E-commerce in Business Companies of Bangladesh.

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1. Purpose:

 The main purpose of the assignment is to investigate the use of E-commerce in Business Companies of Bangladesh.

2. Abstract:

The Internet has opened up a new horizon for trade and commerce, namely electronic commerce (e-commerce). E-commerce entails the use of the Internet in the marketing, identification, payment and delivery of goods and services. This paper highlights the implementation strategy, implementation scope and implementation constraints in e-commerce of Bangladesh. Also the challenges in implementing them are discussed. Major legal, regulatory and institutional constraints to e-commerce are identified. The paper also lists specific policy changes aimed at bringing improvements to the legal and regulatory environment affecting e-commerce.

3. Introduction :

  1. Overview:

Technology is evolving faster than people’s ability to absorb it. The dramatic rise of the Internet has transformed the way business has traditionally been run. Thanks to the Internet, no longer is business restricted to limited geographical regions. Satellite communication and the Internet have made it possible for people to communicate almost instantly across continents accurately, efficiently and speedily.

Today’s industrial economy is evolving into a new business, environment in which money, goods, services and information are exchanged electronically. The Internet has thus thrown up unprecedented opportunities for even the smallest of businesses to compete with global conglomerates, while giving the bigger companies the possibility of reaching out further to its customers.

Internet’s greatest strength is its standard protocol; which enables communication from anywhere to anywhere, from any computer to any computer, completely transparent to those who are sending and receiving messages. It is the aspect of the Internet that allows companies to link their suppliers, buyers, reduce cycle time of time to market; thus enabling them to give competitive prices and operate profitably

what seemed impossible has now become more than possible. Today, companies are discovering that using the Internet for e-commerce has immense benefit. Today, several business applications are being developed on/for the Internet. Since the Net has the capability to bring together, individuals and corporate that are geographically apart, it has opened up an enormous opportunity of doing business transactions

between such physically distant entities. This new business paradigm that is fast emerging is better known as “E-Commerce”

In Bangladesh, e-commerce is just evolving, but the ball has been set rolling for an Internet revolution. E-commerce is no longer a luxury but a reality2. In the year 1990, there were about 1000pc sold in the country but it raised more than one lakh. Now, it is estimated that more than 60 ISP have been working in this country and there are more than 2 lakhs Internet users in the country3. So, there is a vast chance for the expansion of e-commerce in Bangladesh.

The Internet has opened up a new horizon for commerce, namely electronic commerce (ecommerce). The Internet, through advanced mechanisms of data transfer networks, establishes global linkages between customers and suppliers regardless of geographic location. E-commerce entails the use of the Internet in the marketing, identification, payment and delivery of goods and services. It involves order processing at company Websites and securing Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) payment systems. An e-market is a facilitated online environment that connects multiple buyers and suppliers in a single, Web-based hub to more effectively match supply and demand while reducing transaction cycles and costs. The e-marketplace works for companies engaging in collaborative business.

This is an Internet site where goods and services suppliers publish catalogues of their wares and service offerings, which can be accessed by a large number of buyers. Value-added services an e-market can offer include the provision of automated documents to speed up the negotiation process, decision-support information, and other e-commerce services — such as company profiles and financial services for credit checks, online transaction processing, and access to efficient means of fulfillment.

b. Definition of E-commerce:

 E means Internet and commerce means business. When we will break e-commerce into e and business, the definition is clear. E simply means anything done via the Internet and business means business. In this regard, electronic commerce is the process of doing business electronically or over the Internet. It involves the automation of a variety of business-to-business and business to consumer transactions through reliable and secure connections.

E-commerce can be defined as marketing, buying, selling and supporting goods and services by using Web based technologies, which allow the commerce through electronic media. Recently, the definition of e-commerce has broadened to encompass business conducted over the Internet and includes individuals and companies not previously known to each other. E-commerce encompasses the entire online process of developing, marketing, selling, delivering, servicing and paying for products and services purchased by Internet worked, global virtual communities of customers, with the support of a worldwide network of business partners. Electronic commerce systems rely on the resources of the Internet, intranet, extranets and other computer networks to support every step of this process.

According to Bajaj and Nag5, “E-commerce refers to the paperless exchange of business information using EDI, Electronic mail, Electronic Bulletin, Boards, Electronic Funds Transfer and other network-based technologies. It is not only automates manual processes and paper transactions, but also helps organizations move to a fully electronic environment and change the way they operate”. For the concrete conception about e-commerce the following definition can be put here. “E-commerce is about doing business electronically and encompasses many diverse activities both in the business-to-business market and in the business-to consumer market. Activities include electronic trading of goods and service, online

delivery of digital content, electronic fund transfer, electronic share trading, commercial auctions, collaborative design and engineering online sourcing, public procurement, direct consumer marketing and after- sales service. It involves both products (e.g. consumer goods) and services (e.g. information services, financial and legal services”. Finally it can be conclude by saying that e-commerce is the pre-eminent buzzword of the online business revolution. It captures the excitement and focus of this fast

emerging market. But it is more than a slogan or glib party line. At its core it embodies a concept for doing business online.

c. The Role of E-Commerce in the Era of Globalization

Globalization has brought in many changes in the business scenario with the whole world inching towards one big market place. Communication between the buyers and sellers has become critical as each can opt to explore a greater number of alternatives than ever before. E-commerce through Internet, e-mails, websites, and other facilities, enables a businessman to be linked with every corner of the world, and thus opens up greater opportunities in the world market. Another important factor is the time required for completing a business transaction. As markets are becoming competitive and information is more readily available, a quick, reliable and replicable transaction implies availing of prevailing opportunities. On the contrary, delays in processing a transaction might become synonymous to wasting an opportunity. Therefore, a fast and alternative mechanism of communication, contract, and payment is an integral part of a globally competitive business organization.

How important or relevant is e-commerce to the economy of Bangladesh – a developing economy – in general and to the export market in particular? The Information Technology (IT) revolution has been too phenomenal to predict its future growth and its use in an economy like Bangladesh’s. In the light of the recent spate of globalization and the initiation of the World Trade Organization (WTO), assessing the immediate and short or medium term relevance of e-commerce to Bangladesh becomes imperative. A review of the trade scenario of Bangladesh reveals that it has accepted the challenge of globalization by pursuing the most liberalized trade regime in South Asia. As a signatory of WTO, Bangladesh has accepted the Code of Good Practice of the WTO Agreement on Technical Barriers to Trade. Consequently, it is expected to adhere to various standards and technical regulations. To face the challenge posed by globalization, Bangladeshi producers will not only have to offer goods and services at competitive prices, but also ensure timely delivery, quality control and an efficient and reliable payment mechanism. However, the steps taken towards trade liberalization in Bangladesh become ineffective as a result of poor governance and weak infrastructure. Even simple day-to-day transactions with government bodies are characterized by unnecessary delays, obstructionism by public sector officials and demands for illegal payments. In addition to corruption, trade related regulations that are vague, contradictory and improperly implemented aggravate the situation.

4. Objective :

E-commerce facilitates the very process of international transaction; this involves securing and finalizing a contract, delivery of the product, and finally payment for performance of the contract. The movement of goods and services, as well as the payment mechanisms within a country and more so outside a country, are governed by regulatory and legal issues. Hence, the regulatory environment is at the core of e-commerce development. This paper aims to highlight the implementation scope, strategy, constraints, advantage and disadvantages of e-commerce development in Bangladesh. Also the challenges in implementing them will be attempted. The paper shall also list specific policy changes aimed at bringing improvements to the legal and regulatory environment affecting ecommerce.

5. Methodology :

This paper, presents an overview of the status of ecommerce in Bangladesh. It discusses the various links and ways of communication used in e-commerce.  In the Objective session the objective of implementing E-commerce in Bangladesh has been described. Then how to implement E-Commerce in Bangladesh has been described in the Methodology section. Then in Bangladesh the implementation areas and its scope are described. Then one case study of implementation area in Bangladesh has been made. Then investigation report of that case study is given. In the next section the present status, features, problem of implementation are discussed. Then conclusions and discussions are discussed. In the next section advantages and disadvantages of implementing E-commerce in Bangladesh are discussed. At the end in others column the advantage taken by implementing E-commerce in India has been discussed for an example.

6. Implementation Area in E- commerce of Bangladesh:

a. Background and Status of E-commerce in Bangladesh:

In the early days of the Internet, organizations leveraged the easy-to-use graphical point-and-click interface

of the web browser to access the enormous amount of information available on the Internet. While this was happening on the technology side, one also witnessed corporations grappling with new issues – that of escalating global competition, shrinking margins demanding customers and a rapidly changing business

environment. All these were forcing companies to re-evaluate the way they did business, the types of products and services offered and the speed with which they must make these available to customers. Therefore, in order to find a new competitive edge, companies were forced to look at newer ways of differentiating themselves. They soon realized that by strengthening their links with customers, partners, suppliers and distributors in a seamless networked environment, they could quickly bring to market the precise products and services the customer demands and, better still, when they want it. It is here that Internet (E-commerce) has come to represent the ultimate deliverance mechanism of the era.

The origin of the Internet has been traced to an experimental networks established first in 1965 with funding from the Advanced Research Project Agency of the US Department of Defense (DoD), to enable the scientists engaged on DoD projects to communicate with one another. The National Science Foundation (NSF) took over the academic community network project in the mid-1980s and created NSFnet in 1987. In 1991, a set of small commercial networks created the Commercial Internet Exchange (CIE) for commercial use. Commercial collaboration, technical support by e-mail, pay-for-use databases, which were forbidden on the NSFnet became possible on CIX, and gave a big boost to the growth of the Net10.

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According to the Computer Industry, Almanac Report from November 1999, there were 57.5 Internet users per 1000 people on a worldwide average11. In September 1998, John Gantz, senior vice president at IDC (International Data Corporation, Framingham, MA.), announced that the volume of Internet commerce would approach one trillion dollars by 2002. It is also felt that 80 percent of that volume is business-to-business transactions with expectations of that growing to 92 percent by 200312. By 2003, International Data estimates that 159 million people now connected online worldwide will have mushroomed to 510 million. This community is made up of ...

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