Finding products, the right ones, can often be a challenge for many online shoppers due to the limited collection of online ecommerce sites and social media based sellers. Searching one website after another for a product does not sound like something that you enjoy. But that’s what many shoppers have to do in Dhaka when it comes to shopping online due to a lack of a better collection. It is also tough because it is hard to understand which site is best for which product because everyone seems to be doing everything but is not good at everything.
This has created a weird challenge for the customers. They are always confused and are made to play this boring exercise of finding the right product. This problem is about to end, which means at least one less concern to worry about for the digital shopaholics in Dhaka.
Evaly, an up and coming e-commerce company, says that it has built an almost perfect collection of everything in Bangladesh - an everything store that comes with a lot of other perks. “Our ambition is to build an everything store where you would literally find everything,” Mohammad Rassel, a successful second-time entrepreneur and founder of Evaly told us. He told that his company has already managed to accomplish part of that goal. Previously, Rassel has successfully built a diaper company called Kidz Diaper in Dhaka.
As part of its everything store mission, Evaly started from the basics. It has started on-boarding retailers across the country. Although most of its current retailers and sellers are based in Dhaka, the startup has also managed to build a base of sellers in other metros across the country.
Evaly is scheduled to officially launch on 16th December and has already started testing the water. It has been running a pre-launch campaign where it is offering a huge discount on a wide range of products. You can learn more here.
As part of its everything store mission, Evaly started from the basics. It has started on-boarding retailers across the country. Although most of its current retailers and sellers are based in Dhaka, the startup has also managed to build a base of sellers in other metros across the country.
The idea is simple, if you could bring all the retailers of all types under one online platform, it means you can conveniently claim that you have every type of products on earth. Inspired by what Amazon has done in the US market, many ecommerce startups tried and are trying to build an everything store with various degree of success.
It is an extremely tough ambition to achieve. Evaly says it has a distinct and better strategy in place. Instead of trying to do it all in-house, it is empowering retailers and bringing them online. Evaly says it will allow it to ensure a wide range of collection as well as build a hyperlocal super-efficient logistics network across the country.
Evaly, an up and coming e-commerce company, says that it has built an almost perfect collection of everything in Bangladesh - an everything store that comes with a lot of other perks. “Our ambition is to build an everything store where you would literally find everything,” Mohammad Rassel, a successful second-time entrepreneur and founder of Evaly told us. He told that his company has already managed to accomplish part of that goal. Previously, Rassel has successfully built a diaper company called Kidz Diaper in Dhaka.
Evaly already has the largest number of retailers on its platform. They come from every category. Today, Evaly has over 4000 active categories of products on its platform offered by a long list of retailers who maintain a storefront at Evaly website. You can find lifestyle products to cars to the property to online ticketing to various services on Evaly. “We want to make sure that your shopping gets super easy and convenient. And to us, having a comprehensive collection comes first”, said Rassel. Just think about why people visit New Market (a shopping mall having a wide range of product collection in Dhaka) or Bashundhara City because you could relatively be sure that whatever you are looking for you would get there. But still, physical shopping malls have their own limitations. For example, New Market is not famous for shoes”. But digitally you could do both. Have the best collection of lifestyle products, cars, shoes, and services as well. And that is what Evaly has set out to do, he told us. The company thinks a comprehensive collection would allow it to serve its customers better and as well as have a long-term strategic advantage in the market.
Evaly has invested heavily in technology. You can easily search and find your desired product and it is likely that your desired product is already available from one retailer or other who has a storefront at Evaly.
We all have accepted the fact that ecommerce is going to change shopping and commerce. It already has in many markets. In many markets, we have seen traditional retailers struggle against strong eCommerce players. It is not easy for traditional retailers to start and thrive in an eCommerce business. The dynamics of these two worlds are different. Evaly says it wants to solve these problems for retailers in Bangladesh. “We are building the underlying infrastructure that will enable the retailers to take their business online,” says Mr. Rassel. “This is an act of true digitalization.”
When a retailer registers as a merchant at Evaly website, they get a storefront in the name of their own choosing. The storefront also has the details about the retailer such as address, contact details and so on. Customers can directly communicate with the retailers. When customers buy a product, they also get a money receipt from the retailer they buy from and later, if any problem arises, they could directly communicate with the retailer as well. Evaly facilitates interaction between retailers and customers both on and off the platform.
Evaly started with a cash bonus offer for the retailers. If a retailer registers and opens a shop at Evaly, they get an instant cash bonus. The campaign has been a runaway success. “Today, everyone understands the importance of digital commerce, says Mr. Rassel. When we approached retailers, they got it easily. It was a no-brainer. Although we started an acquisition campaign, we were and are surprised to see the level of response from the retailers.
Working directly with retailers offer two opportunities to Evaly. Small, medium and big - all retailers, will eventually need to have their own eCommerce operation. There are marketplaces that are offering similar opportunities. But they are more focused on the side fulfilling customers demand instead of empowering every retailer out there.
Evaly believes building an infrastructure to bring all these retailers online and giving them more control in the process of building their business offers an incredible opportunity that can fundamentally alter the eCommerce industry in Bangladesh. It not only allows Evaly to build a huge collection of every product relatively easily but also ensure an excellent customer experience. “And we simply want to make it happen”, says Rassel.
“We are building the underlying infrastructure that will enable the retailers to take their business online,” says Mr. Rassel. “This is an act of true digitalization.”
[su_divider top="no" divider_color="#adacab" link_color="#edde29" size="1"][/su_divider]
[su_divider top="no" divider_color="#adacab" link_color="#edde29" size="1"][/su_divider]
(This story was developed by Storylab, Future Startup’s in-house branded content studio, in collaboration with Evaly marketing team.)
