Turkey’s Martech Landscape Is Promising
In the last few years, Turkey’s marketing technology landscape has witnessed accelerated growth, especially in the eCommerce, SaaS and logistics sectors Two words that best describe Turkey’s martech landscape in the last few years are ambitious and determined. Turkey has seen a significant increase in business investments in the last few years. By the end […]
Topics
In the last few years, Turkey’s marketing technology landscape has witnessed accelerated growth, especially in the eCommerce, SaaS and logistics sectors
Two words that best describe Turkey’s martech landscape in the last few years are ambitious and determined. Turkey has seen a significant increase in business investments in the last few years. By the end of 2020, Turkish startups had already raised $60.3 million across 43 deals.
Currency crisis aside, the MarTech landscape has been steadily growing. The drastic change in customer behaviour due to the pandemic boosted eCommerce investments that hit $723 million in the last two years.
While it grew by 50 per cent in 2020, a growth of 75 per cent was achieved in the first half of 2021. And according to a NielsenIQ report, online retail sales grew by 89 per cent, online penetration by 60 per cent, and the share of eCommerce in the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) retail market reached six per cent. It closely follows countries like France (nine per cent) and the UK (15 per cent).
Trendyol, Turkey’s first decacorn, added momentum to the country’s eCommerce ecosystem. Other startups with promising business models like Hepsiburada and Dream Games show potential with several investments pouring in.
To give a perspective: As many as 200,000 delivery workers hit the road every day to fulfil online customer orders. And on a mission to help enhance the delivery process, Sendeo announced its plans to increase its current strength of 500 delivery workers to 2000. A rapid grocery delivery pioneer, Getir is also catching attention with its recent funding round of $768 million. Even Koç Holding’s courier company announced that it will make further investments of $60 million by 2025.
According to the Trade Ministry, 63 per cent of Turkish online customers use mobile applications for transactions, and the average eCommerce cart price is around $7. The domestic payment platform Payguru was acquired by the mobile payment company TPAYMobile, which attracted massive attention and investments.
Additionally, MyGini, a payment solutions startup founded by a Turkish leader Mehmet Sezgin, succeeded in bringing banks, businesses, and cardholder customers together on one platform in the US.
It launched a product that allows retailers and other businesses to seamlessly implement loyalty programs and create their own digital campaigns. It was an important step the company took as businesses were facing a massive drop in sales, and customer loyalty seemed to have become the number one priority.
Turkish authorities have granted certificates to 35 eCommerce platforms, including Hepsiburada, N11, Gittigidiyor, and Trendyol. Amazon Turkey also recently joined the Turkish business landscape announcing the launch of a logistics base in the country, with a more than $100 million investment.
A Turkish electric scooter-sharing company, Mart1, also raised $25 million two years ago to develop the country’s mobility industry and offer environmentally-friendly solutions.
Apart from the eCommerce industry, Istanbul-based software as a service (SaaS) startup Insider raised $32 million in 2020 with plans to expand into the US market and strengthen its solutions. The company began its journey in 2012 and has helped over 800 global brands such as Singapore Airlines, Samsung, Uniqlo, Marks & Spencer, Virgin, MediaMarkt, and Estée Lauder to improve their multichannel marketing processes.
Insider’s AI-powered multichannel growth management platform lets marketers integrate digital channels in a single platform and leverage a machine learning (ML) supported suggestion engine to combine user data, predict user behaviour and deliver personalised customer experiences.
Their consistent success rate allowed the company to expand to 24 countries and support the digital growth of enterprises during the testing times of the pandemic. “Our country does not have big unlimited resources. So, we have to work harder. We also know that the wind does not blow behind for Turkish startups. However, it is we who will change this. Each success story changes the perception of Turkey,” said Hande Çilingir, Insider CEO and one of its six founding partners.
Offering combined editorial, data, and research platforms with market intelligence, Webrazzi acquired Tech.eu. The sale transpired due to Webrazzi’s technology stack, custom CMS, bespoke software for managing native advertising campaigns, and an events platform, which offer immense potential. The startup plans to expand further in Europe, Russia, and the MENA region.
Having doubled its growth in META, the customer engagement and user retention platform Clevertap also expanded into Turkey last year. The company wanted to tap into the country’s vibrant business ecosystem of startups and enterprises.
From eCommerce, foodtech, gaming, fintech, and travel industries, Clevertap engaged with Turkish brands to help them better engage with the target audience and drive positive experiences. Hooked on an omnichannel approach, the platform added powerful analytics, segmentation, and marketing automation offerings into the Turkish marketing landscape.
More recently, Domino’s Pizza Turkey partnered with user acquisition platform App Samurai and increased its Average Revenue Per User (APRU) rate by 35 per cent. App Samurai’s targeting capabilities, real-time optimisation engine, and powerful suite of AI-powered plug–and–play in-app tools helped Domino’s acquire three times more users on average.
Meanwhile, the metaverse magic has set upon Turkey. The first forum was recently held in the country, where President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan declared the country’s future as a “digital mobilisation period.”
Becoming the first to adopt the concept of “Meta Agency”, Standby Creative Group launched Turkey’s first metaverse platform to offer infrastructure design to brands and also help them offer immersive customer experience.
With a vision to create the country’s very own Silicon Valley, he said that all metaverse and Web 3.0 projects are just one of the channels that are being raised on a more complex technology business transformation.
If you liked reading this, you might like our other stories
Company Close Up: The Mediaocean of Advertising
March Round-Up: All The Tech News You Need To Know
