Chaldal, the leader in online grocery space in Dhaka, quietly launched a logistics spin-off early this year [Cue: read our coverage of Chaldal]. The concern, named Go Go Bangla, offers logistics services to small and medium ecommerce companies in Dhaka. After more than six months, Chaldal now aims higher, “at Go Go Bangla we want to become your partner in ecommerce,” says Waseem Alim of Chaldal.
Founded three years ago, Chaldal has grown significantly over the last couple of years. The startup now delivers 650 orders per day with an average basket size of US $ 20 dollars. It has improved service quality, added one-hour delivery option and recently launched subscription service. It employees more than 300 people, maintains its own logistics and operates from several zones in Dhaka which allows the startup to maintain one-hour delivery in those areas.
Over the years it has developed software and systems in order to achieve efficiency. Waseem Alim, in an interview with Future Startup in June [Cue: read Waseem's interview here], said “at this point even if we do 6000 orders, we wouldn’t fail. [...] We are applying software to plan delivery routes. We are mapping out entire Dhaka (city). Plot by plot we find out longitude and latitude so that it appears on our deliveryman’s map properly and we can save 10 minutes of his time.”
With Go Go Bangla, Chaldal aims to leverage these capabilities. It now offers logistics service to ecommerce and f-commerce companies in Dhaka. If you want to avail the service you can call Go Go Bangla or email them. Currently, it offers same-day delivery. The standard charge for per delivery is BDT 60, and for more than 5 packages, the company offers free pickup and same day delivery.
Go GO Bangla is still in early stage. “We are testing the service,” says Waseem. It now works with around 4-5 ecommerce and f-commerce companies and the number of clients is growing. The startup is particularly interested in working with small ecommerce and f-commerce services and has plans to go beyond Dhaka.
Logistics is one of the key pain points for many ecommerce companies in Dhaka who depend on the third party logistics services for delivery. There is already a host of logistics startups trying to solve the problem and the competition in the sector are growing rapidly.
Go Go Bangla has a couple of advantages over other players: it can serve Chaldal and its logistics clients with the same resources, has expertise in the space gained through Chaldal’s delivery, and will have cost advantage over other players. It has also downsides as well: it will be difficult for the service to move fast and focus for the same reasons it enjoys advantages over others.
For now, Go Go Bangla is a logistics service but Chaldal has other plans for the service. “In the last three years, we’ve learned an incredible amount about ecommerce in Bangladesh, we’ve developed process and systems, software and programs, we want to share some of those with other ecommerce companies in Dhaka,” says Waseem.
