Checkbox: How a social commerce platform creates opportunities for micro-entrepreneurs

Business models vary throughout time, sometimes as an outcome of market shifts and other times as a result of technological advancements, which leads to the conception of innovative and impactful business models. This is where the story of Checkbox comes in.  The concept behind Checkbox started to take shape at the end of 2020 due to its unique circumstances. Since most people stayed indoors and faced financial difficulties, there was a boom in f-commerce and online businesses. This was when Mashfik and his co-founders started to design the idea behind their startup, Checkbox.

"There was a crisis in supply and demand because there was a halt in imported products; hence there was difficulty sourcing products, and also, people were looking for ways and opportunities to sell their existing products in the market," said Mashfik. Such social problems drove the idea behind Checkbox, and like most passionate entrepreneurs, Mashfik and his co-founders wanted to solve this social issue.

"Checkbox is a social commerce business that uses dropshipping and group buying in a blended model; the model is popularly known as reselling in Southeast Asia. In Bangladesh, it was introduced by Shopup in 2018, and currently, Checkbox is working on this on a larger scale," added Mashfik.

Mashfik Sarker Protik, co-founder and CEO of Checkbox, a business graduate from the Institute of Business Administration (IBA), Dhaka University with over six years of business management experience and over three years of banking experience, gave this writer a walkthrough on the journey of Checkbox and how it provides a comprehensive solution for online retailers, especially f-commerce sellers, for starting and growing their online businesses, regardless of their experience or, socio-economic background and limited resources. 

The team: "I built my founding team based on their individual expertise," said Mashfik. His Chief Technology Officer (CTO), SM Mohiuddin Milton was Mashfik's school friend who also had 17 years of business experience and seven years of teaching experience. Kuntal Saha Aishwaria, COO,  previously gained operational experiences from other businesses. Hence, Checkbox had its own 'Visionary', the 'Hustler', and the 'Hacker' to complete its founding team.

How it works: Checkbox has two segments of resellers; resellers with prior experience and resellers who are new in the market.

In Bangladesh, the majority of rural and suburban families typically have only one wage earner. However, Checkbox is enabling other family members to contribute to the household income as well, leading to a greater average household income by opening up chances for working from home.

"Many female entrepreneurs joined the platform who previously could not take the hassle of starting their own business," said Mashfik. "One good example of a reselling would be a girl who is only an SSC candidate living outside Dhaka. She used Checkbox from her father's mobile to start her own business," said Mashfik. Hence, Checkbox is also bridging the gap between gender when it comes to entrepreneurship.

Many housewives and new mothers are also using the platform to start their own businesses. As mentioned, resellers from any socio-economic background have access to Checkbox, "Another reselling success story would be of a CNG driver who uses Checkbox as a side hustle and also takes English Language lessons to efficiently work on his business," said Mashfik. Checkbox also provides training to its resellers along with products and logistical support.

To popularise this business model, Checkbox uses Facebook to promote Checkbox through testimonials and case studies. "The startup's value proposition is that an entrepreneur with very limited resources can start their own business at home just by focusing on marketing and reselling that also drives its growth and branding," said Mashfik. Checkbox also connects successful resellers with other resellers through monthly meetings, which also creates awareness.

Industry insights: According to Statista, 39 million people in Bangladesh were Facebook subscribers as of 2020. More than 300,000 Bangladeshi stores use Facebook, according to the Industrial Development Leasing Company of Bangladesh Limited's monthly business assessment (2019). About 50 per cent of them are owned by women. In Bangladesh, Facebook alone claims 50,000 business pages.

The size of Bangladesh's e-commerce market, which was approximately Tk 568.70 billion (56,870 crore) in 2021, will be over Tk 1500 billion (1.5 lakh crore) by 2026, even though the business-to-customer e-commerce segment is anticipated to grow by 17.61 per cent annually. This was highlighted by the Dublin-based trade research organisation ResearchAndMarkets, according to reports.

"The E-commerce market in 2026 is expected to be Tk 1.5 trillion. Social commerce will be at least 10 to 15 per cent of this market. There is a possibility of reaching this number before 2026 if Checkbox and other similar platforms work as a catalyst or enabler," exclaimed Mashfik.

Globally, the retail sector is undergoing a transformation owing to technologies and innovation. With each passing year, more and more customers are shopping online since it is convenient, quick, and mobile-friendly. Online shopping and informational resources are increasingly being used by thousands of individuals, making them a vital component of contemporary trends.  By making it easier for new business owners to enter this industry, Checkbox is fostering growth that will increase overall economic output.

Checkbox's core mission is to foster entrepreneurship by empowering the populace. Startups like Checkbox are certain to have a significant macroeconomic impact in a country where roughly 30 million educated youths are either unemployed or underemployed.

In 2021, there were more than 2,500 e-commerce platforms in Bangladesh, of which 1.0 per cent were large enterprises, 4.0 per cent were medium-sized businesses, and 95 per cent were small businesses, according to research by the e-Commerce Association of Bangladesh (e-Cab). Around 1,600 online business owners belonged to e-Cab.

Indonesia's Evermos, India's Shopsy, Meesho, and Glow Road, Vietnam's Mio, and Colombia's Elenas are some examples of reselling platforms around the world.

Vision and fundraising: Being a part of this growing market in Bangladesh, Checkbox received its first pre-seed funding which is Tk 6.5 million (65 lakh), through angel investors in August 2022. "The startup started to grow tremendously from September. The monthly revenue grew four times, with it being over 3.5 million and having 8,000 resellers to date," said Mashfik.

The resellers are earning over 0.3 million monthly. Mashfik said, "In the next five years, Checkbox wants to onboard 1.0 million resellers and also target the 26.3 million educated youths who graduated but are unemployed or underemployed".

"Social commerce is a significant part of the e-commerce market, and so we want to create opportunities for youths to access this market through reselling," concluded Mashfik.

The writer is a startup enthusiast.
[email protected]