As in every year, online sacrificial animal markets have opened around Eid-ul-Azha. But while other years saw brisk trade, this year the picture is the opposite. For the past few years the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-CAB) and the city corporation organised an online cattle market, but this year there is none. Individuals and a few companies are, however, selling cattle online.

Dhaka's temporary sacrificial animal markets formally open on Tuesday (3 June). Many people are not comfortable pushing through the crowds at the markets to buy an animal, and many do not have the people or the time to go. For them, online is the only option. They browse various websites and social media to buy cattle, buffaloes, camels, goats, sheep and dumba. Many companies deliver the animals directly, or slaughter them and deliver the meat to the customer's address, and many also supply butchers.

Rabeya Begum lives in Khilgaon in the capital. With her children living abroad, she has been buying her cow online for four years.

"I will buy the cow online this year too. I have been looking at cattle on different sites for two days. But this year I can't get a sense of prices. Many say cattle will be cheaper this time, so I am taking a little time," Rabeya Begum told Jago News.

She said that last Eid-ul-Azha she used to get all sorts of messages on her mobile from online cattle markets, such as "Don't worry about delivery" and "Don't worry about the butcher". This year she has not yet received any such messages.

Although e-CAB and the city corporation have no arrangement this year, many are selling animals online on a limited scale. The sites selling animals this year include Bengal Meat, Bikroy.com, Othoba.com of the PRAN-RFL Group, Rakhali.com, Pranisheba.com, Gabtoli Goruhat.com, Goruhat.com, Gobadi e-Haat.com and Biomendhat.com, among others.

Othoba.com is running a campaign with the slogan "Not at the market, hasil- and hassle-free at othoba.com!" There is free delivery on sacrificial animals, along with a free gift hamper from PRAN powdered spices.

Bikroy.com is running various campaigns to attract buyers. These include several thousand quality sacrificial animals from Bikroy members, slaughter and transport services from Sheba.xyz, and slaughtering equipment.

Gabtoli Goruhat.com is selling animals online across the country, including cattle, buffaloes, camels, goats, sheep and dumba. It has brought buyers and sellers from every corner of the country onto one platform.

Touhiduzzaman, deputy general manager (DGM) of the PRAN-RFL Group's public relations department, said: "We are getting a good response to online animal sales this year. We are delivering cattle in six districts: Dhaka, Gazipur, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Habiganj and Sylhet. A customer who wants to buy a cow from our online shop Othoba.com has to pay Tk 15,000 to 20,000 in advance."

Misha Ali, marketing director of Bikroy.com, told Jago News: "At the holy Eid-ul-Azha festival everyone wants to sacrifice the best quality animal. In most cases customers go to the market and come back disappointed because of high prices and poor-quality animals. With our Eid-ul-Azha offer, some lucky buyers will be able to buy top-quality animals at a big discount. Buyers can also get other animals of different quality, various equipment and services from trusted sellers across the country on our site. Through this we are giving buyers the best experience for their sacrificial shopping."

Asked why there is no online cattle market this year, e-CAB administrator Muhammad Saeed Ali told Jago News: "The context is different this year. We have no list of online cattle markets this year, and e-CAB has no arrangement for online animal sales. But many are selling animals online on their own initiative. We will monitor them. If anyone is cheated buying a cow online or makes a complaint, we will act immediately."

Md Zobayer Hossain, public relations officer of Dhaka North City Corporation, told Jago News: "In other years an online cattle market was organised jointly with e-CAB, but this year we have no formal arrangement. However, new sellers of animals online can do business, as the law requires, with a trade licence and all the other papers and with the permission of the office concerned."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.