NRB Bazaar is a global e-commerce platform from Bangladesh connecting local products with customers worldwide, including Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs). Backed by MARS Solutions Limited, it offers a wide range of products at competitive prices, aiming to rival global giants like Amazon and Alibaba. NRB Bazaar’s mission is to promote Bangladeshi products globally and create a trusted online marketplace for buyers, wholesalers, and retailers.

Image: Mobile and Desktop web view

Challenges

NRB Bazaar encountered numerous challenges that limited its scalability and ability to deliver a seamless shopping experience to its global audience. As Bangladesh's first global e-commerce portal, NRB Bazaar needed a modern, efficient platform capable of handling growing traffic, enhancing customer experience, and supporting long-term growth.

Recognizing these needs, NRB Bazaar turned to nopStation, a Gold partner of nopCommerce, for their new solution. A comprehensive audit and analysis of the existing website and business processes identified key workflows and uncovered opportunities for UX improvements.

• Outdated Technology (PHP Platform): NRB Bazaar’s existing e-commerce platform was built using PHP and MySQL, limiting its scalability and ability to integrate modern functionalities.
• Complex Data Migration: Migrating over 30,000 orders, 12,000 customer records, and 40,000 products from the old platform to the new system, while ensuring data accuracy, was critical to the project’s success.
• Need for a Hyperlocal Model: The absence of a system to assign orders to the nearest warehouse resulted in delays and inefficiencies in last-mile delivery.
• Lack of Advanced Search Capabilities: The old platform lacked advanced search functionalities, making it difficult for customers to find products quickly.
• Inadequate Shipping Solutions: The platform lacked integrations for efficient local and global shipping, causing delays and higher costs.
• Unfriendly UX and Inadequate Product Showcasing: The platform had an outdated design, lacked product interactivity features like zoom, and had poor product displays.
• Long and Complicated Checkout Process: The lengthy checkout process led to cart abandonment and poor conversion rates.

Solution

Following a detailed analysis of the client’s requirements, nopStation implemented the following solutions:

• Platform Upgrade to .NET (nopCommerce): NRB Bazaar’s platform was rebuilt on nopCommerce with PostgreSQL, offering scalability, flexibility, and future-proofing the system.
• Handling Data Migration at Scale: Successful migration of over 30,000 orders, 12,000 customer records, and 40,000 SKUs while maintaining data integrity.
• Hyperlocal Shipping Solution: A hyperlocal delivery system was implemented, allowing customers to select their shipping location area and ensuring orders were routed to the nearest warehouse for faster delivery.

Image: Hyperlocal Selection

• Advanced Search with Algolia: Integrated Algolia for enhanced product search with features like instant results, customizable search parameters, and typo tolerance.
• Shipping Integrations with DHL and RedX: Integrated DHL for international shipping and RedX for local deliveries, ensuring efficient and reliable fulfillment.
• Payment Gateway Integration with SSL Commerz and bKash: Payment processing integrated with SSL Commerz and bKash, facilitating secure transactions for both local and global customers.
• Revamped UX: Implemented the Kingdom theme with interactive features like product zoom, badges, smart product boxes, sliders, and a mega menu for a smoother navigation and shopping experience.

Image: Product category page with filter

• Content Sections: Added dedicated sections for blogs, news, and announcements to keep customers engaged with fresh content and promotions.
• Streamlined Checkout: Simplified the checkout process with an advanced cart and one-page checkout system to reduce cart abandonment.

Image: One-page checkout

• CDN Integration: Integrated a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for faster website performance, improving global load times and user experience.
• Scalable Media Storage: Integrated Amazon S3 for reliable, scalable storage of product images and media, enhancing site performance.

Results

• A smooth data migration process without any loss of data.
• Improved delivery times due to the hyperlocal solution that routed orders to the nearest warehouse.
• Enhanced product discoverability with advanced search capabilities using Algolia.
• Streamlined operations with shipping and payment integrations for local and global orders.
• Increased customer engagement through an improved user interface and faster checkout.
• Real-time customer support integration via Facebook Messenger for better satisfaction.