Azam, M. S. (2007). Implementation of B2C E-commerce in Bangladesh: The effects of buying

culture and E-infrastructure. Advances in Global Business Research, 3(1), 55-81.

Bangladesh 1

In pessimistic views, numerous constraints and hazards are inhibiting the growth and adoption of

B2C e-commerce in developing countries. Most e-commerce transactions occur between

customers and sellers in the advanced economies of the United States, Canada and Western

Europe (Montealegre, 2001). Experts opined that the B2C ecommerce operation is not viable in

Asian regions rather B2B e-commerce has the potentials to gain stakeholders acceptance in

respect of profitability and efficiencies in business.

Lack of telecommunication infrastructure, shortage of qualified human resources to develop and

support ecommerce sites, lack of skills among consumers needed in order to use the internet,

lack of timely and reliable systems for the delivery of physical goods, low bank account and

credit card penetration, low income, and low computer and internet penetration are the

challenges which inhibit the use of e-commerce (Anigan, 1999, Bingi ant et. al, 2000, Panagaria,

2000). Low income is most obvious inhibitors of transacting over the net. Another vital problem

is with culture. In many developing countries people with lower or fair income consider

shopping as social activity, and the face to face contact with seller is an important part of this

social custom which provides satisfaction as well as security (Hawk, 2004). Many constraints,

although acute in nature, have some solutions, but it has no direct solution, if people consider

shopping is a social activity, so face to face contact is must. In another way when consumers

make purchase decision, one shortcoming of internet is its ability to touch and experience the

product before purchase (Blackwel, Minard and Engel, 2001).

Looking at Bangladesh’s different business sector it is evident that still there remains a vast

scope for development in the B2B sector (Times, 2005). B2B e-commerce is presently existent in

a limited scale in the country’s RMG and lather sector3. Limited accessibility to internet, poor

electricity network, limited affordability of computer and knowledge, inadequate legal and

regulatory supports, inefficient and traditional banking and financial support and payment

mechanism, lack of human resource for operating the technology smoothly, high internet usage

cost as well as security concerns in transaction are the inhibiting factors that made B2C e-

commerce operation in Bangladesh impractical (Hossain, 2000, Lutfar, 2001, Azam and Lubna,

2005, Raihan, 2001, BTRC, 2000). However, the government of Bangladesh has given highest

priority in developing the country’s ICT sector in view of making high speed online connectivity

with the international community to utilize ICT’s potentials in the country’s economic

development. The country’s national ICT policy reiterates the necessity of establishing

ecommerce environment in view of gaining economic potentials and emphasizes on formulating

appropriate government policies and strategies for facilitating e-commerce operation and e-

governance (GOB, 1999).

Rapid growing numbers of internet users in developing countries make Bangladesh’s initiative

towards online business imperative. Despite its development in ICT sector standing at lowest

level in south Asia and almost same in Asia, Bangladesh has developed optical fiber link in-

between its two big cities Dhaka and Chittagong and is going to establish submarine optic fiber

cable network with information super highway through Malaysia and Singapore under

SEAMEWE Project. The fiber optic network of BTTB5 is not in a position to meet the need of

other telecom operators under private ownership, unless they are upgraded and expended

(Ahmed, 2003). Bangladesh government recently passed national optic fiber cable guidelines to

admit private entrepreneurs’ involvement in providing internet connectivity to the interior

locations of the country (Star, 2005a). The govt. has also taken telephone authority deregulation

strategy allowing private operators to provide fixed land telephone connections while the mobile

operators are existent as market leader under private ownership. The above functions will help

provide high speed connectivity with a lower price in a competitive environment.

E-commerce implementation and adoption have been studied in different countries that

considered good numbers of diversified variables to be studied for contributing to the existing

literature of knowledge. Among many other variables perceived relative advantage of the e-

commerce operations considered as the key driving force of ecommerce adoption (Kendal et al,

2000, Limthongchai and Speece, 2002, Sathye and Beal, 2001). Perceived Compatibility of the

technology with the existing value, norms and practice is another factor that influences the rate

of adoption of e-commerce and implementation (Kendall et al, 2000, Sathye and Beal, 2001).

Security in ecommerce operation has been given the highest priority in deciding whether to

operate e-commerce (Kendall et al, 2000, Sathye and Beal, 2001). The complexity in operating

online technology for communication, placing order and payment can make negative impact in

order to implement e-commerce (Kendall et al, 2000, Sathye and Beal, 2001). Existing legal

support, human resource and internet connectivity have the influence in implementing e-

commerce in Bangladesh (Hossain, 2000, Azam and Lubna, 2005, Rahman, 2002). Low credit

card and poor delivery system are widely viewed as serious problem for B2C e-commerce in

developing country (Hawk, 2004). In Bangladesh context the evidence of academic research or

professional research on e-commerce is inadequate. A few research studies though be sited in the

country most of them are related to ICT adoption in Bangladesh, the fact proves the rationale

of the study.

Addressing the e-commerce adoption and implementation in Bangladesh we can refer outcomes

of the previous researches those were initiated to study personal computer or internet as e-

commerce is highly computer and internet reliant. Perceived relative advantage and perceived

compatibility have considered as a driving force to the adoption of personal computer and

Internet in Bangladesh while the Perceived complexity of the innovation has been observed as

the negative force to adopt the technology in Bangladesh (Azam, 2004, Azam, 2005). However

the age of the user, his financial ability, and experience in ICT has been studied as the influencer

in studying the adoption of e-commerce as well as ICT adoption. The behavioral pattern of the

consumer, especially in developing as well as in least developed countries, has not yet been

considered as the vital factor to study e-commerce implementation.

2 Bangladesh

Paré, D. J. (2003). Does this site deliver? B2B e-commerce services for developing

countries. The Information Society, 19(2), 123-134.

It is suggested that detailed consideration needs to be given to the ecommerce services offered at

these trading platforms. It is hypothesized that the types of services available may limit and

influence e-commerce implementation. In particular, it is argued that public Internet-based B2B

e-hubs will only reduce transaction costs and facilitate international exchange if information

provision is complemented by services that give buyers and sellers a low-cost means of acquiring

confidence that transactions will be completed successfully. These complementary services are

particularly important for trade between producers in developing countries and buyers in

developed countries. Drawing on data from an exploratory study, this paper presents a snapshot

of the B2B e-commerce services offered by e-hubs that were operational during the Spring and

Summer of 2001 in two sectors: agriculture/horticulture and garments/apparel. The analysis

indicates that the B2B e-commerce services available to user firms are influencing the structure

and completion of transactions in ways that may not be as effective in opening the doors to

global markets, for producer firms in poorer countries, as the rose tinted B2B e-commerce view

suggests.

Underpinning discussions about the potential for the public Internet and World Wide Web to

globalize commerce, is the notion that B2B e-commerce offers the hope of significantly

decreasing the transaction costs associated with trade across organizational and geographical

boundaries. According to this view, the adoption and implementation of ICTs facilitates a “closer

integration of adjacent steps in the value-added chain”, thereby allowing firms potentially to

reduce the costs associated with selecting suppliers, negotiating and fulfilling contracts, and

ensuring that contract terms are met (Malone et al., 1987: 484). This reduction in the ‘unit costs’

of co-ordination, it is claimed, will encourage firms to expand the number of transactions they

conduct across both organizational and geographical boundaries (Malone et al. 1987; Davidow

and Malone 1992; Benjamin and Wigand 1995; Malone and Laubacher 1998). Unfortunately,

this view appears to overlook the importance of the procedures and processes, as well as the

dynamics involved in transacting. It also is illustrative of a tendency, among some analysts, to

discuss ICTs and ‘the Internet’ as arte facts or simple appliances, rather than as complex

processes of inter-networking made possible by a series of inter-linked computer networks, a

compendium of hardware and software, data flows, and human agents (Kling 1999; Paré 2000).

The significance of the distortions that may arise from this techno-centric conception cannot be

underestimated. The failure to consider the processes and rules that underpin B2B e-commerce

can lead researchers and policy makers to overestimate the potential savings that may be incurred

while underestimating the new costs that firms in both developing and developed countries may

experience from participating in electronic transactions.

3 Bangladesh

Mohiuddin, M., Ayuba, B., Aliyu, I. A., Elavarthi, P., PrasannaRaravi, S., Timmanagoudar,

N., ... & Vaidya, R. Overview the E-Commerce in Bangladesh.

Inaroduction

Electronic commerce or e-commerce is a term for any type of business, or commercial

transaction that involves the transfer of information across the internet. It is currently one of the

most important aspects of the internet to emerge. E-commerce has grown rapidly Worldwide and

also in Bangladesh. At present internet services are available in Bangladesh. Its usage for e-

commerce by Bangladeshi producers to expert as well as to access inputs will be dependent on

their willingness and ability to use this medium as well as that of the buyers of final products and

the sellers of intermediate goods and services. In Bangladesh, among the dimensions of e-

commerce, there is a limited application and use of B2C e-commerce. But a significant portion

of total e-commerce websites are engaged in C2C e-commerce which is auction based commerce

between consumers to consumer. Other fields are not yet much developed in Bangladesh. There

are many reasons behind this one simple reason this country is not so developed and most of its

citizens are poor and uneducated. It is quite natural that there are few customers who is willing

and can shop in internet. It might take years to be developed in this sector in Bangladesh, but

there are evidence found that it is also growing rapidly and soon will reach at a prosperous stage.

Sait, S., Al-Tawil, K., & Hussain, S. (2004). E-commerce in Saudi Arabia: Adoption and

perspectives. Australasian Journal of Information Systems,12(1).

3 Saudi Arabia

The literature available on eCommerce adoption and diffusion in developed countries is quite extensive and diverse. Numerous studies have been documented that focus on both B2B and B2C domains. The extensive analysis available is not only based on major generic themes like models, strategies, technology and social issues, but also covers specific issues like electronic branding, security, trust, e-payment, performance measures and privacy (e.g., Cronin 2000; Kumar et al. 2000; Plant 2000; Rajput 2000). However, interestingly, the literature documenting eCommerce adoption and growth in developing countries is scarce and often simply anecdotal (Travica 2002; Young 2003). In this section, we report on some of the recent studies in eCommerce that have focused on developing countries.

In 1999 a study reported on e-commerce impediments characterizing Argentina Kenya, India, and Armenia (Petrazzini & Kibati 1999). These included limited Internet accessibility, a lack ofcompetition in international telephone traffic that made access to the international networkexpensive, a lack of intra-regional infrastructure, and a disproportionate penetration of the telephone in the urban as opposed to rural, more populated areas. Another study which focused on South Korea identified a major obstacle for eCommerce adoption – lack of customer trust in online merchants (Lee 1999). There is a fear that merchants might sell products with defects, and that online payments cannot be recovered even if the product is not delivered. In central and eastern Europe, online stores may have some design and infrastructure characteristics that are less conducive to success in international e-commerce, such as longer server response time, less inspiring aesthetics, excessive graphics and animation, and lower transactional capability (Travica & Cronin 1996; Travica & Olson 1998).

China, with the highest population, still doesn’t embrace ownership innovations (Clark 1999).National networks have been developed through competition between two ministries, whicheventually merged into one. As of the writing of the study, B2B transactions had been recorded in mainland China, while B2C systems were still being initiated. The impediments include expensive access, lack of a tradition of remote shopping/selling, lack of trust in product quality, and no provision for customers' recourse.

In 2002 a study was carried out that reported on limitations for B2B e-commerce in three developing countries, namely Bangladesh, Kenya and South Africa. It was concluded that Internet-based B2B ecommerce is not effective in reducing transaction costs or in providing a gateway to global markets for regional enterprises. Furthermore, this e-commerce model has only marginally altered the way in international businesses dealing in the garments and horticulture sectors, which are these country’s main trade areas, deal with one another. The reasons in this case are similar to those seen earlier. The conclusion drawn from these case

studies showcases a generic set of factors, the lack of which impedes eCommerce growth and adoption - building trust, ground rules, information infrastructure and maximizing benefits by seamless globalization (Dekleva 2000).

In the case of Saudi Arabia, there has been no study on the adoption and user perspectives abouteCommerce. There have been a few efforts that address the issue of Internet penetration in theMiddle East in general (Ghashghai 2002). This paper documents the first study working in a broad framework of identifying uses and effects of Internet in the country.

4

Bangladesh

Rahman, S. M. (2015). Consumer expectation from online retailers in developing e-commerce

market: An investigation of generation Y in Bangladesh. International Business Research, 8(7),

p121.

The business of commercial transactions between and among organizations and individuals using

the aid of digital technologies is commonly regarded as E-commerce (Chaffey, 2007). Initiating

since 1995, e-commerce, (also called electronic commerce) has continued to receive proliferated

growth rates of over 100% in a year at the early days of Amazon.com (Laudon & Traver, 2007).

Till date, Amazon.com serves as one of the most prominent and successful online retail stores

which has had a transformational impact on e-commerce worldwide, serving as an epitome.

Their recent announcement of US $2 billion investment in neighbouring India accentuates the

opportunities or online businesses in South Asian region (Forbs, 2014).

In 2005, the overall Internet and e-commerce adoption rate was lower in South Asia than the rest

of the world (Kshetri & Dholakia, 2005). However, a change in this trail took place in the past 10

years with the number of Internet users and thus, the number of people engaging in e-business of

various sorts increasing at a rapid pace (Abbasi, Chandio, Soomro, & Shah, 2011). Recent

McKinsey report (2014) estimates that the number of global Internet users shall be between 500-

900 million by 2017 and this specifically includes some of the South Asian countries, with

Bangladesh as one of the highlights. This outcome echoes previous KPMG (2012) report on the

growth of IT sector in Bangladesh, especially since the year 2010 when its freelancer community

contributed around US $700 million towards exports. This has led to Bangladesh being visibly

consistent in top freelance work locations on sites such as oDesk, eLance, to name a few.

The usage of mobile internet is a key contributing aspect towards the prevalence of e-commerce

in Bangladesh. Following Table 1, 2 and 3 show the falling bandwidth costs in Bangladesh, cost

of mobile data for major mobile operators in Bangladesh and a mobile data price comparison

with countries with developed e-commerce market. Though the percentage of total Internet users

in Bangladesh has been deemed to be low compared to some other countries (Khan, Hossain,

Hasan, & Clement, 2012), the online population is rising due to falling cost of Internet

bandwidth. In early 2015, BTCL–the governing body of Tele-communication in Bangladesh,

decided to cut down bandwidth prices by further 33% in next year. Complementing that,

Bangladesh has approximately 36.50 million internet users (M. Z. Islam, 2014) along with a high

mobile penetration due to low costs and low calling charges.

5

Elbeltagi, I. (2007). E-commerce and globalization: an exploratory study of Egypt. Cross

Cultural Management: An International Journal, 14(3), 196-201.

Internet and E-commerce which have been responsible for continuing gradual removal of barriers of language, culture, values, legal and national boundaries will play an important role in globalization and accelerate international trade (Raman, 2000; Lee and Littlejohn, 2004). The internet and e-commerce make use of smart cards to facilitate payment, doing of our banking online, and a variety of other online services relevant to e-commerce, common for most western citizens and potentially easy to use and useful among the majority of Arab consumers (67 per cent) as indicated by some researchers (Aladwani, 2003; Lee and Littlejohn, 2004). However, internet and ecommerce in a setting of globalization could mean many different things to different people, because of cultural ways of doing things. In some conservative countries inArab world Internet has seemed a dangerous beast until now in other countries it just medium for elite to use. Also there is a variation in how access is obtained. In several countries, the government telecommunications monopoly is the only Internet Service Provider (ISP). In others, including Egypt, Jordan, and Tunisia, there are multiple competing ISPs.

Bin et al. (2003) indicated that: ‘‘most American companies today are so focused on their domestic market that they do not pay any attention to the overseas markets. Nevertheless, e-commerce is global in nature and the international markets represent immense potential’’. Many

researchers highlighted that there is a significant cultural differences regarding online shopping between different regions in the world especially between western users and others, i.e. Korean internet users and American internet users (Park and Jun, 2003). Even among what we could perceive as a common western cultures, researchers found differences in the way that people use the Internet (Sagi et al., 2004). In addition to that when a comparison is made between the Internet use among Arab and non-Arab states in general, it is seen that the Arab countries in general are lagging behind where most of Middle East countries usage of internet are not Arab, i.e. Turkey and Israel. Even more there are differences among Arab countries in use of the internet, where most of the use is in the gulf states(Aladwani, 2003).

Research Objectives

The aim of the research is to investigate the challenges of implementation of e-commerce in Bangladesh.

General objective:

To get experience in e-commerce practice, this will give us an opportunity to understand the electronic

transaction system and its limitations as well as the way to overcome them.

Specified Objective:

The specific objectives of my whole study are as follows:1. To fulfill the requirement of my B.B.A in Jagannath University.2. To examine infrastructural situation of the country to prosper electronic commerce system in Bangladesh;3. To learn various departmental operations like Web developing, E-commerce

To identify the prospects of E-commerce in Bangladesh

To explain E-commerce operations of Ajkerdeal.com

To identify problems related to E-commerce operations of Ajkerdeal.com if any

To make some recommendations to solve the problems

To explain the evaluation of e-commerce.

To find out the origins and growth of e-commerce The objectives of present study are:

1. To describe the present status and facilitators of E-Commerce in India;

2. To analyze the present trends of E-Commerce in India;

3. To examine the barriers of E-Commerce in India.