Grow Your Online Sales in Turkey: Understanding Trends

The Turkey consumers are more susceptible and active Internet users than anywhere else. You know what else they love to do? They love to shop online.

73% of the Turkish consumers love to shop online.
35% of them prefer to shop from international websites.

Where Do They Shop?

Top Destinations:

The Turkish people like to purchase from websites belonging to the following countries:

17% love to shop from Chinese websites
8% of them like to shop from German websites.
18% of Turkish shoppers prefer American websites.

What Do They Shop?

The Turkish consumer prefer to buy these items when they are using an international website:

Consumer Electronics – 34%
Footwear, Apparel, Accessories and Clothing – 51%
Hobbies and Toys – 33%

How Do They Find You?

43% prefer to shop from the websites they have used in the past.
49% prefer to shop from the websites they know of.
40% of them shop from websites recommended by their family and friends.

Cross-Border E-Commerce Revitalized

60% of Turkish online shoppers have purchased from international websites via their smart phones.
19% of them have made payments using their smart phones.

What Urges Them To Shop Online Internationally?

These are the reasons that Turkish consumers like to buy from international e-commerce websites.

58% like to shop internationally online because of safe payment procedures.
58% love to shop internationally because of the free shipping.
53% of them shop online because the websites are available in their language.

What Turns Them Off?

What makes the Turkish consumer stop shopping from international E-retailers?

53% have concerns about not getting customer support if they need help.
49% are concerned about frauds or theft.
53% of them are concerned about counterfeit items.

Why Do They Abandon Shopping Carts?

35% of them abandon their carts because delivery time was very long.
28% of them did it because they were concerned about the website’s security.
34% abandoned carts because the shipping charges were too high.
28% were concerned about tax, custom and other charges.

Why Do They Return Your Products?

23% of the Turkish consumers return internationally purchased products.
9% of them no longer wanted the item.
13% of them returned the product because it was not what it was described.
8% bought them with the intension of returning them.

Freight Forwarding – A Major Issue

22% of the Turkish consumers used a freight company.
33% used a forwarding address.
31% they used a freight forwarding company because the website did not ship to their country.
40% of them used Freight forwarding company because it was cheaper.
29% of them used the freight company to reduce the taxes and custom fees.

Currency Conversion

77% of Turkish consumers would shop internationally more if they had the option to pay in their own currency.

Lastly, many of the Turkish consumers don’t shop online because of the language barriers. They may like the products on your website, if they cannot find the information they need on your website, chances are they will not buy from you, ever. They will go to another website that provides information in Turkish. You can control this issue and even eliminate it by using Retail Translation Services. This is perhaps the most cost effective way to globalize your website and get more sales.