02.09.2021 Ankara
According to the Expenditures Survey conducted by the Union of Chambers and Commodity Exchanges of Turkey (TOBB) and Visa, as of the first months of 2021 (January-April), card spending increased by 41% compared to the same period last year. e-Commerce, debit cards and contactless payment were the 3 stars of card spending, which continued to grow in the second wave of the pandemic.
Evaluating the results of the research, TOBB President
Hisarcıklıoğlu pointed out that thanks to the dynamic structure of the Turkish
business world during the pandemic, it successfully implemented applications
such as e-commerce and takeaways through a rapid transformation process. Merve
Tezel, Managing Director of Visa Turkey, said, “The research shows that Turkey
is on a growth trend in terms of card spending in the second wave of the
pandemic.”
- 41%
increase
TOBB and Visa shared the second research examining the impact of
Covid-19 on card spending in Turkey with the public. The second wave of the
pandemic, which coincided with the winter months, and the first four months of
2021 were analyzed in the second expenditures survey, the first of which was
conducted looking at the period of March-August 2020. According to the results
highlighted in the study, the recovery process that started with the
normalization in the summer of 2020 in Turkey slowed down in December, when the
second wave began, but quickly regained its old momentum. As of the first
months of 2021 (January-April), card spending increased by 41% compared to the
same period last year.
- Turkey
held up better than other countries
The study draws comparisons with Italy, which took early and restrictive
measures during Covid-19, Sweden, which imposed fewer restrictions than other
countries, and the United States, which took similar restrictive approaches to
Turkey. Accordingly, it turns out that Turkey performs better than other
countries. At the beginning of the second wave, Sweden experienced sharp
declines in card spending, while the US and Turkey, which imposed similar
restrictions, experienced close fluctuations in the card spending chart. It is
also noted that Turkey held up better test than the other three countries in
all months between July 2020 and March 2021. Compared to March 2021 of the
previous year, card spending grew by 50% in Turkey, 40% in Italy and the United
States, and shrank by 15% in Sweden.
- 3 stars
of card spending were e-commerce, debit cards and contactless payment
In Turkey, 3 significant jumps stand out in the payments world
compared to expenditures in the period April 2019-March 2020 and April
2020-March 2021. The fact that e-commerce reached record levels in Turkey by
55%, debit card spending increased by 40% and contactless payments increased 6
times with curfews and changing consumer habits indicates the building blocks
of the growth in card payments. Debit card spending, which accounts for 17% of
card payments, is also notable for increasing by 2.5 times credit card annual
growth.
- Emerging
sectors of the pandemic: Electrical-electronics and building-decoration
Within the scope of the research, changes due to the Covid-19
process in different sectors were also analyzed. Accordingly, in the second
wave of the pandemic, where it is mandatory to stay at home and distance
education continues, there was rapid and permanent growth in the
market-shopping mall-food, building-decoration and electrical-electronics
sectors due to the fact that consumers have now adopted e-commerce. In the
market-shopping mall-food sectors category, in April 2021, there was a 41%
increase compared to the same period last year, compared to 82% in the
electrical and electronics sector and 118% in the building-decoration sector.
- The food
and drink sector has adapted to the pandemic conditions
The effect of additional restrictions that came with the second
wave of the pandemic was observed, especially in the food (restaurant) sector.
The remarkable development in the restaurant sector is that spending in this
area has tripled compared to April 2020 when looking at April 2021. This
increase shows that businesses that have switched to takeaways and started
taking orders online are adapting to digital transformation.
- TOBB
President M. Rifat Hisarcıklıoğlu
Evaluating the results of the research, TOBB President M. Rifat
Hisarcıklıoğlu said that the dynamic structure of the Turkish business world
positively separates Turkey from other countries. “Every crisis brings its own
opportunity. During the pandemic we are going through; the Turkish business
world, thanks to its dynamic structure, has become better able to respond to
consumer needs by implementing e-commerce, takeaway, etc. applications through
a rapid transformation process. This transformation allowed both companies to
be less affected by the pandemic and for consumers to continue their
consumption habits.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu stated that they guided the companies as TOBB in
the process of the transformation that the business world has undergone, and
emphasized that the pandemic process shows once again that e-commerce should
never be neglected. The TOBB President said, “During this period, we found that
1/3 of credit card expenditures were made through e-commerce. We also organized
many online information meetings to prepare our members for e-commerce. In
addition, we have created certified e-commerce and e-export training programs.
We have prepared special campaigns with many e-commerce platforms for our
members to take part in e-commerce and made them available to our members.”
Hisarcıklıoğlu reminded that TOBB and Visa have implemented the 'A
Purchase Makes A Lot of Difference' campaign with the slogan of
#BuSeslerHiçBitmesin, “By raising awareness, we tried to explain that it is
important for consumers to make their purchases from small businesses for the
continued health of the economy.”
- Visa
Turkey General Manager Merve Tezel
Commenting on the results of the research, Visa Turkey General
Manager Merve Tezel said, “The Visa and TOBB Expenditures Survey reveals that
Turkey is on a growth trend in terms of card spending in the second wave of the
pandemic. The driving forces of this performance were online spending, which
appeared to have jumped the threshold compared to before the pandemic, the
continued rise of contactless, which has now become the norm in payment
preferences, and the increase in spending on debit cards. The fact that the
card payments infrastructure in our country has developed to respond to the
change in consumer behavior has a big impact on this growth trend. Again,
according to the results of the research, we see that SMEs operating in many
sectors, especially in the food sector, harmonized their business according to
changing consumer expectations in the second wave of the pandemic. As Visa, we
will continue to support the digitization of SMEs in the light of these outputs
with the I Manage My Business project and the Smart SME platform we have
implemented with TOBB.”