If online shopping during the lockdown was an option for many families in the capital city, it is only more so now for them. Why? Now the city is behaving almost like it did in pre-pandemic time but the risk of catching coronavirus has increased many times over outside homes. Those who can afford staying at home should not at all come out of home quarantine. Now that the rates of daily death and infection have gone up, there is need for more caution on account of the rising health emergency because it is almost impossible to maintain physical distancing in streets, public places and groceries or other stores.
Everywhere there is a crowd and only days before many of the city people were compelled to travel on transports such as launches, trucks, microbuses and other vehicles in close proximity with each other to come to Dhaka. In the crowd there were even people with no masks. The mindless disorder and lack of awareness did not end there. Right now, the public buses in the city are flagrantly violating the rules and guidelines and to make the matter worse, desperate commuters are themselves at fault of giving a damn to such health protocols.
This is a sure recipe for large-scale community infection. As is seen in many countries, asymptomatic Covid-19 patients can be as high as 40 per cent. Just one such patient can be a source of infection for co-commuters in a public bus. The spread of the disease thus can be exponential within the community in a short time. That is a worst case scenario. People now coming out and in contact with such patients are exposed to the disease unless they are the type who have T cells in them from previous recovery from this or similar other diseases in the past.
Better it is for all who can work online from home or manage procurement of essentials online not to add to the crowds in the street, offices, various stores and in public places. Where there is an absolute need for physical presence, employees should attend duty. Again, in such cases it would be wise for corporate and other large offices to arrange for office transports so that the attending employees do not become a potential source of coronavirus carriers.
As for online shopping, the system has developed to some extent but it has a long way to go. More importantly, the online commodity suppliers at the retail level have their limitations. The kind of expansion their trade required is totally absent. Their ventures have not been promoted enough to draw public attention. Also, most of the consumers' mindset has not changed much in favour of the on-line shopping. However, the pandemic has compelled many to opt for this facility.
For promotion of online retailing, there is a great need for developing professionalism at its best. If commodities ordered do not reach in time or those inferior in quality are supplied, the reputation of the online retailers will definitely suffer. There are complaints against some of the online commodity suppliers. If a few pieces of a large fish ordered go missing when delivered, how can a consumer take it easily? This is outright cheating.
Such irregularities and deceptive practices are likely to restrict the growth of this business. But surely here was a chance for the online retailers to capture a large portion of the essentials market. If they could supply good commodities at competitive prices, most customers would not feel the need for visiting stores even when the virus will have taken leave once for all.