Fast moving consumer goods sales grow at fast pace: Expert

ISTANBUL

E-commerce growth in Turkey has continued to be above the pre-pandemic level and it grew by 89 percent at the end of the first eight months compared to the similar period of the previous year, a sectoral expert has said.

Revealing the strong 2021 performance of the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) retail, NielsenIQ General Manager Didem Şekerel Erdoğan underlined that modern trade has a very strong growth potential in Turkey when compared to similar country examples.

The share of e-commerce in the FMCG market reached 6 percent during this period, Erdoğan said.

“Turkey closely follows countries such as China [30 percent], South Korea [26 percent] and the United States [15 percent], and it is ranked just after countries such as the United Kingdom [15 percent] and France [9 percent], which have the highest e-commerce share in Europe, respectively,” she added.

Meanwhile, the overall FMCG retail grew by 22 percent year on year in 2020, and 25 percent year on year in 2021, said the expert, pointing out that small format markets and traditional channel contributions stood out in growth.

“This growth story, which has developed well above the European average, is not only exciting but also shows how important it is to get to know the omnichannel preferences that are becoming widespread globally,” said Erdoğan.

She further explained that e-commerce has increased its share in all categories with its high growth, but it was the hot drinks category which had become the leader in growth overall.

According to NielsenIQ data, the top five growing categories in e-commerce were Turkish coffee, instant coffee, tea, household cleaners and deodorants.

The volume of e-commerce in Turkey is expected to exceed 400 billion Turkish Liras ($49 billion) this year, according to analysts.