E-commerce volume rises 116 percent in first half
ISTANBUL
E-commerce trade volume in Türkiye soared 116 percent year-on-year in the first half of 2022 to stand at 348 billion Turkish Liras ($18.7 billion).
The number of orders rose 38 percent in January-June compared with the same period of last year to 2.29 billion, a report by the Trade Ministry showed.
Retail e-commerce volume reached 233 billion liras in the first half of the year.
The share of e-commerce in retail trade increased from 17.6 percent a year ago to 18.5 percent in the January-June period of 2022. E-commerce per capita expenditure for the age group between 18 to 70 was 4,964 liras with Istanbul taking the lead.
Per capita spending in Türkiye’s largest city was 9,857 liras, followed by Ankara at 6,064 and İzmir, the third largest city by population at 5,230 liras.
Bank transfers accounted for 32 percent – 113 billion liras – of total trade volume, while cash on delivery – 7.7 billion liras – made up 2 percent and card transactions – 228 billion liras – comprised 66 percent of all e-commerce trade volume.
Nearly 489,000 enterprises engaged in e-commerce in the first six months of 2022 with 13,400 companies carrying out businesses both on their own websites and on e-commerce marketplaces.
“While 83 percent of the enterprises prefer to sell on only one marketplace, 8 percent prefer two marketplaces, 4 percent three and 5 percent on four or more marketplaces,” said the report.
Istanbul has the highest number of companies engaged in e-commerce with 39 percent. Ankara and İzmir came second and third at 8 percent and 7 percent, respectively.
“In the first 6 months of 2022, the share of domestic expenditures stood at 308 billion liras or a 88 percent in total, while the purchases of other countries from Türkiye’s e-commerce channels were worth 15.8 billion liras or a 5 percent share. Turkish citizens’ purchases from foreign e-commerce platforms amounted to 24.7 billion liras or a 7 percent share.”
The airline sector recorded the highest increase in e-commerce trade volume at 408 percent year-on-year to 30.4 billion liras. Accommodation rose 344 percent to 5.6 billion liras, transport and storage grew 236 percent to 12.6 billion liras, while electronics increased 176 percent to 20.3 billion liras.
The increases in grocery, supermarket and food were 124 percent and 99 percent to 13.8 billion liras and 12.2 billion liras, respectively.
Some 70 percent of consumers preferred mobile applications while shopping online. Females and males accounted for 52 percent and 48 percent of online shoppers.
