E-commerce set to hit TV screens

ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News

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Turkish Internet service provider TTNET has launched e-commerce applications on smart televisions as part of a partnership with MasterCard and CordisNetwork.

TTNET’s Tivibu, a digital pay-TV operator, now enables its users to do online shopping on television in the comfort of their own homes via digital platform Tivibu Çarşı (Tivibu Market), TTNET General Manager Abdullah Orkun Kaya said during a press meeting for the promotion of Tivibu Çarşı held in Istanbul yesterday.

After registering on the company’s website with their card and address information, users can access the Tivibu Çarşı application by pressing the “interactive button on the Tivibu remote,” he said. “Users will be able to visit the online shops of DShopping and purchase products by paying by MasterCard. Teknosa and Little Caesars Pizza will be the new brands in the platform.”

TTNET has brought e-commerce to a whole new level, Kaya said. “Local brands will be able to open shops on Tivibu Çarşı to introduce their products to the target group in their field of activity and also reduce their advertisement costs,” he said.

Speaking at the same event, MasterCard Southeastern Europe General Manager Mete Güney said the application, online shopping on the television, was a first in the world. “We are offering an online and integrated shopping solution through televisions that can connect to the Internet,” Güney said, adding that the e-commerce market in Turkey had reached 3 billion Turkish Liras ($1.5 billion) a month, a 26 percent rise when compared to the last year.

Güney also said other credit card payment systems would be included along with MasterCard.

TTNET cooperated with Cardtek Group subsidiary CordisNetwork to build technology infrastructure for Tivibu Çarşı under which the junior partner will provide software service assistance.

“The consumer will have an opportunity to do shopping on their televisions without any security issues thanks to Tivibu Çarşı, which is the first example of its kind in the world,” Cardtek Groups General Manager Murat Göksenin Güzel said.