How Rokomari gained its prominence

Who doesn’t enjoy reading? One of the favorite things for book enthusiasts is books. However, it was nearly difficult to obtain the desired book on-demand not too long ago. Rokomari.com, however, has made this impossible. Rokomari had just 100 books when she set off on the adventure. They currently have over 80,000 authors, over 14,000 domestic and international publishers, and over 2 lakh books. Rokomari is the only company in the nation to provide its clients the option to pay with cash on delivery. Let’s see how today’s Rokomari came to be.

The story starts with the hands of some idealistic young people on January 19, 2012, twelve years ago. Five of Rokomari’s founders were students at BUET. Among them are Abul Hasan and Mahmudul Hasan Sohag. In essence, rockmarie.com is a division of an Onnorokom company.

Mahmudul Hasan Sohag, Chairman of Rokomari.com: A pioneer of the online book revolution in Bangladesh. | Photo: Collected.

Developing a cooperative atmosphere with other publications was one of the company’s initial major problems. because the majority of publishers believed that the company’s primary goal was to exploit the Ekushey Book Fair next month to conduct business. When considering the potential for the future, certain publications collaborate with Rokomari, even though many publishers are unaware of their operations. This marks the start of the voyage.

The book “Sushashoner Sondhane” was the first to be published on the Rokomari website, and the first book to be ordered was “Nineteen Seventy-One”. When Prothom Alo released news about Rokomari after the program began, Rokomari’s book sales grew. The public is also aware of it. Later, Rokomari’s office was relocated to Motijheel from Kawran Bazar.

Since the start of the business, they have been extremely aware of their publicity strategies. The organization’s staff used to display banner posters in front of different publications to let authors, publishers, and book readers know about the variety. In addition, the staff members donned Rokomari t-shirts throughout the book fair to promote Rokomari to the readers. Occasionally, Rokomari also advertised them on other billboards.

The founders of Rokomari all had extensive backgrounds in information technology. As a result, Rokomari’s website has a proper structure within a month. Over 500 publishers were able to add books by over 2,500 writers by the end of the first year because of diligent labor and advertising initiatives.

Online purchasing remained quite unpopular by 2012, and the payment mechanism was still having issues. At the time, Rokomari received 30 to 50 orders per day, and by the end of the month, it had grown to 1-2 thousand. It was extremely challenging for Rokomari to win its clients’ trust as a new business. Therefore, to address this issue, the biggest courier service in the nation partnered with Sundarban to introduce Cash On Delivery for the first time, nationwide. It contributes to winning over the customers’ trust. According to Sohag, the founder of Rokomari, “Our (Rokomari) products also reach as many places as the Bangladesh Post Office.”

A Rokomari delivery man is delivering an online-ordered book to a customer. | Photo: Collected.

Rokomari has been making progress in their data analysis since 2014. This was the primary turning point in their business, according to Sohag, the chairman of the company. Since Rokomari is an online organization, its appropriate use results in tangible improvements. In terms of operations, their parent company, Onnorokom Group, makes a variety of investments. Sales of products are the main driver of Rokomari’s business growth. “However, we are proceeding in a very conventional manner, concentrating on the dividend we are expanding,” Sohag stated in this regard. In the past eight or nine years, however, the stock has not yet been distributed to investors. All with the money we have in our pockets.

Despite this, Rokomari had nothing but books when they first set out. In addition to several kinds of packaged food, their website currently offers hygiene products such as masks, hand sanitizers, hand washes, and hand gels.

Every action taken by Rokomari is carried out from their office in Motijheel. They also each have a hub at Bangla Bazar and Kantaban. where they harvest and store their goods. Following that, the books are forwarded to Motijheel, where they are coded. The operator is actually notified by Rokomari’s software of the book’s order and the cell in which it is stored. The book is delivered to the client later.

In Dhaka, Rokomari distributes books in two to three days; outside of Dhaka, it takes three to five days. Rokomari has shipped books to 30 nations worldwide thus far. There are two fees: 50 Taka for internet orders and 70 Taka for phone orders.

However, Rokomari does more than just sell books. An e-book app called Muthoboi was released in 2020 for the nation’s Bengali-speaking citizens. Each year, Rokomari presents awards for the best book, best author, and best buyer at the Rokomari Book Fair. Every month, Rokomari distributes over 90,000 books to readers. Our arrival will inspire people to read more books and contribute to the development of a stunning nation.

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