How MFSs help shine women f-commerce entrepreneurs
The number of women entrepreneurs doing businesses through Facebook grew by 40% during the pandemic.
Unlike her friends, Sima Akter, from the Katlahar village of Bogura's Shibganj upazila, did not think of any job after completing the honours and master's degrees from the National University in Political Science. She always had a dream to be an entrepreneur.
Her journey started with a training from a local NGO on making ornaments. Later, she began manufacturing different ornaments herself and selling them through a Facebook page.
She now sells products worth Tk50,000 to Tk60,000 per month and conducts all the transactions through mobile financial services.
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"At first, I started to manufacture different ornaments such as earrings, necklaces, bracelets, knuckles and hair bands and sell them through my Facebook page- 'Sima Collections'. Currently, 11 women from the surrounding villages work for me," she told The Business Standard.
"After receiving the order on Facebook, customers send the prices along with the courier cost through mobile banking services. We deliver products to different districts of the country," she added.
Excluding all the costs, her net profit is around Tk10,000-Tk12,000 per month.
"I can help my three-member family with the earnings. It would not have been possible for me to continue the business without the help of mobile banking," she added.
Not only Sima Akter, thousands of women entrepreneurs across the country including the rural areas have transformed their fortune through Facebook-based business or f-commerce.
Nasima Aktar Nisha, president of Women and e-Commerce (WE), and joint secretary of e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB), told The Business Standard that around 5.75 lakh women entrepreneurs are involved in f-commerce in the country.
"The total sales in the f-commerce sector of women entrepreneurs is around Tk600 crore per year. Among which around Tk400 crore is transacted through mobile banking services. The rest is through cash on delivery," she said.
"Earlier, the entrepreneurs used to transact the money through the banks and courier services. The process was a little complicated. But it became very easy after the introduction of mobile banking services in the country," she added.
Yurmung Marma, from Shuvolong Bazar area which is around 30km away from Rangamati, started selling shawls and women garments made by indigenous people in 2019 through a Facebook page titled The Hills Collections. She also has a show-room in Shuvolong Bazar.
"We sell everything in cash in the showroom. But for the Facebook page we are fully dependent on mobile banking. Our monthly sales through Facebook is around Tk5 lakh. Earlier, we used to sell only women's dresses. Now we sell almost all types of clothes for boys and girls," she said.
Yurmung Marma further said, "I think easy transactions help businesses to grow faster and expand sales. Mobile banking has brought that opportunity for us. I started the business with an investment of only Tk1 lakh which has grown into Tk10 lakh in four years."
Mobile banking is not only facilitating businesses for women entrepreneurs in remote areas, many women in the capital, divisional and district towns are also doing businesses using their services.
Niharika Ronjona Ritee, from the Badda area of the capital, sells special sarees made with designs chosen by the customers through her Facebook page Saaj Boutique. The prices range from Tk10,000 to Tk50,000 per saree.
"We pay the manufacturers of the sarees through the banks. But we use the merchant option of mobile banking while selling the products to the customers. We sell products worth Tk5 lakh per month," she said.
Mobile banking has made our business easier, she added.
People concerned say women entrepreneurs became fully dependent on mobile financial services during the Covid-19 pandemic.
Rizwana Nazim, vice-president of Women & e-Commerce, said that people could not come out from homes due to the lockdown as a result the MFSs became the only means of transaction.
"The number of women f-commerce entrepreneurs grew by 40% during the pandemic. From 2019 to 2022, around Tk500 crore of the annual transactions of Tk600 each year were conducted through mobile banking," she said.
"In 2018 and 2017, women entrepreneurs in f-commerce used to sell products worth about Tk350 crore every year. Around 50% of which was through mobile banking and 50% cash on delivery," she added.
