,
Chittagong, Sylhet and Comilla, with a total retail space of 310,000 square feet and a workforce of
over 2,500. Shwapno operates multiple outlet formats from small convenience stores to large
megamall layouts (ranging from 1,500 to 27,000 square feet), providing the ideal experience for
customers in each location. The company has been successful in reaching its position as market
leader (with 45% market share) not only because of the exceptional quality, value, convenience
and service it offers customers, but because Shwapno has been successful in developing a truly
world class retail architecture and shopping experience for the first time in the country.

Market Positioning

Shwapno started with the same philosophy as Walmart, the retail giant of the west. It aimed to
provide a wide assortment of good-quality merchandise at the lowest possible prices with a pleasant
shopping experience.

Brand Name and Logo Development

Though ACI has a recognized brand name for its consumer and pharmaceutical products its name
has not been tagged with the stores as it is not a very suitable name for a chain store. Almost all
other chain super shops has a one word name that is easy to remember and the name themselves
suggest that they are a shop (Agora, Meena Bazar) or refers to pleasant experience (Nandan).

Place

Shwapno, at the peak of its expansion in 2009 had 59 outlets across 16 districts of the country and
a huge supply chain management problem. It incurred severe losses and was forced to reduce its
outlets to 42 by 2011. Since then Shwapno has redesigned and streamlined its business processes
in accordance to market research findings and have emerged as price leader in the retail industry.
It currently operates 46 outlets across 5 districts (38 in Dhaka, 2 in Gazipur, 1 in Narayanganj, 1 in
Chittagong and 4 in Sylhet).

The Shwapno outlets are designed in a very simple manner. They have bright signage and simple
toned down exteriors so that consumers are not intimidated to enter the store. The interiors are also
simple but appear colorful because of promotional streamers and banners placed strategically to
add color and capture attention which allows a comfortable shopping experience for its customers..
All outlets control aroma by using the same air freshener.

Product

Shwapno’s product portfolio consists of over 25000 stock keeping units (SKU). Currently these
products are separated into four business divisions: Grocery, Company Goods, Non-food-
divergence (NFD) and Restaurant. NFD was introduced to raise the gross profit of the business
model and so far it has achieved marvelous results. All the products offered by Shwapno are divided
in to 24 master categories as presented in Table 3.1.

Price

Shwapno is the current price leader in the retail industry and offers the lowest prices compared to
other retailer superstores and in some product categories it competes with the Local Wet Markets
by offering lower prices.

Promotion

Shwapno uses banners, leaflets, posters, signage at storefronts and advertisements in the print
media to reach out to its customers. SMS alerts are also given to regular customers to ensure that
they are aware of current offers and discounts. They have new promotional offers every weekend
targeted towards its store driver protein products like beef and fish, commodity products like rice
and edible oil and various CG and NFD products. With offers that vary every week these are
effective ways to make sure they gain the maximum attention with in the shortest possible time.

People and Process

ACI Logistics, the company which runs Shwapno employs around 1500 people around the country
who manage the outlets, the inventory, the warehouse and the supply chain and help run this
massive operation. The sales staffs receive continuous training to improve customer service. It uses
sophisticated information systems, ERP software, SAP and EPS (A house software developed by
ACI’s MIS department) to control inventory and manage the supply chain.

Target Market

Shwapno is a classic example of mass marketing that failed to attract the masses. Even though as
a price leader and the strength of almost 3 times the numbers of outlets compared to its nearest
competitors it had its basics right, the problem essentially was the fact that the masses in
Bangladesh belong to the lower income groups and would not come to retails super stores. Even
though Shwapno still strives to bring the masses in to its stores its main customers essentially are
the lower middle, middle-middle and upper middle-income groups which constitute about 28% of
the population. The income of this group ranges from BDT 25000-40000, BDT 41000- 60000 and
BDT 61000-100000 respectively. The customers are men aged between 30 to 40 years and women
between 26 to 50 years of age. Working men and women as well as housewives come to the stores
and no specific gender or occupational patterns could be found.
 4.2 Aarong
Aarong is an enterprise of BRAC (Building Resources Across Community) and it’s a CSR based
handicraft company established in 1978. Aarong means “village fair” Today; Aarong reach has spread
beyond Manikganj to the rest of the country. At present Aarong is operating through 9 domestic outlets
and one franchised outlet in Londonwear handloom terracottaretail chainsBangladeshi patternspaid for
. Aarong has more than 488 products in their outlets. They have grown into a thriving international
enterprise showcasing ethnic to beautiful crafts from silks, cotton, bamboo, jute and much more. From a
single shop, Aarong has grown into one of Bangladesh's biggest, with Twelve outlets spread across the
major metropolitan areas of the country - in Dhaka, Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet and Comilla, Narayangonj
and one in London, UK. Aarong embraces and nurtures a diverse representation of 65,000 artisans, 85%
of whom are women. Aarong also plays the role of protector and promoter of traditional products and
designs. It houses an extensive design library where remnants of our rich craft heritage, such as
Nakshikatha art and Jamdani, have been widely researched and archived for present as well as future use.
Aarong was born out of a need to ensure that the penniless silk farmers of Manikganj were their goods
upon delivery, so that they could feed their families. The women Aarong employs are among the countries
most disadvantaged. Through Aarong they have been offered a way out of destitution and degradation
where before they had none. Aarong provides a wide range of services to its workers and suppliers:

 Spot payment on product delivery to encourage efficiency and productivity

 Reach out to producers in remote areas to ensure fair value for their efforts
  Marketing communication and information for artisans
 Advances against purchase orders where necessary
 Training & Education in skills development to raise product quality and marketability
 Product Design and Support in Product Development
 Quality Control to increase producer awareness of the importance of quality

These values reflect fair trade principles which have been developed by registered Fair Trade
Organizations. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and
securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers in Bangladesh

Aarong values

 Innovation: BRAC-Aarong has been an innovator in the creation of opportunities for

the poor to lift themselves out of poverty. We value creativity in programme design
and strive to display global leadership in groundbreaking development initiatives.

 Integrity: BRAC-Aarong value transparency and accountability in all our

professional work, with clear policies and procedures, while displaying the utmost
level of honesty in our financial dealings. We hold these to be the most essential
elements of our work ethic.

 Inclusiveness: BRAC-Aarong are committed to engaging, supporting and

recognising the value of all members of society, regardless of race, religion, gender,
nationality, ethnicity, age, physical or mental ability, socioeconomic status and
geography.

 Effectiveness: BRAC-Aarong value efficiency and excellence in all our work,

constantly challenging ourselves to perform better, to meet and exceed programme
targets, and to improve and deepen the impact of our interventions.

Objectives

BRAC-Aarong takes a holistic approach in conceptualizing and developing each of its enterprises.
As BRAC enterprises have expanded from program support mechanisms to surplus generating
enterprises with financial and social missions, each enterprise has ensured that it complying the
four fundamental objectives of a BRAC-Aarong enterprise:

 Creating job opportunities

 Generating surplus for BRAC in order to minimize donor dependency

 Ensuring long-term support and contribution toward the sustainability of BRAC‟s

development interventions such as microfinance, education and skills development
etc.

 Becoming viable investments in the long run in order to act as „hedge‟ against future
liquidity.
 4.1 Aarong’s vision

Aarong‟s Vision is to create a world free from all forms

of exploitation and discrimination where everyone has
the opportunity to realize their potential.

4.2 Aarong’s mission

Mission of BRAC-Aarong is to empower people
and communities in situations of poverty,
illiteracy, disease and social injustice. Our
interventions aim to achieve large scale,
positive changes through economic and social
programs that enable men and women to
realize their potential
Daraz.com.bd: Daraz a globally leading e-retail brand officially launched its operation in
Bangladesh as daraz.com.bd, a venture by Rocket Internet one of world's largest Internet &
mobile platforms.

Founded: 2014
Founder & Chairman: Sumeet Singh
Category: Daraz Bangladesh already maintain 13 category they are Men’s Fashion, Women’s
Fashion, Phones & Tablet, Tv, Audio & Cameras, Computer & Gaming, Appliances, Home &
Living, Sports & Fitness, Beauty & Health, Baby, Kids & Toys, Automotive & Motorcycles,
Gifts, Grocers shop, Pet Suppliers.
Focused Category: Electronics, Mobiles, Home & Living, Health & Beauty.
Alexa ranking in BD: 37
Alexa ranking in Global: 13,451
Daily Page view: 161,621
Advertisement cost per day: $485
Advertisement cost per month: $14,546
Traffic source: 94.4% from Bangladesh & rest of others company.
Negative Traffic Growth: Daraz.com. bd's recent traffic trend shows 8.43% Negative growth.
Website page loading time: 90% page load within 2 second.
Facebook like: 4,146,387(verified)
Employee: approx. 40 employees (after merge with kaymu.com)
Age Purchase Ratio: From this analysis we can clearly see that the majority of the people that’s
highly involved are people who are in their early 20’s, which is 90% of my sample population.
The second largest groups are the people in their late 20’s which is 7%. The teenagers are at 3%
and out of 41 individuals that participated in the survey none of them are over thirty.

[Source: Daraz survey 2016, support document]

Gender Purchase Ratio: From the chart above we can see that there isn’t a very big gap between
Male and Female user regarding their involvement with e-commerce businesses. While the male
participants are 56% and the female are at 44%, just a mere 12% gap. So we can see although the
men are being more involved but the women aren’t falling behind. So Daraz should continue to
target both male and female as their consumers.

[Source: Daraz survey 2016, support document]

Product Ratio: 90% original/brand Product & 10 % copy/non brand product.
Membership: E-cab Member
Source:
 Free website report: http://www.freewebsitereport.org/www.daraz.com.bd#est-dtl

 Alexa: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/daraz.com.bd#?sites=daraz.com.bd

Ajkerdeal.com: Ajkerdeal.com is the largest online shopping mall and a sister concern of
bdjobs.com (recently bdjobs has sold their 25% stake to the Australian number one job portal
SEEK international at 38.5 crore.) & beshto.
Source: Free website report: http://www.freewebsitereport.org/www.ajkerdeal.com

Founded: 2011
Founder & CEO: A K M Fahim Mashroor
Category: 35 main categories.
Investment: Fenox Venture Capital, 10 crore Innotech
Total Product: More than 100000 products
Merchants: More than 2000.
Focused Category: Those product which price is tk. 99 to tk.1999, Very cheap Gadgets Items
Alexa ranking in BD: 150
Alexa ranking in Global: 38225
Daily Page view: 57,137
Advertisement cost per day: $171
Advertisement cost per month: $5142
Traffic source: 90% users come from Bangladesh.
Positive Traffic Growth: 1.60%
Website page loading time: 90% page loaded at 4 sec.
Facebook like: 456,976
Regular Delivery: Around 1000
Employee: 150(approx.)
Age Purchase Ratio: Middle class, 18-36 year.
Ajkerdeal Agents: 12 districts.
Order Ratio: 70% order comes from outside Dhaka.
Ajker deal Facebook Statistics:
Gender Purchase Ratio: Male 80%, Female 20%
Product Ration: 80% replica/copy product & 20% brand product.
Membership: E-cab Member.
Source:
 Alexa: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/ajkerdeal.com#?sites=ajkerdeal.com

 Free website report: http://www.freewebsitereport.org/www.ajkerdeal.com

 Future Startup: http://futurestartup.com/2015/12/06/fenox-venture-capital-launches-in-

dhakaannounces-200-million-fund-for-local-internet-startups/

 Future Startup: http://futurestartup.com/2016/06/27/ajkerdeal-raises-undisclosed-amount-

newfinancing/

 Future startup: http://futurestartup.com/2016/07/30/fahim-mashroor-on-ajkerdeal-

ecommerce-andinternet/

 Future Startup: http://futurestartup.com/2016/12/19/inside-ajkderdeals-big-plan-take-e-

commercebeyond-dhaka/
  Social bakers:
https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/facebook/pages/detail/1501510493482910ajkerd
eal

 Pitchbook: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/ajkerdeal-profile-investors-funding-valuation-
and-analysis

Bagdoom.com: ‘Bagdoom.com’ as the new identity of ‘akhoni.com’. Bagdoom.com has been

designed with splendid experience of purchasing online with more fun and more exciting
Bagdoom.com has arrived with more convenience, ease and better experience of online shopping.

Founded: 2010
Co-Founder & CEO: Syed Kamrun Ahmed
Category: 4 main categories. Men, Women, Electronics, Home & Living.
Focused Category: Fashion & Lifestyle & e-store
Alexa ranking in BD: 650
Alexa ranking in Global: 83,235
Daily Page view: 28,650
Advertisement cost per day: $85.95
Advertisement cost per month: $2,578
Traffic source: 86.9% come from Bangladesh.
Negative Traffic Growth: 55.49%
Website page loading time: 90% page complete with 7sec.
Facebook like: 832,694 (verified)
Employee: 15-20
Age Purchase Ratio: Teenage 18-28
Order Ratio: 200+ daily orders
Gender Purchase Ratio: Teenage specially girls.
Membership: E-cab Member.
Source:

 Social bakers:
https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/facebook/pages/detail/193946357317792bagdoo
m-com?country=bangladesh

 Alexa:
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/bagdoom.com#?sites=bagdoom.com&sites=ajkerdeal.com
 1. Conclusory Matter

Recommendation:
In Bangladesh, there is a great deal of interest in B2C E-commerce; however, due to various
economic, infrastructural and legal reasons it has not spread. Most important companies,
associations, chambers and now most of the government offices have set up websites. These sites
mainly provide information about the organization, and its products and services. There are very
few sites where financial transactions can be completed. Main reasons for low ecommerce
transactions are absence of legal framework for completing an electronic business or financial
payment system, low Internet usage due to lack of adequate telecom facilities, and overall lack of
confidence in the security and reliability of B2C E-commerce transactions. Several factors are
important in the online marketing compared to traditional method:-

 Pricing is an important consideration for standard products. Customers compare products

available on the Internet and usually buy the lowest total price offerings. It is also necessary to
offer prices lower than the traditional outlets to encourage buyers to shop online.
 There should be an EFT (Electronic Fund Transfer) Gateway, which will connect all finance
and banking institutions, ATMs, POS and related websites. Such Gateway will speed up the
transactions among banks, commercial institutions.
 A CCG (Credit Card Gateway) should be established. A credit card gateway is a server that
makes online credit card transactions safe (Skinner, 2005).
 To expedite the installation of second submarine cable joining for extending high-velocity
internet facilities. Yet at present is the time to plan for the installing of third submarine cable.
 Government might invite individuals and private sectors to extend broadband joining in rural
areas under public private partnership. In that connection, NGOs working in the remote areas
possibly involved. This will then be measured as government-private-NGO Corporation.
 Mass-produced regularly purchased uniform products should be made easier to sell online than
custom-produced items..
 To accept steps for cutting internet joining fees and the price of bandwidth.
 If the product and service are described in unique terms or combination of terms the searchers
are likely to use the search engines which will find that offering more easily and present it to
potential customers.
 Service business is particularly suited to the Internet as their products can be more easily
produced and delivered with digital process. Digital information can be collected and
disseminated over the Internet at lowest cost.
 To ensure security of credit purchases over net as a standard called ‘Secure Electronic
Transaction (SET)’ has been adopted by MasterCard and Visa that involves the use of digital
certificates to
 Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) should be established
independent of the government control.
 Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and private international gateway for voice and data should
be allowed.
 Government officials are to be oriented on the benefits of e-commerce. For instance short course
can be offered at training centers such as the Public Administration Training Center (PATC).
 Business associations and organizations should be made aware of the benefits of e-
commerce. BGMEA can play a significant role in this.
 Greater competition among the Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should be promoted and new
ISPs should be encouraged to come into business.
7.2 Conclusions:
Nowadays every second’s world moving so fast only used by technology positive side, Bangladesh
is a small and developing country but it’s time to changing. In the world most of the country day
by day more popular B2C E-commerce system even Asian some country; China, India, South-
Korea and Japan.

Despite the encouraging state of implementation, e-commerce can never be deployed until and
unless an Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Gateway and a Credit Card Gateway (CCG) have been
established. These two Gateways will eliminate the security issues in e-commerce and enhance the
e-transactions. In addition to that, creating awareness among the citizens and the business
organizations is essential for the implementation and growth of e-commerce in Bangladesh.

Synergy between telecommunications and information technology has the proven capability of
monitoring and administering the real-time transactions. Therefore, liberalizing the telecom and IT
sectors as well as reforming the country’s financial and commercial procedures is the preconditions
of successfully implementing ecommerce in Bangladesh.

From our study we come to conclusion that through this e-commerce, Bangladesh can be prosperous
in the business arena of the world. All the major countries of the world are trying to embrace this
technology with open arm. We cannot just wait and see this tremendous phenomenon. We have to
take active part in adopting this technology. If we become unsuccessful, the ray of modern era will
never come to our country. So for the betterment of the nation we have to take drastic measures as
early as possible. Our hope for future lies in the hand of e-commerce.

References:
 The Daily Star: http://www.thedailystar.net/business/tradeshi-ties-alibaba-e-
commerce-1291180

 Dhaka Tribune: http://archive.dhakatribune.com/business/2016/jan/31/e-commerce-

bangladesh

 Alexa: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/daraz.com.bd#?sites=daraz.com.bd

 Free website report: http://www.freewebsitereport.org/www.daraz.com.bd#est-dtl

 Prothom alo: http://en.prothom-alo.com/economy/news/71583/Youths-mostly-active-

in-Bangladeshe-commerce

 Payza Blog: https://blog.payza.com/e-commerce/country-spotlight/country-spotlight-

understandingconsumers-cross-border-e-commerce-bangladesh/

 Payza Blog: https://blog.payza.com/e-commerce/industry-trends/10-trending-

products-sell-online2017/

 Future startup: http://futurestartup.com/2016/07/20/only-23-of-bangladeshi-internet-

users-shoponline/

 e-cab blog: http://blog.e-cab.net/ecommerce-orthonitike-aro-canga-korbe/

 Alexa: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/ajkerdeal.com#?sites=ajkerdeal.com

 Free website report: http://www.freewebsitereport.org/www.ajkerdeal.com

 Future Startup: http://futurestartup.com/2015/12/06/fenox-venture-capital-launches-

in-dhakaannounces-200-million-fund-for-local-internet-startups/

 Future Startup: http://futurestartup.com/2016/06/27/ajkerdeal-raises-undisclosed-

amount-newfinancing/

 Future startup: http://futurestartup.com/2016/07/30/fahim-mashroor-on-ajkerdeal-

ecommerce-andinternet/
 Future Startup: http://futurestartup.com/2016/12/19/inside-ajkderdeals-big-plan-take-
e-commercebeyond-dhaka/

 Future Startup: http://futurestartup.com/2012/02/19/fahim-mashroor/

 Social bakers:
https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/facebook/pages/detail/1501510493482910ajk
erdeal

 Pitchbook: https://pitchbook.com/profiles/ajkerdeal-profile-investors-funding-
valuation-and-analysis

 Social bakers:
https://www.socialbakers.com/statistics/facebook/pages/detail/193946357317792bag
doom-com?country=bangladesh

 Alexa:
http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/bagdoom.com#?sites=bagdoom.com&sites=ajkerdeal.
com

 Free website report: http://www.freewebsitereport.org/www.bagdoom.com

 Daily sun: http://www.daily-sun.com/post/147214/ecommerce-in-Bangladesh-has-

enormous-growthpotentials

 Future startup: http://futurestartup.com/2016/06/07/waseem-alim-of-chaldal-part-one/

 Fsindex: https://fsindex.co/organizations/chaldal-com

 Alexa: http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/chaldal.com#?sites=chaldal.com

 Dhaka courier: http://www.dhakacourier.com.bd/rokomari-com-making-a-difference-

for-books-inbangladeshi-e-commerce/

 Alexa : http://www.alexa.com/siteinfo/rokomari.com#?sites=rokomari.com

 Free report: http://www.freewebsitereport.org/www.rokomari.com