30 lakhs start, profit 2.5 crores in three years

During the coronavirus pandemic, customers had to face various difficulties in getting products through online and e-commerce platforms. Since then, the entrepreneur Rezwanul Haque Jami started thinking about reducing the cost of conventional goods transportation methods in the country. He made a digital locker out of wood in his garage in 2022 using Internet of Things (IoT) technology. Get success in it. Indeed, confidence increases.

At that time, in a tea shop in Gulshan, he suddenly met his old colleague Morshedul Alam after 10 years. In stories and chats, Jami told a friend about his plan to do something about the logistics sector. He was told about getting success in digital locker earlier. Two friends agreed on this startup idea. Virtually on the same day, a new startup named Digibox started its journey.

In the first phase, the investment in this initiative was 30 lakh taka. Collect these money themselves. The business started with five digital locker stations. So far, the company has made a profit of two and a half crore rupees. However, without sharing the profit, they spent the entire amount on running the office and building new digital locker stations.

where to start

In 2012, Morshedul Alam established an international voice gateway called Mosfivetel. At that time, Rezwanul Haque was working in another company called Tusuka Technotrade. That's when they met. At one stage Rezwanul Haque became involved as a partner in Mosfivetel. In addition to this, they also built separate institutions. Morshedul Alam established two logistics companies named Tas Logistics and Samsa at the container terminal of Biman and Chittagong port. Rezwanul Haque developed BDtickets.com and OLX.com.bd.

In 2023, a four thousand square feet office was taken for Digibox in Bachila Garden City, Mohammadpur, Dhaka. There was a digital locker manufacturing factory next to it. At that time, two lockers were made on an average per month. Now Digibox is running with a total of 31 people.

In future we plan to provide digital locker services in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Africa as well. There are plans to launch the box to box service next month. Apart from this, "DG Plaza" will be launched in Mohammadpur of the capital in December, where product delivery can be taken 24 hours through camera vision technology.

Rezwanul Haque, CEO, Digibox.

Currently there are 55 locations of this digital locker station in the country. There are about 5,500 boxes in these lockers. Among them, there are 36 digital locker stations in Dhaka. Other locker stations are located in Rangpur, Rajshahi, Bogra, Sylhet and Chittagong districts. The company has served more than seven lakh customers so far. At present, they have this digital locker facility in all metro stations of the capital. On an average, around 300 customers can be served per day from each point.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Digibox Rezwanul Haque told Prothom Alo, "In the future, we are planning to provide digital locker services in Nepal, Sri Lanka and Africa as well." There are plans to launch the box to box service next month. Apart from this, "DG Plaza" will be launched in Mohammadpur of the capital in December, where product delivery can be taken through 24-hour camera vision technology.

Bangladesh e-commerce and online market size is about 750 million US dollars. Out of this, the delivery market is worth 75 million dollars. In total, five lakh deliveries are made in this sector every day. We aim to deliver 50,000 daily by 2028.

Morshedul Alam, Chairman, Digibox.

How Digibox Serves

Orange colored digital lockers can be seen in all metro stations and different areas in Dhaka. A customer gets 72 hours to collect the products from these digital lockers. The delivery cost is 22 to 45 taka. But for this you have to order from e-commerce platform Daraz Bangladesh. In that case customer has to select Digibox delivery option at the time of order. Then the deliveryman from the e-commerce platform will leave the product at the nearest digibox of the customer's choice. The customer will then receive an SMS.

The DigiBox has a screen almost identical to the screen of an ATM booth. There are two options called 'Rider' and 'Customer'. When the deliveryman goes to place the product, the rider will use the option. On the other hand, there is a customer option for the customer. If you enter your email or mobile number there, an OTP code will be sent to your email or mobile number. Entering that code will open the box of the product kept by the customer. Then the customer will collect the product.

Any e-commerce and online platform organization can register with DigiBox for shipping their products. For this, the institution does not have to pay any money initially. Currently, apart from Daraj, BRAC Bank, Shahjalal Islami Bank, Thousand Fix and Australian International School are using this digital locker service.

Digibox chairman Morshedul Alam said, 'E-commerce and online market size of Bangladesh is about 750 million US dollars. Out of this, the delivery market is worth 75 million dollars. In total, five lakh deliveries are made in this sector every day. Our goal is to deliver 50,000 daily by 2028.