Faria Binte Zaman Momo ordered a dress online in 2015 and this was first time she bought anything from digital shops.

Her experience was not a happy one because the item that was delivered at her doorstep was not identical to the image that was on display on the site.

At that time, young people, especially college and university students, would mostly jump at the eye-catching discounts offered by online retailers. Unfortunately, there were not many good brands with an online presence.

With the growing e-commerce landscape in Bangladesh in the last few years, Momo has gained experience.

"Now, I don't face any problems when I shop online because I buy from renowned brands," said the microbiology student at a private university in Dhaka.

In fact, e-commerce has become a boon for the busy people who can't manage time, for the homemakers who struggle to get out of houses because there is none to take care of children, for the educated elders and physically disabled who can't step out at their will, shop and bring them home, and for the millions who live in the hinterland.

During the pandemic, e-commerce has become an essential part of life. One can purchase goods and products comfortably from the convenience of their homes.

If they visit an online retail store, browse through the products, add them to carts and click to buy. The whole process will take a few minutes. Thus, they can easily avoid the risk of catching the virus, save time and money. 

Scorching heat, heavy downpours, risk of being pick-pocketed and mugged all can be avoided if they shop online.

 "It saves time. It means it saves money," said Ridwan-ul-Arefin, an engineering student who bought the entire wardrobe for his family, who lives in Jamalpur, from an online outlet during Eid-ul-Fitr.

When he is in Faridpur, where his college is located, Arefin will buy things that are not available in the district town, or online stores are giving discounts and running special campaigns.

He orders from the flagship stores of an online platform where he would find original products at original or lower prices.

Before placing an order he pours over the reviews. He orders the products that have at least average ratings.

Arefin said many online shopping firms have hubs at the district level.

"So, if you use the hub as your delivery address while placing the order, you will not have to pay the delivery charge. The delivery charge becomes higher when you buy a lot of things. But using the hub, you can eliminate the charge," said Arefin, who studies civil engineering at the Faridpur Engineering College.

When online shops offer discounts on the purchase of products for a particular amount, Arefin and some of his friends will make a single order to qualify for the waiver.

"We always wait for the discounts and offers," he said.

Nujhat Sharmin, a banker, buys everything from online outlets, except for clothes.

"It is really tough to find original products even from physical stores. So, I rely on some reliable e-commerce sites to purchase from groceries to cosmetics."

Speaking about clothing items, Sharmin said her personal experience is that the garments that are shown during live presentations sometimes don't match the products delivered.

"So, I buy clothes from physical stores." 

The pandemic has accelerated online shopping.

"I have become fully dependent on online since the pandemic arrived," Sharmin said.

In the case of valuable goods, Momo chooses items online but buys them from the company's showroom if it has any.

As the online landscape has been flooded with thousands of stores, it has become very tough to separate the good ones from the bad.

"So, we have to be watchful," Momo said.

She said ratings or reviews are not enough to conclude whether a product is authentic or counterfeit because sometimes they could be manipulated.

"We have an online group. When any of us wants to buy something, she gives status and seeks opinions from the other members. We decide to buy a product based on the opinions," Momo said.

Online shoppers say identifying safe online platforms has become difficult because there are thousands of outlets to choose from. Many fraudulent sites are on the prowl to steal personal data and money.

But they also admit that one can't stop buying online just because of the swindlers as advantages outweigh disadvantages by a mile.

Rajib Ahmed, the husband of Momo, said because of the popularity of online shopping, competition has increased among e-commerce firms as well.

"Every retailer wants to retain its standards and customers and attract new ones. Now, the quality of the products sold online is good. Fraudulent activities have reduced. The quality you seek is available."

Ahmed also talked about the disadvantage of cash on delivery.

"If I order a sari or dress for my wife, I will not unwrap it completely on the street or at the entrance of our building. If I later notice a fault in the product and inform the company, they would not accept it. They would say: 'Why didn't you check it before receiving the delivery?'"

Saif Hasnat and Shanto Mahmud, both private-sector employees, echoed the sentiment and suggested buying products online from renowned brands to avoid troubles.