Tens of thousands of e-commerce and F-commerce entrepreneurs have faced a significant setback due to the recent internet shutdown and associated violence linked to the quota movement.
After a five-day broadband outage and a ten-day mobile internet disruption, entrepreneurs are now grappling with slow internet speeds as they try to recover.
Besides, social media including Facebook, WhatsApp (partly) has not yet been launched as Bangladeshi government claimed that these platforms did not follow the constitution of the country.
Some entrepreneurs are attempting to access Facebook through VPNs, but they are still not achieving the desired results.
Various Facebook-based businesses are experiencing financial losses, with traders estimating that they are at least a few months behind where they should be.
The recent internet shutdown has inflicted severe damage on Bangladesh’s economy, with estimated losses surpassing $10 billion, according to the Foreign Investors Chamber of Commerce and Industries.
Noor-e-Mehazabien, who runs the Facebook page “Hello from Noor’s Kitchen,” has struggled due to the slow internet and Facebook shutdown.
“My business has suffered significantly because of this situation in the country,” she explained, noting that her page’s reach has diminished.
“It will take at least a month to return to the previous level,” she added.
Tasnuva Mehnaz, owner of Mehnaz Collection, shares similar concerns about the “tortoise speed” of the internet.
An Instagram-based seller, who requested anonymity, also reported significant difficulties due to the slow internet.
Facebook groups formed by small entrepreneurs have lost visibility over the past 10 days. Facebook’s algorithm reduces traffic to pages that become inactive, and many regular buyers were unable to log in during the outage.
Consequently, even with the restoration of the internet, many businesses remain at a standstill.
Nandita Kutir, an online home decor retailer, reported that while their page had an automatic boost running during the outage, it failed to attract customers due to the lack of internet access.
“The damage has already been done,” said Israt Lamia, director of Nandita Kutir.
“Our page’s reach is reduced now, and even with the internet restored, buyers are still not available. It’s an irreparable loss for entrepreneurs,” she added.
Md Farooq, who sells electronic products online, noted that past fraud cases like Evaly and E-orange had already harmed his business.
He had been relying on Facebook to recover, but the current situation has dealt another blow.
Any official comment on this matter has not yet been issued.
The losses
A news report on July 24 said that e-commerce businesses have lost at least Tk 600 million during the five-day nationwide Internet blackout, according to entrepreneurs, as they said their sufferings included difficulties ranging from tracking inventory to delivering goods amid a curfew.
While estimating the initial loss, e-commerce leaders anticipated that the overall loss would be much greater, which, they said could go up to Tk12 billion at least.
According to e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) data, around 350,000 people are directly involved in e-commerce businesses, with an additional 200,000 working part-time or as homemakers. Some 23 per cent of e-commerce business consumers are from rural areas, with the rest being city-based.
Insiders have reported that the ten-day internet blackout has resulted in a total daily transaction loss of Tk 1,200 crore for the F-commerce sector, averaging Tk 120 crore per day.
Some 2 to 2.5 lakh pages are being run by F-commerce entrepreneurs, with some 60,000 of them generating regular sales.
Of the Tk45-50 crore in total daily e-commerce sales, F-commerce contributes to around 80%.
