The shift from brick-and-mortar to web stores

Every day I see lanky lads parking their bicycles in front of six to seven houses in my lane; I call them the "Parcel Brigade". With huge bags on their backs, they meticulously deliver parcels to almost all the floors of the houses they stop. In my place, my son, my husband, my service people, and I are constantly receiving packages of things we need, not need at all, or might need at some later point in life!

The popularity of online shopping is not new. We are constantly browsing our social media handles and getting hooked to sponsored pages. Our inbox is flooded with orders of things such as electronic accessories, designer sunglasses and spectacles, shoes, pet supplies -- whatever catches our fancy while browsing. 

These whimsical purchases are always made at the dead end of the night. I say this from personal experience. I wonder why are those vendors available at 2:00am with prompt replies and why am I online at that ungodly hour confirming exorbitant purchases I do not need! Well, it is a story for another day.

I am most impressed with the wide range of online businesses Dhaka has to offer now. I recently went to a crafts exhibition and 100 per cent of the stalls had an online presence selling exclusive handmade crafts. The entrepreneurs are mostly students of the Faculty of Fine Arts, University of Dhaka.

Suman Paul's Studio Ceramic is a Facebook page for arts and crafts where handmade earthenware, stoneware, and glazed ceramic products by the artist are on sale. Paul is a graduate of the Department of Ceramics; Faculty of Fine Arts and he says the clay is his canvas.

"I give my crafts an artistic form. For example, I made a jug and created the lid as a sculptor shaped in the form of a head. My tableware changes colour and design according to the seasons. I have an animal series of planters called metamorphosis," Paul explains.

His online venture is very niche and has a dedicated clientele who understands and appreciates art.

"Gero" or knot when translated into English is a mother-daughter venture which started its online business in August 2020. Their expertise is crochet and macrame handicrafts mostly home décor items, bags, wall hangings, plant hangers, etc.

Macrame involves creating decorative knots using cords or threads. The products have a textured, knotted design; crochet, on the other hand, uses a hooked needle to create interlocking loops of yarn to form fabric and can be made into coasters, tops, throws, etc.

"People who like a boho-chic look, love macrame bags, which are trending now. Gero is a green venture where we two are the designers and producers. We cannot make products in bulk and attend very few fairs or sales. We are online based and we do make a profit but frankly, consumers do not appreciate handmade work or value it, so they are not always agreeable to our pricing, which they believe is on the dear side," says Sanjida Islam, co-owner of Gero.

Art by Monidipa is another exceptional online art website and has an Instagram handle as well from where Monidipa Dasgupta sells her work. A graduate of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Dhaka University her clients contact her through inbox and she then sends the work sold after framing.

Monidipa's artworks are two-dimensional images of urban landscapes influenced by geometrical designs and blended with flora and fauna along with architectural establishments. She loves working across a range of media although she would say she is primarily a nature pattern artist.

To feed our fancy online entrepreneurs, who are artists by profession, are coming up with unique products and handmade crafts that garner major demand. For niche endeavours such as clay products, jewellery made of seed and natural dry flowers, and paintings, these artists ensure that the crafts they put up on offer are of supreme quality and that they meet the needs and preferences of their upscale, aesthetic Dhaka market.

The e-commerce world of Dhaka is as diverse as the city, check these crafts out.