Facebook has been an integral part of connecting people all over the globe. But the impact of Facebook is not limited to only connecting people. With over 2.8 billion monthly active users, Facebook is one of the strong platforms to reach out to prospective customers for your business. In Bangladesh, the utilization of this social networking platform in business has increased significantly since the pandemic.  The F commerce in Bangladesh has seen rapid growth in the last few years. The current market cap stands at around 312 crore BDT which contributes a significant amount to the e-commerce revenue. So, do you think you have something to sell online? Here’s our detailed guideline to get you going on your F-commerce venture.  Read GP Accelerator Program 3.0: Paving the Way for Successful Startups How to open a Facebook shop from Bangladesh? To keep things short and not make them boring, we won't be diving into the step-by-step process of opening a page itself. Rather we will focus on what most people miss or get wrong while opening a page. The process is pretty self-explanatory and intuitive.  A catchy name  Do you know what gets the attention of the potential customers right away? The name. Your business should have a unique and catchy name that grabs the attention of the customers. Something that the customers would remember for a long time.  Try and come up with something catchy and relevant to your product. Go along with something that creates a self-brand centering you or the product range. The end goal is to grab the attention of the customer. If it’s a niche-based business, try to go for something relevant to the niche.  Read:Pickaboo: Story of successful electronics eCommerce platform And if you own an established business with some form of customer base, you can stick with the ‘name’ that has already worked for your business.  Getting the Right Display/ Cover Picture   When you have got the name for your business, you have overcome a massive hurdle. Now let's talk about getting the page started.  After naming your Facebook shop page, you need to move on to choosing a display picture. Typically, everyone goes with the business logo. And if you don’t have one, get one. The logo can be something simple that embodies who you are and what you are trying to sell.  Read Best Business Ideas Amidst the Pandemic and New Normal Choosing an appropriate cover picture is equally important as well. Use it to highlight the customer-centric approach and all the other aspects of the business. Create a multipoint contact space for the customers and highlight them on the cover picture.  Adding Business Details  This is probably the most important aspect when it comes to setting up a page. Up until this point, whatever you did was either guided or intuitive, but things get a bit more intricate from here. Whatever you put forth from here it can either make or break your online business.  The first thing to sort is what type of business you are offering. This is important as Facebook has a set of algorithms that will promote your business to an industry-specific niche. Let's say you're a business that plans to sell ready-made clothes. Make sure to select "clothing line” from the list of businesses. Correct selection of the sector is important to reach the target customer.  Read How to Test and Validate Your Startup Idea? Business Description  Ever heard of a minute to win it? Well, this is something similar except you get 250 characters to showcase your business. Be crafty and decisive about your words as this is what your prospective clients will be seeing the first thing. The proverb goes, the first impression is the last impression. You need to be convincing about your business so that you can convert a prospective lead to a real buyer.  Categories  Categories are something similar to selecting your business niche. You get to add multiple categories depending on the services you’re offering. Now don't go overboard with the tags though. We suggest you be concise about your category selection as they play a huge role when you boost your page or post.  Read: E-commerce Scams: Ways to Protect Your Investment from Online Frauds Contact  This is also another important aspect. This is where the personal touch of your marketing comes into play. Typically, you should provide your phone number along with an email ID to tag along with the contact list. Make sure to have contacts active as this also acts as a first impression to the customer service.  Timing  When are your business hours? People often differ on this point. Many think an online business should follow the traditional business hours whereas others think it should cater around 24/7 since there virtually is no constraint when everything is online.  We think it's impossible to cater to your customer 24/7 unless you have a dedicated team for that. However, most mainstream businesses won't even need that sort of extreme timing. We suggest sticking with the schedule when you can ensure optimum customer support without personal disruption.  Read 7 Ways to Become a Genuine Expert in Your Chosen Field Follow a Theme  You should set up a theme for your business. What we mean is, whatever you're posting or sharing online from your page, make sure they follow the same structure or design elements. This will help to bring consistency across the page feed making it pleasing for potential customers. A theme also helps to stand out from the others creating a unique distinction for the business.  The key here is to stand out from the rest. The more the elements stand out, the more chances for the business to get noticed and create better customer traffic. Read: Agro-Tech Startups in Bangladesh: Tech revolution in Agriculture Sector Tell Your Story  Every business has a story to tell and this is your poetic moment of glory. Talk about your vision, your ideas, what prompted this business and where do you see your business in the near future. In short, tell stories to which the potential customers can relate. Make it engaging so that they feel a part of your business. The key here is to captivate the emotion of your potential customer and use it to expand on the sales front. Post Post Post  Keep your clients engaged with regular updates and posts. We cannot stress the importance of this point enough. You need to keep your customers hooked with your page so that they are constantly reminded of your presence. The more they think about you, the more they’ll be prompted to buy your product.  Read: Bangla QR Payment: The Contactless Payment System of EBL Self-Branding  Spread the word of your business yourself because no one else will. Invite friends and families to like your page to make it more engaging. That’s how a business grows, through word of mouth and exceptional service.  Final Thoughts  The influence of Facebook is immense. The traffic it holds is unprecedented and the opportunities are virtually untapped. There is no better time than now to take your business to the online platform through F-commerce and other social handles.  As you grow to get started with the entrepreneurial venture, Facebook can be your next big tool to expand the business to new dimensions. Read Truck Lagbe raises $4 mln Series A fund to transform trucking market of Bangladesh

A Dhaka court on Monday placed  three  people including the owners of virtual outlet e-orange.shop  on a 5-day remand in a fraud case filed over embezzlement of Tk 1,100 crore from consumers. Those remanded are its owner Sonia Mehzabin and her husband Masukur Rahman and Aman Ullah, Chief Operating Officer of e-Orange. Read: Owners of e-orange.shop sent to jail over fraud case The court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Morshed Al Mamun Bhuiyan passed the order after investigation officer of the case Aminul Islam produced them before  it with a 10-day remand plea. On August 16, an aggrieved customer of E-Orange Md Taherul Islam filed a fraud case with Gulshan police station in presence of 37 other customers who testified against the accused. According to the case, on April 21, Taherul ordered a product from eorgance.shop and paid in advance. But the online shop failed to deliver the product on the promised date. Neither did it return the money. The outlet has posted notice on its Facebook page many times seeking more time from the customers to deliver the products. But the products didn’t come. Read:Travel ban imposed on Evaly chairman, MD Besides, the gift vouchers the company provided to shop in different outlets were also not being honoured. They said the company didn’t pay them their money. Taherul said he filed the case in fear of losing his money after he came to know the company’s ownership had changed hands. Later on Tuesday last, the owner and her husband surrendered before the court seeking bail. Read:Evaly is under ACC probe for alleged misappropriation But, the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Abu Bakar Siddique rejected their bail plea and  sent them behind the bars. Besides, the CEO was arrested from Gulshan area on the evening of August 18. At the time, 24 credit cards, Tk 16 lakh and a car were seized from him.