Nepali shoppers benefit from on-line shopping facilities
10/3/2006 17:32
The rapid pace at which the information technology sector is growing has
significant impact on Nepal with more and more shoppers both at home and abroad
feeling the convenience of on-line shopping.
With the number of shoppers
drawn towards on-line shopping growing each passing day, on-line shopping has
emerged as a growing e-business in Nepal.
In Nepal, Muncha.com first launched
on-line shopping in the year 2000 and it was the first on-line shopping service
provider to come to the market.
Since 2000, Muncha.com has been bringing
families together and strengthening the bond of friendship. For example, if you
are not in Nepal and want to be in touch with the people you care for, you can
simply go to the site of Muncha.com and select the gifts that you want to send
them.
According to Muncha.com CEO Amrit Tuladhar, Muncha.com has more than
6,000 items in 25 categories which range from eraser to LCD TV.
Tuladhar said
Muncha.com delivers gifts on the doorsteps in almost all parts of the country as
per the order by the customer. He claimed that his firm charges 99 percent
normal price to the customers who shop on-line compared to the local market
price.
Though on-line shopping is slowly and gradually making a trend between
Nepalese people, it is very popular among the people who are living abroad and
want to send gifts to their loved ones who are living in Nepal. Presently people
from the United States, Britain and Canada are more involved in this
e-business.
Such on-line shopping provides an alternate method of purchasing
for shopping in people's fast and busy daily life, Tuladhar said.
According
to him, his company receives 120 orders per day in an average but on occasions
such as Father's Day, Mother's Day and some Nepali festivals, the orders turn in
huge number compared to the normal days.
On Dashain festival, one of the most
important festivals in Nepal, Muncha.com often delivers live goats to their
customers. It is quite fascinating to hear but it all happens in on-line
shopping by just clicking the mouse sitting at home, Tuladhar noted.
However,
Tuladhar said that e-commerce and on-line shopping in Nepal is not free from
problems such as lack of clear policy on digital transaction. Moreover, there is
no clear act for Internet cheques.
He also noted that there is lack of
Internet infrastructure in Nepal and lack of Broadband Internet connection makes
their job a bit difficult. Broadband connection in Nepal is very expensive for
the normal subscriber.
But, Tuladhar is still optimistic that Nepal will
slowly but gradually develop in the sector as it sheds a ray of hope for the
future.
Xinhua by Wang Haijing
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