1 | P a g e Ekhanei.com Consumer Behavior Prepared for: Mr. Syed Munir Khasru Course Instructor: Consumer Behavior (M402) Prepared by: Group 5 Fableeha Bushra Choudhury, RH-19 Aanisha Mahmood, RH-59 Muhammed Asif Khan, ZR-71 Zareen Tasnim, RH-83 Arko Ashraf Antar, KJ-86 BBA Batch 20 Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka May 31, 2015 2 | P a g e LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL May 31, 2015 Mr. Syed Munir Khasru Professor Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka Dear Sir As per your instructions, we, the members of Group 5 have prepared the report titled Ekhanei.com: Consumer Behavior for the completion of the course Consumer Behavior (M402). The product has been selected as per your approval and confirmation.The main purpose of this report is to learn and analyze the factors which influence consumer behavior from the perspective of Ekhanei.com; interpret the gaps in current marketing strategies from consumer behavior and to provide a marketing strategy to overcome these gaps.We sincerely hope that this report will meet your expectations. If you have any further questions regarding this report, we are more than eager to comply. With regards and sincerity ______________________ Fableeha Bushra Choudhury, RH-19 ______________________ Aanisha Mahmood, RH-59 ______________________ Muhammed Asif Khan, ZR-71 ______________________ Zareen Tasnim, RH-83 ______________________ Arko Ashraf Antar, KJ-86 BBA Batch 20 Institute of Business Administration University of Dhaka 3 | P a g e Acknowledgements We would like to express great appreciation to Professor Syed Munir Khasru, our Consumer Behavior course Instructor, Institute of Business Administration, University of Dhaka who set us this report and provided us with the methods for preparing an ideal report. We are thankful to Shadman Rahman, UX Analyst at ekhanei.com for providing us with information about Ekhanei.com and for spending his valuable time and effort on us. 4 | P a g e Executive Summary Along with strong economic growth and development, internet penetration is one of the areas where Bangladesh has made significant progress in recent times. An output of that progress is the proliferation of free classified e-marketplaces in the country, such as Ekhanei.com, Bikroy.com, ClickBD.com, AjkerDeal.com etc.These sites are not direct competitors of each other as the market served is opportunistic in nature. Because posting an ad for a product sale at one site would not necessarily stop the person from posting an ad on the other sites too.Due to the novelty of the sector, no proper research has been done into this area and thus, relevant market statistics are not available. Ekhanei.com is one of the leading and most convenient choices for buying and selling all across Bangladesh through the online medium. The service was launched originally in 2006 as Cellbazaar as an innovative SMS service, and later in 2007 the website was opened. This service allows anyone in Bangladesh to buy and sell in their region conveniently in a very simple manner without registration and complicated procedures. Ads can be posted for free and browsing with GrameenPhone Internet is free as well. The firm has recently acquired OLX.com.bd and owns its registered customer base under their domain. Thus it has become even bigger. Due to the complexity and range of products bought and sold on Ekhanei.com, only one target group cannot define the target market. Thus four target groups namely Bargain Hunters, Convenience Seekers, Intelligent Buyers and Evergreens have been identified. Our analysis have discovered the influence of primary groups in the usage of Ekhanei.com, the tendency of approach-approach motivational conflicts, and our survey results have shown greater percentage of men using this service compared to women. The surveys also revealed a discrepancy in the form of high brand awareness of Ekhanei.com but quite low usage amongst the respondents. The report has explored how learning, memory and attitude amongst the consumers are playing a role in the overall consumer experience. Brand personality, temporal perspective and the evaluative criteria of the service have also been analyzed and outlined in the report. Finally, the report prepared a set of solutions for Ekhanei.com for resolving its major weaknesses as an e-commerce portal so that it can retain its position as the number one destination for online buying and selling in Bangladesh. 5 | P a g e Table of Contents Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................ 4 1.0 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 Origin: ........................................................................................................................................... 6 1.2 Purpose:......................................................................................................................................... 6 1.3 Scope: ............................................................................................................................................ 6 1.4 Methodology: ................................................................................................................................ 6 1.4.1 Primary Source: ..................................................................................................................... 6 1.4.2 Secondary Source:.................................................................................................................. 7 1.5 Limitations: ................................................................................................................................... 7 2.0 Industry Overview ............................................................................................................................ 7 3.0 Company Overview .......................................................................................................................... 7 3.1 Using the service ........................................................................................................................... 9 3.2 Segmentation................................................................................................................................. 9 4.0 Consumer Profile .............................................................................................................................. 9 5.0 Analysis........................................................................................................................................... 10 5.1 Group Influence .......................................................................................................................... 10 5.2 Motivation ................................................................................................................................... 10 5.3 Gender ......................................................................................................................................... 10 5.4 Consumer Perception .................................................................................................................. 11 5.5 Learning ...................................................................................................................................... 13 5.6 Memory ....................................................................................................................................... 14 5.8 Self Concept ................................................................................................................................ 16 5.9 Brand Personality ........................................................................................................................ 16 5.10 Temporal Perspectives .............................................................................................................. 17 5.11 Evaluative Criteria .................................................................................................................... 17 5.12 Shortcomings of Ekhanei.com as a brand ................................................................................. 19 6.0 Proposed Strategies ......................................................................................................................... 20 7.0 Conclusion ...................................................................................................................................... 22 8.0 References ....................................................................................................................................... 22 6 | P a g e 1.0 Introduction The report titled Ekhanei.com: Consumer Behavior was prepared as part of our course, Consumer Behavior, under the guidance of Professor Syed Munir Khasru, our course instructor. The objective of this task is to gather the theoretical knowledge obtained throughout the course and apply it in a realistic scenario to come up with a marketing strategy for Ekhanei.com. The introduction portion entails how the report originated, what it plans to unearth, its scope and limitations and the methods used to collect pertinent data. 1.1 Origin: This report has been undertaken as a partial requirement for fulfillment of the course Consumer Behavior (M402) instructed by Mr. Syed Munir Khasru. For the purpose of this report, we had been given the task of preparing a marketing strategy for a product of our choice. We have therefore chosen to work on Ekhanei.com, the pioneer e-marketplace in Bangladesh. This report was composed after obtaining the course instructors approval on the topic selected. 1.2 Purpose: The objectives of the plan are two-fold and are described as follows: Primary Objective: To come up with a marketing strategy for Ekhanei.com Secondary Objectives: To analyze the factors that affect consumer behavior of Ekhanei.com To analyze the gap between current marketing activities and consumer perception of Ekhanei.com To analyze the industry and position of Ekhanei.com 1.3 Scope: The report will focus on marketing activities taking place within Dhaka Metropolitan area for Ekhanei.com. Since Ekhanei.com is an e-marketplace for free classifieds, we will not be considering direct business to consumer or business to business electronic portals for competitor analysis, as the services offered are significantly different. Recommended strategies will therefore be made keeping this scope in mind. 1.4 Methodology: To produce this report, varieties of methods have been used. Data has been collected from different sources, and both primary and secondary sources have been used. 1.4.1 Primary Source: Interview with Shadman Rahman, UX Analyst at ekhanei.comSurvey and Questionnaires for consumer group panel One on one interviews with users of Ekhanei.com 7 | P a g e 1.4.2 Secondary Source: Website of Ekhanei.com Related articles Internet research using different websites The reference textbook for the course 1.5 Limitations: Disclosure of confidential information: Ekhanei.com does not disclose any kind of financial information or market research data to anyone outside the company. That is why it was not possible to include the necessary information like the revenue model used to estimate different financials and marketing position of Ekhanei.com. The data collected from them, accordingly, is not sufficient for an accurate analysis. Consumer Survey: The consumer survey was based only on the urban regions of Dhaka; therefore findings do not accurately reflect the consumer behavior of the entire target market of Ekhanei.com. Lack of information: General lack of information on the free classifieds e-marketplaces of Bangladesh. Time and space restraints: Overall improvement would be possible if resources had not been restricted.2.0 Industry Overview Classified advertising is a form of advertising which is particularly common online, which may be sold or distributed free of charge. The advertisements are grouped into categories or classes such as "for saletelephones", "wantedkitchen appliances", and "servicesplumbing", hence the term "classified". Classified advertisements are much cheaper than larger display advertisements used by businesses, and are therefore normally used by businesses with smaller advertising budgets, or by private individuals. Free classified e-marketplace is a relatively new phenomenon in Bangladesh, and hence there are no statistical data available to give an indication towards the size of the industry. A lack of standard for reporting also creates a problem because even on a global scale, market statistics vary concerning the total market for internet classified ads. Some popular free classified e-marketplaces in Bangladesh are Ekhanei.com, Bikroy.com, ClickBD.com, AjkerDeal.com. However, these sites or portals do not pose as direct competition to one another as the market to be served is opportunistic. Putting a free classified ad in a certain site does not stop a consumer from posting in other sites as well, so there is no threat of a business being taken away by another website providing the same service.3.0 Company Overview Ekhanei.com is a free classified e-marketplace, i.e. it serves as middle man between buyer and the seller. This service is can be attained from their website, or their mobile application 8 | P a g e Figure 1: Ekhanei.com website Figure 2: Ekanei.com mobile app Ekhanei.com is probably the safest and most convenient choice for buying and selling all across Bangladesh. They originally launched their services in 2006 as Cellbazaar as an innovative SMS service. The website has been in operation since 2007.This service allows anyone in Bangladesh to buy and sell in their region conveniently in a very simple manner without registration and complicated procedures. Ads can be posted for free and browsing with GrameenPhone Internet is free as well. Ekhanei.com has also recently acquired OLX.com.bd and owns its registered customer base under their domain. The revenue model for Ekhanei.com is advertising. It earns revenues from other companies 9 | P a g e advertising on its website, based on the number of traffic of Ekhanei.com. Thus, Ekhanei.com aims to attract more traffic that is more people posting ads on the website, to generate profit. 3.1 Using the service The website first requires a user to select a location. After that, the list of advertisements show up and the user can browse through one of eight primary categories:Cars, Motorcycles & Vehicles Phones, Computers & Electronics Fashion & Personal Items Home & Living Hobbies, Pets & Sports Property & Housing Jobs & Services Business, Agriculture & Food These categories are subdivided into specialized categories and there is a ninth category Others which does not fall under any of the above classifications. An item can be clicked to view in detailed mode and the buyer can directly contact the seller via phone number provided in the ad. For a use who wants to sell an item, they can click the Post your free ad button on the home screen and follow a series of steps to post an ad. A general description of the product, a price and contact number is required to post the ad. The ad goes into review, and within 24 hours, if it attains to the policies of the site, the ad is posted. 3.2 Segmentation Because of the nature of the service provided, Ekhanei.com is open to all with Internet access and a smartphone or a computer. However, it is not possible to serve all of the market, and fulfill their needs and wants. The following segmentation can be done for a better, focused service to customers within this segment. Demographic Segmentation: Ekhanei.com serves anyone in any place within Bangladesh and allows them to buy and sell within their region. Both genders fall within the target demographic. Since selling and buying is mostly trusted towards adults, the segmented age should be 18 years and older. Ekhanei.com best serves income groups from lower middle to upper middle class.Behavioral Segmentation: A prerequisite to attaining the service is having access to the Internet and being able to operate a smartphone, a tablet or a computer. It also requires the intended customer to be inclined towards selling or buying objects or services online. 4.0 Consumer Profile Target Market Even after segmentation, the market is too large to cater to all needs and wants within the market. Therefore, we suggest the following four basic target markets to channel marketing strategies towards. 10 | P a g e 5.0 Analysis 5.1 Group Influence There is a significant amount of influence from primary groups, i.e. friends and family for prospective consumers of this service. Because of cultural norms, it is usual for elderly family members to provide advice in the purchase or sale of an item. The buying and selling decision, and hence the use of the service is heavily dependent on the approval or disapproval of the primary group. Informational influence can also have a role for a prospective consumer who has never used such a service before. Expert opinion is sought out before making the decision to use the service, in this scenario. The opinion from the expert is likely to change the sale or purchase decision and hence the use of the service. 5.2 Motivation The only motivation for using the service is either the need or want to purchase a product, or the need or want to sell a product. This can be divided into two categories: Benefit derived from successful and satisfactory purchase/sale from the site will motivate the user to sell through this site when there is need. When there is an urgent need to buy or sell an item, the consumer will look to gain maximum exposure hence will be motivated to use the site more often during those times. This can lead to an approach-approach motivational conflict because consumers usually post in all free classified marketplaces and therefore have no incentive to select just Ekhanei.com for the purpose.5.3 Gender From the consumer survey conducted we have found that a greater proportion of men use Ekhanei.com rather than women. There were only 33% female users compared to the 67% male users, regardless of the fact that the service is targeted towards both genders. Bargain Hunters Lower middle class Mostly buyers Look for second-hand/used products Younger age group (18-25) Lower price is priorityIntelligent Buyers Middle class Mostly buyers Tech savvy Spend time on researching product specification before making purchases Students, young professionalsConvenience Seekers Middle class Buyers and sellers Look for ease of transaction Do not spend much time on purchase/sale decision Nuclear families, young professionalsEvergreens Upper middle class Higher age group (40 and above) Mostly sellers Look to sell property, or automobiles Senior level professionals, retirees 11 | P a g e This is due to the risk and feelings of insecurity in posting mobile numbers in public sites. Perpetrators use these phone numbers to harass women, and this deters many potential consumers who would like to use the service, but cannot because of this persistent problem. 5.4 Consumer Perception The consumer perception is crucial to the existence of the service because without the consumers, the company would cease to exist. Because of the unique nature and the newness of the industry, consumers are divided between embracing the technological shifts and entering the e-marketplace, or sticking to traditional forms of buying and selling. From the consumer survey conducted, we can see that Ekhanei.com has a very good exposure rate. They ran a series of humor based TVCs which were immensely popular and allowed the general populace to learn about the brand. Only 4.4% of respondents had never heard of Ekhanei.com and 57.4% of respondents had first heard about it from the TVCs. 67%33%Percentage of usersMaleFemale57%27%5%3%4%4%From where did you learn about Ekhanei.com?TVCOnlineFriends or familyNewspaper or magazineRadio adNever heard of it 12 | P a g e Despite the high exposure, only 35% of respondents said that they had used Ekhanei.com. This means that the exposure was ineffective in its purpose. Although the brand and the jingle were constantly being promoted, the association of the free classifieds e-marketplace had not reached the target market. Those of who had used Ekhanei.com had bought and sold multiple categories of items. From the consumer survey, we have found that there are more sellers (44%) than buyers (40%) and there are users who have used the services for both buying and selling. 35%65%Have you used Ekhanei.com?YesNo40%44%16%For which purpose did you use Ekhanei.com?BuyingSellingBoth 13 | P a g e The most popular category was Phones, Computers & Electronics (58.3%) among the respondents, followed by Fashion & Personal Items (25%) and in third place Property & Housing and Cars, Motorcycles & Vehicles (12.5%). 5.5 Learning Learning is any change in the content or organization of long-term memory or behavior. Before looking into the influence of learning, we examine the conditions of involvement pertaining to the two features of Ekhanei.com. a) Selling:The selling feature is a low-involvement process for the following reasons: it is less time-consuming as it requires simply posting an advertisement on the site about the product, along with description does not involve price constraints and thus no limitations has lower perceived risk as the person would not have to pay b) Buying:On the other hand, buying is a high involvement process as: it is more time-consuming due to involving searching for and evaluating available options among a wide range of advertisements involves price constraints and thus limits options and requires more calculations higher perceived risk as the person would be subject to payment In both the cases, learning will increase consumer knowledge about the site and its usage situations, along with the benefits offered. As a result, it will be stored in customers memory increasing chances of recall when the customer would buy or sell anything online. 0.00%10.00%20.00%30.00%40.00%50.00%60.00%70.00%Phones,Computers&ElectronicsFashion &PersonalItemsProperty &HousingCars,Motorcycles& VehiclesFor which product category did you use Ekhanei.com? 14 | P a g e The learning theories which could be effectively applied in case of Ekhanei.com are discussed below: a) Iconic rote learning: This involves associating two or more concepts, in the absence of conditioning. Through iconic rote learning, Ekhanei.com could be associated with the concepts of:being the easiest online buying/selling platform in terms of user friendliness being the hub for all types of products a customer may need in a varied range of situations being the site containing the best deals and practices These positive associations will lead to learning about benefits, attributes and usage situations of the website. As a result, Ekhanei.com would be stored more favorably in the schematic memory. Also it would ensure the site achieve top-of-mind recognition in the category, as the associations mentioned above are critical to customers. And ultimately this would lead to trial of the site. b) Operant Conditioning: Operant conditioning usually involves product trial, after which positive reinforcement, if received, induces customer to form a favorable learning of the product. Ekhanei.com could induce trials through repetition of its promotional activities and relevance to usage situations. The reinforcements in its case would be: user friendliness which is the ease with which the customer can use the site availability of desired products within the specific price range as per budget of customer Positive reinforcement will lead to a stronger learning about the site which would ensure storage in long-term memory of customer. This would further increase the chances of repeat use by the customer in future. 5.6 Memory Ekhanei.com operates in a highly competitive industry as any platforms are available for online buying and selling. Bikroy.com is a very strong competitor, along with the huge number of Facebook pages. Thus it is important to establish Ekhanei.com as a suitable option and better option. The brand needs to have positive associations in both long-term and schematic memory so that it could be recalled in usage situation. The schematic memory for online selling and buying in Bangladesh, and that for Ekhanei.com are given below: Schema for online sale and purchase: 15 | P a g e Schema for Ekhanei.com The gaps in the schematic memory between these indicate where Ekhanei.com should improve and how. In a survey conducted by MRB of online classified sites in Bangladesh, Bikroy.com got 76% of the respondents top-of-mind answer, while Ekhanei.com got only 10%.This was despite the huge popularity of the television communication and catchy jingle of Ekhanei.com. Thus this tells us that Ekhanei.com has some lacking in its offerings and values, which is discussed in the gap analysis 16 | P a g e section afterwards. 5.7 AttitudeThe general attitude of customers towards online classifieds in Bangladesh is as follows: a) Cognitive component: This consists of the values and beliefs of the customers. The beliefs regarding the product category are: it is unsafe and lacks security the platforms are technical and thus difficult to use there is existence of frauds who post ads in the websites b) Affective component: The affective component, consisting of the feelings associated with category, is thus slightly skeptical. c) Behavioral component: The behavioral component has been shaped by the negative cognitive and subsequent negative affective components. As proof we see that even many regular educated internet users, 18% of the respondents of our consumer survey; do not use any online portal for buying or selling. An important observation is that the attitude towards this category becomes more favorable with the increase of educational level of the customers. To change this existing attitude, it is required to change the cognitive component which is the root cause. This can be done by Ekhanei.com through: posting safety rules regarding online sale and purchase in its websitedemonstrating the ease of use through its advertisements and Facebook promotions actively promoting the existing safety measures adopted by the site Appeal characteristics: The appeal characteristics which can be used by Ekhanei.com for influencing the change are: utilitarian appeal which would highlight the functionality of the site and thus aim to offset the benefits against the perceived riskslight humor appeal to grab the attention of the target customers, and also conforming to the modern, youth-based target market psychographics 5.8 Self Concept Target Market is significantly large:At Ekhanei.com, almost every profession, from all corners of the country, will find something or the other to satisfy their needs. Hence, there is an extremely diversified collection of self concepts, coming from the target group. Thus, this factor does not seem a significant criteria in evaluating the marketing strategy of the brand. 5.9 Brand Personality If Ekhanei.com were a person, she would be the one in the friends circle everyone adores. She is always making the group laugh, but whenever you have a problem, you will consult her first. She is 17 | P a g e updated on almost every current issue; she would try her best to help you and would not judge you by your wallet.In short, Ekhanei.coms personality is best described by 4 attributes: Young and Dynamic HumorousFriendly and Open Versatile 5.10 Temporal Perspectives Time is an important criterion for an industry like e-commerce. It affects consumer behavior in the following way: 5.11 Evaluative Criteria When judging the quality of an online marketplace or choosing between alternatives, consumers would be mentally evaluating on attributes that brought them to choosing online purchasing, in the first place. 18 | P a g e USABILITY Convenience: Research indicates that convenience is a prime motivator for Web customers to stop and interact with online vendors. Customers associate convenience with easy and fast information browsing, shopping and settling of the online transaction; Web designers must try to understand how their customers are likely to perform these activities online and adjust their procedures accordingly. Speedy Site: Online customers expect fast loading Web pages. Web designers must keep in mind that the average time customers per page viewed is low and steadily diminishing overtime. Uninterrupted Navigation: Redirecting to spam pages, slow buffering, web page crashing,etc. are some of the problems that all users seek to avoid. Accessibility: Most Web consumers are searching for products and services by means of search engines and online directories. It is very important that site designers apply a consistent search engine strategy so that online consumers can easily find the site. Web sites must be further more accessible by users making use of different types of Web browsers. COST Lowered Search Cost: The provision of finding all necessities reduce the consumers monetary and psychological cost of searching in one store to another. Lowered Transportation Cost: The idea of shopping online for goods that are available in physical stores in Bangladesh, thrives in the main advantage of reducing the fuel cost or transport fare, especially given the traffic scenario here. Best Bargains: Since the all-exclusive prices are mentioned in the ads, and there is scope of comparison within and across websites, consumers can choose the product that provides the best value for money. Auctions: The scope of negotiating price or securing a deal through suggesting higher payment allows consumers and sellers to deal with demand-supply gaps. UsabilityConvenienceSpeedy SiteUninterrupted NavigationAccessibilityCostLowered Search CostLowered Transportation CostBest BargainsAuctionsInteractivityCustomizationHelp CenterTrustTransaction SecurityCustomer Data SafetyGuarantees/ Return PoliciesProduct Quality and Delivery ConformanceAestheticsWebsite/ app Design 19 | P a g e INTERACTIVITY The Interactivity components are divided in two categories: (1) Interactivity with the online vendor. (2) Interactivity with other Web users. Customization: The concept of opening an account, saving desire listed,etc. allows the website to tailor promotions and suggestions to need of the individual customer. Help Center: The inclusion of a customer service agent , hotline numbers, webmail, etc makes the customers feel their needs are well handled. It is frustration from their lacking that is more critical than the gratitude of their presence that is more critical. TRUST Transactional Security: Clear ordering, payment and refunding procedures as well as concrete customer policies, good communication and strict security help customers face online transactions with more confidence. Customer Data Safety: Critical question for privacy-minded customers is whether personal data known to online firms is used for any type of commercial purposes against their knowledge and will. This is a growing concern among Internet users confronted daily with an explosive growth of spam, fraud and online scams. The scope of improving on Guarantees and Product Quality Conformance is limited for online market places, however, customers still do associate negative experience from vendors with the site they purchased it from. AESTHETICS Design and style/atmosphere of Web sites are elements quite crucial in shaping the online experience and the buying decision making process. Like shoppers in traditional shops, for first-time Web site visitors these elements are particularly important. But unlike traditional shoppers online consumers spend much less time in Web shops they visit. Given the very limited time the average Internet users spend on browsed pages when searching for information or products online the design and atmosphere of Web sites must attract the attention and capture the interest of the online customer in a very short time 5.12 Shortcomings of Ekhanei.com as a brand 1.Website Features: While competitors Bikroy.com , ajkerdeal.com and bdjobs.com have flashy product advertisements grabbing your attention the moment you enter their website, Ekhanei.com has a static line of placements at the bottom. Moreover, the option of liking their Facebook page is in tiny fonts and black colour at the very end of the page, where it would be ignored by most. Most Bangladeshi online portals open in Bangla language, with the scope of switching to English. However, with Ekhanei, the opposite is in action. This is a problem, keeping in mind that the majority of the population would be more comfortable reading it in their mother tongue. 2.Supportive Legal Systems : While, yes, it is true that there is little that such portals can do regarding ensuring zero fraudulence, they also cannot deny all responsibilities to the customers in cases of such occurrences. While such sites do have warning messages and guidelines in their sites, their initiatives should go beyond basic 20 | P a g e warning messages, and should include actions such as checking authenticity of vendors, keeping tabs of performance, keeping records of transactions whenever possible, etc. 3.Collaboration with Artisans: There is a major lacking in the connection between the artisans of Bangladesh and the customers in the cities. While consumers in the cities complain of not finding the ideal designs and supply, the skilled workers are unaware of the huge demand of their products in the cities. They expect meager pays without an idea of how much the final product price multiplies by when reaching the stores. Ekhanei.com could focus on such opportunities, of not only having products in their portals that are not available elsewhere, but also of playing their part in Fair Trade. 6.0 Proposed Strategies Problem 1: Unsatisfactory User Experience Description: There is a noticeable stream of issues with Ekhanei.com that makes the user experience difficult and problematic. For example: It is difficult to get instant customer service as email responses take time.Customers have to browse between product listings for a long time to get very specific products. The app has many lacking such as difficult search options, improper search results and incompatibility with some versions of Android. Solution 1: Secure Online 24/7 Chat Facility Description: HostGator is one of the biggest web hosting services in the world, and it has a highly responsive 24/7 Chat Facility where one can instantly connect with a representative from the firm for help in any matters. A similar facility offered by Ekhanei.com will make it much easier for customers to get responses to their queries quickly.The initiative may require hiring of a significant workforce just to run the system, but the potential payoff is much higher as it will differentiate Ekhanei.com in the countrys online business arena in a very positive manner. Solution 2: Advanced Search Filters Description: Ekhanei.com has some basic search filters that allows customers to find products from a specific category. Yet a more advanced search filter will add another differentiating factor for the company. Such as: a)Old/New Filter: Customers will get to filter products based on whether they are completely new or second-hand. b)Personal/Business Filter: This will enable consumers to search for products based on whether they are being sold by another customer (C2C) or a business (B2C). c)Brand Filter: Products can be filtered on the basis of their brands. For example, by filtering a search for cell phones with Symphony, a customer will see all listings from Symphony only. d)Price Filter: Price can be used as a filter for getting the desired product. For example, a range BDT 50,000-1,00,000 for refrigerators will show only the ones belonging to that price range. Solution 3: Improvement of App Description: It is estimated that around 68% of the customers in Bangladesh browse online through cell phones. As a result, a fully functional smartphone app is critical to accessing this market. We 21 | P a g e propose that Ekhanei.com takes the help of expert consultants like Aamra Technologies to remove glitches in their app and make it more user-friendly. Problem 2: Ineffective Marketing Description: Ekhanei.com is not taking advantage of the whole range of tools it can access to make the most of its marketing activities. Solution 1: Aligning Website with Facebook Ads Description: When a person enters a particular section or page of a website, Facebook can recognize and store that information, and help the website use it for better Facebook ad targeting. This can be done by installing the Facebook Custom Audience pixel into the webpages, which then automatically aligns the website with Facebook. For example, if a person has checked a few products from the Furniture category but has not made a purchase, Ekhanei.com can capitalize on this by directing ads of some of its best furniture products to the customer through Facebook for a specific period of time, like 1 week. During this time, continuous exposure to ads of the product the customer was interested in might entice him enough to re-visit and make a purchase. The price of the products may also be displayed to Some leading commercial sites around the world such as HostGator, Udacity, and Guitar World etc. use such Facebook ad targeting. Solution 2: Increasing effectiveness of advertisements Informative Ads Description: One of the best ways to gain credibility with customers is to educate them on how to use a product. Ekhanei.com should run print ads that detail on how to make a purchase in the website, including the use of its search filters and other options that can help customers make the most of the buying experience. The company can also run print ads that make buyers and sellers alike aware of the risks associated with online shopping and how they can be mitigated. Believable and Relevant Ads Description: Although the TVC aired a few months ago was very popular and increased exposure, it did not induce actual trial of the website. 58.2% of the respondents in our consumer survey said that they heard about Ekhanei.com from the TVC, only 35.8% have used the site. This was due to lack of believability and relevance of the usage situations shown in the communication. Thus more believable and hence more effective advertisements have to be used. Themed Ads Description: Specific themed ads can be used before special occasions like Eids, Pahela Baishakh, Valentines Day etc to promote products relevant to each ritual.Ads for both buyers and sellers: At present, all the communication are aimed towards buyers. But, both buyers and sellers are target customers. I our survey, 45.8% of customers have used the site for selling and 41.7% for buying, with 12.5% respondents availing both options. Thus advertisements should be aimed for both categories of target customers. Solution 3: Product Placement in Soap Operas (Natoks) 22 | P a g e Description: During special occasions such as Eid-Ul-Fitr and Eid-Ul-Adha, limited period soap operas are launched on major local TV channels which tend to be quite popular. Ekhanei.com can align with such a soap opera so that they incorporate scenes where characters use this service in a candid fashion. Solution 4: Search Engine Optimization Description: When a person uses the keywords online shop Bangladesh in Google, the top results are Daraz.com, PriyoShop.com and Akhoni.com. A person will not go to Ekhoni.com unless the site shows up in the top results too. So Ekhanei.com should engage in intense keyword bidding and Search Engine Optimization to make sure its name is at the top of search results when major keywords are used, such sell online Bangladesh, buy online Dhaka etc. Solution 5: Premium Listing Description: This feature will allow a seller to keep his post ad at the top of search results permanently in a given category for a set period of time for a payment. Thus sellers who are desperately seeking to sell their products or need to sell quickly can use this feature, and Ekhanei.com can also benefit from the earnings. Solution 6: App Promotion through Local Cell Phones and advertising Description: When a person buys a new cell phone, he usually checks to see what apps are pre-installed. If the app of Ekhanei.com is present in such phones, the firm will have won a user of the app without having them install it themselves. The person may later resort to using this app to search or sell a product. So Ekhanei.com should partner with local cell phone makers like Walton and Symphony so that their cell phones come pre-installed with Ekhanei.com. Besides, the mobile app itself should be promoted through advertising in Facebook and TVCs. 7.0 Conclusion As the first e-commerce portal in Bangladesh, Ekhanei.com is not living up to its promising gains in the early years of its inception. Rather, it has let itself become outshined by Bikroy.com and some other online buying and selling destinations. But the firm has enough potential and spending prowess to catapult itself in the top as far as consumer top of mind recall is concerned. For that, some bold marketing and operational strategies have to be undertaken. 8.0 References 23 | P a g e http://www.theindependentbd.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=220720:ekhaneicom-reaches-deep-into-the-country&catid=110:business-others&Itemid=156http://daily-frontier.com/Frontier/news.php?name=2014073302http://www.forethoughtpr.com/Content.php?pageType=Editorial&Type=4&id=5&pId=0http://www.slideshare.net/themsaha/status-potential-and-constraints-in-ebusiness-application-in-bangladesh-46850115 http://www.slideshare.net/priyodresscollection/top10-online-shopping-sites-in-bangladesh http://www.slideshare.net/geekybd/classified-busines https://review.easycounter.com/reputation-Ekhanei-safe