Understanding Bangladesh’s E-Commerce Landscape

Latest update: November 2024

Bangladesh’s e-commerce market is on the rise, fueled by rapid digital transformation and increasing mobile connectivity. This article explores the current state of e-commerce in Bangladesh, highlighting key trends, challenges, and opportunities. The information is sourced from our Asia-Pacific Data Library, available here for free, and is enriched with external references curated by the PCMI team.

You can explore this content as an infographic report, available for download below.

Current State of E-commerce in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is an emerging player in the Asia-Pacific e-commerce market. Despite challenges such as limited financial inclusion, the sector continues to expand at an impressive pace.

However, over 50% of the population remains unbanked¹, limiting access to digital payments. Currently, only 3 out of 10 Bangladeshis shop online².

Profile of the Bangladeshi Online Shopper

Bangladesh E-Commerce Payment Methods and Devices

Bangladesh’s e-commerce market is shaped by a reliance on traditional payment methods and a strong preference for mobile shopping. According to our PCMI’s E-commerce Data Library, the primary payment methods for e-commerce in Bangladesh, by share of volume, are:

1. Cash on delivery — 75%
2. Digital wallet — 11%
3. Credit card — 8%
4. Debit card — 6%

As for devices used for purchasing online, PCMI has observed that:

• 80% of e-commerce volume in Bangladesh comes from purchases on mobile devices
• 20% of e-commerce volume in Bangladesh comes from desktop

Top-Selling Categories and Leading Online Stores in Bangladesh

Based on consumer responses, the following product categories rank as the most popular among Bangladeshi online shoppers:⁷

1. Cosmetics (53%)
2. Digital products (51%)
3. Clothes (50%)
4. Footwear (56%)

As for the top online stores in Bangladesh, based on traffic (data from Semrush⁸), the ranking is as follows:

1. MobileDokan (1.96 million)
2. Apple (1.95 million)
3. Techland (1.01 million)
4. AliExpress (904,000)
5. Walmart (688,000)

Key Insights into the Bangladeshi E-commerce Market

Lastly, here are some key insights about e-commerce in Bangladesh according to PCMI data:

Next Step:

The PCMI E-Commerce Data Library

While the data shared here can be helpful, both payments companies and ecommerce companies may benefit from a deeper dive into Bangladeshi e-commerce data, which they can obtain by acquiring the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific.

The Library covers not only Bangladesh but also 12 other countries in Asia Pacific, featuring e-commerce market data such as:

• Historical volume of Bangladesh’s e-commerce market

• Projections of Bangladesh’s e-commerce market volume for 2024-2027

• Breakdowns by merchant vertical for e-commerce in Bangladesh: retail, travel, ride-hailing, digital goods and services like streaming

• Data on both cross-border and domestic e-commerce purchases in Bangladesh for 2024 and projections for 2025 and beyond

• Breakdowns and projections of payment methods used in Bangladesh’s e-commerce (international/domestic credit cards, Buy Now Pay Later, digital wallets, and others)

And much more.

Other key advantages make the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific a uniquely powerful tool for companies that seek a fuller understanding of e-commerce in the region:

• It’s customizable to client needs: you can obtain additional data you need for your company’s specific business concerns, beyond what the Library offers

• It’s budget-friendly: while detailed reports are available for 12+ countries, you can just buy data on just 1 or save money by purchasing a country bundle

• It includes personalized guidance: every purchase of the Library entitles you to a free 1-hour consultation about the data with one of PCMI’s industry experts

• It offers unlimited sharing: there is no single-user license with the PCMI E-commerce Data Library for Asia Pacific, so you can share it freely with your organization

Sources:

1. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Report on Socioeconomic and Demographic Survey 2023, p.96, Table 4.8. ↩︎
2. “Exploring online shopping behavior in Dhaka, Bangladesh,” Transportation Research Interdisciplinary Perspectives, May 2024, https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
   S2590198224000678 ↩︎
3. “A Comparative Analysis of E-commerce Consumer Purchasing Decisions: Taobao in Shanghai and Daraz in Dhaka,” Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, August 2023. Note: These results are based on a very small sample of 100 people from the city of Dhaka, as opposed to a nationwide sample. ↩︎
4. “Investigating the Factors Influencing Consumer Trust in Online Shopping in the Context of Online Purchase in Bangladesh,” BAIUST Academic Journal, 2021. ↩︎
5. “Investigating the Factors Influencing Consumer Trust in Online Shopping in the Context of Online Purchase in Bangladesh,” BAIUST Academic Journal, 2021. ↩︎
6. “Bangladesh e-commerce market to grow over $10b by 2026,” Prothomalo, April 30, 2023. https://en.prothomalo.com/business/local/zqdbigrkbe Note: Over the top (OTT) streaming refers to any content delivered directly to viewers via a streaming video service over the Internet. In most countries, users subscribe to a video streaming service like Netflix or Amazon Prime and pay for the service online, so OTT is considered to be part of e-commerce. ↩︎
7. “A Comparative Analysis of E-commerce Consumer Purchasing Decisions: Taobao in Shanghai and Daraz in Dhaka,” Journal of International Business Research and Marketing, August 2023. Note: These results are based on a very small sample of 100 people from the city of Dhaka, as opposed to a nationwide sample ↩︎
8. SEMRUSH, August 2024 ↩︎