Turkey

DHL has plans to concentrate more on ecommerce in Turkey. The German logistics player considers Turkey as an important regional hub which could fuel growth in the Middle Eastern and European markets. DHL is setting up an operations center at Istanbul Airport as first step of this plan.

Ecommerce in Turkey is growing fast. Expectations are the online retail industry of Turkey will reach 50 billion Turkish liras, currently about 7.59 billion euros, by the end of this year. Last year, the industry was worth 42.2 billion liras, or 6.4 billion euros. This means, ecommerce in Turkey is about to grow 18.5 percent this year.

Amazon has launched Amazon Turkey today. The dedicated local marketplace offers products from 15 different categories to Turkish customers. Consumers in Turkey could already order at Amazon, but that happened via a translated version of the German Amazon. Now, they have their own dedicated Amazon website with Amazon Turkey.

Amazon will soon launch Amazon.com.tr, a localized version of its website, dedicated to Turkish consumers. Amazon will not only have its own website in Turkey, but also its own warehouse and office.

Turkey aims to raise its ecommerce revenue to over 10 billion euros by the end of this year. The Turkish ecommerce association ETID thinks the ecommerce industry in Turkey could increase significantly this year.

The Turkish government wants to make global ecommerce companies liable for taxes on goods that are sold directly to Turkish customers. The government has proposed a draw law for this, the Turkish Minister of Finance said today.

Hepsiburada, the biggest ecommerce company in Turkey, has introduced a new program, which will help 1,000 women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses through ecommerce. The Technology Power for Entrepreneur Women Program offers free online stores, but also gives assistance with sales, operations, marketing and logistics.

Ecommerce in Turkey was worth 30.8 billion Turkish Liras (or 7.95 billion euros) in 2016. The online retail industry in this country is becoming more and more mature. The ecommerce share in Turkey's total retail was 1.7 percent in 2012, but it increased to 3.5 percent last year, a new study shows.

Amazon Germany has discovered its Turkish customers. Buyers from that country can get their goods delivered for free. In addition, the website of Amazon Germany and its catalogue has been translated into Turkish. Customer service via email and phone is also available in Turkish.

PayPal has ceased operations in Turkey after the company was unable to get a new license from Turkish financial regulator BDDK. A new Turkish policy requires IT systems to be housed within the country, but that's something PayPal doesn't follow.

PayU, a payment service provider in Turkey, will close this year with a growth of 40 to 80 percent in each of its markets. This success is due to an emerging middle class, the rise of mobile technology and evolving ecommerce environments in developing markets, the company says.

Groupon is no longer active in Greece and Turkey. The American ecommerce company pulled the plug on its operations in these two Southern European countries last week. It’s still not clear why the Greek site is offline now, but Groupon backed down in Turkey because of financial expectations that couldn’t be met.

In Europe, more and more consumers like to pay using their smartphone or tablet. In share of mobile device owners who already have experience with mobile payments, Turkey is the absolute leader in Europe. This is apparent from the latest report by yStats.com, called "Europe Online Payment Methods: First Half 2015".

The ecommerce volume in Turkey has reached 18.9 billion Turkish liras (6.34 billion euros) last year, after it increased by 35 percent in 2014 compared to the previous year. Ecommerce in Turkey now represents 1.6 percent of all retail business in the European country.

Iyzico has raised a Series B funding of 16.5 million Turkish liras, or 5.74 million euros. The Turkish company, which provides a platform to let ecommerce sites and other apps easily accept online payments, has raised more than 8.5 million euros in total since it was founded three years ago.