Various firms are introduced to e-commerce and cross-border e-commerce during the pandemic

There are important developments in the e-commerce world! E-commerce and cross-border e-commerce are on the agenda of various firms. The number of firms that digitalise and carry their products and services to digital space increased during coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. In this process, especially SMEs accelerated their e-commerce operations. There is an increase in cross-border e-commerce in normalisation period. Here is the latest news in the e-commerce ecosystem…

Increase in the number of digitalising SMEs

SMEs who were keeping their distance with digitalisation has been directed to digitalisation during a pandemic. SMEs saw that it is possible to start e-commerce with affordable costs in few days and accelerated their digitalisation processes. In the first half of 2020, the number of firms that carried their products and services to the digital space has exceeded 4 thousand. This number is 50% more than in the same period of 2019. The number of firms that carried their operations to digital in the first quarter of this year was 1.500. This number in the second quarter with COVID-19 was more than 2.500. SMEs are leading among these firms.

Record increase in e-commerce website use

Due to coronavirus pandemic, the e-commerce website use hit a record high. E-commerce website use in the first half of the year increased by 160% compared to the same period of the previous year. High demand for online shopping has led to different brands and SMEs to start e-commerce. While various brands opened their own e-commerce websites, others choose online marketplaces. There has been a significant decrease in shopping rates in shopping malls and stores on the streets. Research shows that more than 10% of internet users are shopping online. The most popular categories online are fashion, electronics and house appliances.

Government incentives are collected under one roof

The Ministry of Industry has collected government supports, incentives and grants online under one roof. www.yatirimdestek.gov.tr that has collected government supports, incentives and grants online under one roof is now live. Public organisations and institutions can access to 241 different incentives with a single click. The Ministry of Trade added “service export” to kolaydestek.gov.tr prepared to easily access the incentives. Thus, in addition to firms exporting goods in various sectors, incentive legislation to support various sectors such as health tourism, logistic, education, IT, management and consultancy are included in “Kolaydestek”.

Kyiv will impose sanctions on Russian online services.

Ukrainian Council of Ministers ordered to develop recommendations to impose sanctions on Russian online services. The sanction offer was given by Alexander Tkachenko, Ukrainian Minister of Culture and Information Policies. Tkachenko said, “we recommended a protocol to the Council of Ministers to impose economic or other restrictive sanctions to Russian origin products or online service that offer content.” The minister indicated content that offers Russian TV and cinema content and forbidden websites that sell products with Russian origin. The legislative proposal at the same time predicts instructions to certain ministries to develop related recommendations.

Yandex is closing the Turkish office.

Russian-based search engine Yandex has been operating in Turkey since 2011. Yandex is closing the Turkish office. Yandex offers navigation, search engine and internet browser services. The services will continue although the Turkish office will be closed. The operations in Turkey will be sustained in Russia starting in October.

Yandex is acquiring Tinkoff.

Yandex that decides to leave Turkey is acquiring Russian-based online bank Tinkoff. The company has prepared cash and share an order with 8% premium over share price for the entire share capital of Tinkoff which is listed on London stock. Yandex announced that the agreement will correspond to 100% capital of Tinkoff. Yandex announced a 2.8 billion dollar revenue and 180 million dollar prosfit in 2019. Most of the revenue was generated from the search engine.