Turkey’s e-commerce sales soar 300% as consumers turn to digital options
Recommendations that citizens avoid crowded areas amid the coronavirus outbreak have led to a change in consumer behavior, with many citizens turning to digital options as a way to bypass physical shopping environments.
The trend has provided opportunities for e-commerce businesses, allowing them to double or even triple their sales. Consumers are said to primarily prefer basic food and hygiene products during this time. On the flip side, all of this forced companies to look for additional couriers to be able to fill orders on time, which also resulted in an increase in their orders for new motorcycles.
Retailer CarrefourSA’s digital platform saw a 50% increase in its normal traffic trend on an hourly basis compared to last week. “Our turnover has also increased by 50%. The highest growth in terms of turnover was observed in dry food, meat, cleaning, perfume, personal care and hygiene products, ”said General Manager Kutay Kartallıoğlu.
Another retailer, Migros, has also seen strong demand for consumer goods as well as personal care products.
There are now more than 126,000 cases of the coronavirus worldwide, after the World Health Organization (WHO) first called the outbreak a pandemic on Wednesday, and more than 4,600 died at 2:00 a.m. on Thursday. GMT. Nearly 7,000 cases have been reported in the past day, far exceeding the average daily number reported in China during the virus’s initial peak.
With only one confirmed coronavirus case so far, Turkey has taken many measures early on and announced a series of measures in the fight against the disease. Government institutions and agencies have stepped up efforts to minimize the possible impact of the virus on the economy.
Thermal screening devices were first installed at airports to prevent the entry of infected passengers from overseas, while flights to and from Italy, South Korea, Iran and Iraq were subsequently canceled. On February 23, border crossings with Iran were closed. Since then, Iraqi borders have also been temporarily closed. Municipalities regularly disinfect transit vehicles and other overcrowded spaces.
The country has also joined the world in suspending or postponing many international events that were scheduled for the coming weeks.
Experts also recommended that citizens stay away from crowded places.
GittiGidiyor, one of the leading e-commerce sites in Turkey, has seen its daily average triple, said its managing director Öğet Kantarcı, who is also the head of the E-Commerce Sector Assembly at the Union of rooms and product exchanges. of Turkey (TOBB).
“The best-selling products are vitamin supplements, hygiene products and disinfectants. There is also a noticeable increase in sales of antibacterial soaps and wipes, toilet paper and packaged foods. Sales of pulses and oilseed products have increased tenfold, ”noted Kantarcı.
The WHO declaring the coronavirus a pandemic has caused extraordinary activity in online shopping, said Cenk Çiğdem, member of the TOBB Electronic Commerce Assembly and founder of Ticimax E-commerce Systems.
“It’s a density we’ve never seen before, especially on e-commerce sites selling food, cologne, hygiene products and medical products. In particular, some sites state that they cannot fulfill all orders for dry food and cologne. There has even been a revival of e-commerce sites that sell textiles, ”Çiğdem noted.
“Some items appear to have increased sales volume by up to 300%,” he said.
Emre Ekmekçi, president of the Association of Electronic Commerce Operators, also noted that there was an average increase of up to 300% in sales of cleaning and hygiene products and medical protection products.
Motorcycles request
Growing demand has forced e-commerce sites to seek out new couriers. That said, the growing need for couriers has also mobilized the motorcycle market. Some companies have reportedly ordered up to 2,000 motorcycles.
Remzi Öztürk, general coordinator of the Motorcycle Industry Association, confirmed that the rapid increase in the number of people ordering from home has impacted motorcycle sales, indicating that companies mainly buy 110cc and 125cc motorcycles.
“The average prices of these vehicles vary between 9,000 and 15,000 TL. Looking at the orders of the last few months and even new orders, there seems to be a serious increase. There is a demand for motorcycles of almost 4000 units. If this number increases, there may be a product supply problem, ”noted ztürk.
The President of the Association of Food Retailers, Galip Aykaç, said they did not expect any disruption in meeting the needs of consumers.
“We have gone to increase our inventory to some extent, given the trend of increasing demand for basic necessities, such as cologne, wet wipes, hand soaps and basic products such as water, milk, flour, oil, sugar, pasta and legumes., diapers and baby food, ”Aykaç pointed out.
