Online platform to hook up garment buyers, sellers
An area online platform for trading garment items was launched yesterday to help international suppliers and retailers meet exporters directly and facilitate verification of work orders digitally.
The platform -- Merchant Bay -- is a subsidiary of a leading garment exporting company, Sayem Group.
The internet is considered to be the backbone of future business as consumers' behaviours are changing for the advent of technologies globally.
The coronavirus pandemic proved the need of online businesses once more with most of the trade taking place online, such as for example end-consumers purchasing goods through platforms like Alibaba and Amazon.
"The Merchant Bay will expedite the export of garment items as the verification and audit of suppliers, retailers and brands will be completed digitally and by an efficient team," said Abrab Hossain Sayem, managing director of Merchant Bay.
Some 1,000 members registered with the platform although it was undergoing development in the last one year, he said at the virtual inauguration.
His company has been using home grown software and in some instances foreign technologies and he in addition has been using some services from Amazon, he said.
Merchant Bay, which has been working mainly as a matchmaking agent for buyers and sellers of garment items, has been generally charging Tk 1,500 per month as fee and in addition offers an annual package of Tk 20,000, he said.
He said all sizes of garment factories such as for example micro, small, medium and large units can do business through his platform.
In buying of garments, auditing and verification of the info of goods and factories are very important. Oftentimes, export orders get cancelled or suspended because of incorrect audit reports and verification of both factories and buyers.
"So we will verify the factories with this expert teams and if we are content with the factory visit and audit, we will send a verification badge to the buyers in order that they can rely on it and do business hassle-free," said Sayem while replying to queries of journalists.
The manufacturers and buyers can contact one another directly through this platform, he said.
Sayem said his platform would also help improve the productivity and efficiency in general management in the factories.
Rubana Huq, president of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), also said to be working on a concept for launching a virtual marketplace as online platforms have become very vital for investing.
Virtual transactions and e-commerce are the new reality running a business as these are one-stop service centres, she said.
Consumers' behaviours have changed a whole lot in the pandemic time, she said.
The reality of online business was realised when garment work orders worth $3.15 billion were cancelled by international retailers and brands through the March to April period because of this of the fallouts of the Covid-19 this season.
She also suggested launching platforms connecting businesses to consumers.
Shafiul Islam Mohiuddin, former president of the BGMEA and the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry, said the presence of customers to get of western retailers and brands was still low.
But there has been a boom in online sales as consumers prefer buying goods while staying of their homes, he said.
"We need to reach our goods to your consumers through online platforms as their behaviours also changed a whole lot," he said.
Posts and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar suggested keeping concentrate on human labour while choosing technological innovations.
Although automation has been overtaking many professional sectors, human skill and experience remain needed, he said.
Jabbar said the telecom sectors of four countries were currently inquiring to purchase Bangladesh because they believe this country was a significant market for them.
He said the federal government was attempting to launch 5G technologies soon in the united states.
Nokia has been asking to invest in Bangladesh since it believes the united states is a major market for smart mobile phone sets, he said, adding that currently 82 % of the smartphones employed by local customers were being produced locally.
He also said, with the advent of technological innovations, it was extremely hard to ignore artificial intelligence, robotics and big data.
However, the young generation of the united states needs to be trained in such a way they can utilise the potential of those technologies in a productive way, Jabbar also said.
