Economic Reporter :
Seasonal fruits sales through online have been gained momentum amid the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Online business has been greatly popular with traders, along with young entrepreneurs in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and other districts famous for mango production.
However, traders claim that the supply of mangoes has dropped somewhat because of fewer buyers and the high transportation cost during the ongoing nationwide lockdown. Due to the ongoing lockdown, many young educated entrepreneurs have started an online business of seasonal fruits from Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and other such districts and they are happy with this profession.
These young entrepreneurs are selling mango through online platforms including social media and messaging apps like Facebook, Imo and WhatsApp, getting good response from customers.
Komol, a professional trader in Rajshahi, has started an online business for the first time this year along with regular selling. He said he could not sell mangoes as much as he expected last year because of the Covid-19 pandemic, resulting in losses for him.
“I have 40 mango trees in my orchards and rented six more orchards at Tk 3 lakh. I expect 700-800 mounds of mangoes from those orchards in total,” said Komol.
The trader was concerned about this year’s sales as well due to a renewed lockdown across the country.
“Which is why I opened a Facebook page a few days ago named ‘Mango Brothers Rajshahi’ with help from others, and I am getting good response from customers every day,” he added.
“I have already received responses from Gaibandha on my Facebook page to deliver 30 mounds of Gopalbhog mangoes at a price of Tk 55 per kg with courier costs and I have more orders is in the pipeline,” Komol said, adding that he delivered 75 mounds of mangoes in the last three days to different districts in Bangladesh including Dhaka, Faridpur, Narayanganj and Gazipur.
This trader claimed to be selling formalin-free mangoes online at reasonable prices and plans to sell Fazli, Lengra, Gopalbhog, Himsagar, Khirsapat, Ashwina and Khisanbhog varieties.
According to the Department of Agricultural Extension, there are 152 varieties of mangoes in Bangladesh, 31 of which are most commonly grown. Every year about 25 lakh tonnes of mangoes are harvested in some 85 lakh mango trees.
Mohammad Hassan Uzzaman is a final year student of IBA at Rajshahi University (RU). He was supposed to complete his graduation last year but his exams were postponed due to the coronavirus and the lockdown.
Instead of sitting at home, he started an online mango business with his friends.
He opened a WhatsApp and an Imo group and invited his Facebook friends to those groups to let them know about his new online business. He also plans to open a Facebook page very soon to help his business increase rapidly.
“I am already getting massive response from my Facebook friends,” said Hassan Uzzaman, “I purchase fresh mangoes from different orchards, package them and then send them off via courier.”
“I have already sent five mounds of Gopalbhog mangoes to Dhaka and Narayanganj. I am also getting calls from other districts and I hope they will order as well,” he added.
Samsul Haq, another online mango trader from Rajshahi, has a Facebook page, an Imo and a WhatsApp group dedicated to mango business. His business has a pre-order system so that anyone can pre-order different varieties of mangoes from them.”
“The pre-orders depend fully on our mutual trust,” he said.
“So far I have delivered 55kg of mangoes to different districts in Bangladesh but I am getting many more orders from the Dhaka district,” Samsul added.
Shofiqul Islam has bought mangoes from online shops called ‘Shodai’ and ‘Shwapno’ and different Facebook pages. His experience with online mango shopping has been good so far.
“These platforms save our time. However, sometimes we have to face issues such as delayed delivery and receiving products different from the actual order,” said Shofiqul.
He recommended shoppers choose from renowned online platforms and Facebook pages such as Mascobazar.com, Shwapno, Shodai and Khaas Food for purchasing mangoes.
