In Bangladesh, businesses spend more than Tk 1,000 crore annually on digital marketing alone on Facebook and Google to reach their target audience. Inkam, a new startup, offers an alternative for businesses in Bangladesh and also creates income opportunities for “digital entrepreneurs”
Currently, Inkam has onboarded six partners including Shikho, Bohubrihi, AmarLab, Bambinos Bangladesh, Shombhob App. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
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Currently, Inkam has onboarded six partners including Shikho, Bohubrihi, AmarLab, Bambinos Bangladesh, Shombhob App. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Residing in Barguna, Barishal, Meraz Ahmed is a freelance event planner. He was actively looking for a second job until he came across Inkam on Facebook.
Inkam is a digital-only distribution company that has integrated promising digital products (learning videos, skills development courses, health services, etc.) into the market. The platform allows its users to distribute these products for sales commissions.
“Inkam’s terms and policies are quite easy to understand and accommodating, so I registered the same day and became an Inkam agent,” Meraz said.
At Inkam, each agent/affiliate who earns a commission for marketing the products of another person or company is known as a “Digital Uddokta” (Digital Entrepreneur).
“All we have to do is get new customers for the services [of different companies] they sell on this platform. For example, if I am in charge of selling digital course material, I keep looking for potential customers around me. When they agree to purchase the course, I send them my personalized link through which they can purchase,” Meraz explained, adding, “With every purchase I make, I get a 10%-15% commission on my account.”
Photo: Noor-A-Alam
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Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Meraz now earns between 2,000 and 2,500 Tk in any given week. He also leads Barishal’s Digital Uddokta team.
As the world is moving towards digitalization and the informal economy of Bangladesh is growing phenomenally. Inkam saw an opportunity to merge the two to create a service that benefits everyone in the ecosystem.
Inkam is open for business to any individual (who can work as an agent) or platform (who can work as a collaborator or partner). For example, Go Global is an international visa admission and processing platform. They also offer career advice to students going abroad for higher education.
Imtiaz Bin Habib, Deputy Business Development Manager of Go Global, explained how their sales increased after joining Inkam.
“Career Counseling is our popular service. Previously, we only marketed it through Facebook and Google Ads. Those ads certainly gave us huge reach, but not even 1% of those reaches made it to the real list. On the other hand, the reach we get through Inkam’s agents is almost 100% efficient, which allows us to do good business,” Imtiaz told The Business Standard.
If Inkam remains consistent with its growth, Imtiaz plans to invest the lion’s share of its company’s marketing spend in Inkam in the coming years.
The void in the digital infrastructure
A study by Statistica.com reveals that advertising spending in the digital advertising market in Bangladesh is expected to reach $305 million this year. Businesses spend over Tk 1,000 crore every year on digital marketing alone on Facebook and Google to reach their target audience.
“All of this money is our money, our people’s money. It’s sad that we have to give it to global tech giants for marketing reasons. Recognizing this, we wanted to create a platform that will enable digital advertisements effective and who move money around the country,” said Firoz Uddin Ahmed, COO, Inkam.
Firoz Uddin Ahmed.
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Firoz Uddin Ahmed.
Also, with the increased demand for digital products and the shift of the population online, there is an absence of digital distribution infrastructure for digital products.
“We have a plethora of physical product resale platforms (Daraz, Amazon, eBay, etc.), but the digital distribution market is still untapped,” Firoz explained.
“Through Inkam, not only are we accelerating access to digital products among the masses, but we are also creating income opportunities for people who have limited or no income,” said Khalid Hossain, co-founder of Inkam. .
Khalid Hosain.
Khalid Hosain.
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