Amazon visits Turkey for home textile products
A DELEGATION from Amazon.com’s purchasing department visited the Aegean city of Denizli to examine Turkish home textile products, on whose exportation they want to collaborate with Turkish firms.
A EUROPEAN delegation from Amazon.com, one of the leading companies in the global e-commerce sector, arrived in the western Anatolian city of Denizli to conduct on-site examinations of Turkish home textile products.
The delegation, which was hosted with support from Turkey’s Ministry of Economy, composed of senior executives of Luxembourg-based Amazon Europe, including Shibu Tharakan, Otavio Alves, Krishna Murali and Gül Sönmez, gave a presentation to the exporters of the Denizli Exporters Association (DENİB).
Making a statement on behalf of the delegation, Tharakan provided information regarding Amazon’s world structure and its methods of doing business on the global platform. He explained methods of further collaboration with Turkish firms.
Noting that Turkish companies have the potential to deepen their involvement in the Amazon-brand network, as well as with brands and products developed for the platform, Tharakan stated that the first stage of direct talks will be successfully completed with the companies following the contacts that are made today.
He also said Turkey is not lacking in terms of logistics, referring to inclusion in the network, adding that the ability to transfer logistics on a daily basis to nearly every corner of Europe is a great advantage for the country.
DENİB Chairman Süleyman Kocasert told Anadolu Agency that the association expects the purchases that Amazon EU makes from Denizli will increase rapidly in the future.
Kocasert said they are trying to promote Turkish home textile products under the title “Turkish Towels.” He added that they have become a well-known brand around the world and they also plan to reap the benefits of their success in traditional distribution channels in ecommerce, as well.
Recalling that they hosted Amazon immediately after the leading e-commerce portal Alibaba, Kocasert said, in this context, company officials visited factories that produce towels, bathrobes and home textiles in Denizli and had the chance to examine production technology, quality of production and the speed of surface in action.
He pointed out that Amazon EU holds a different position in relation to the company’s global structure and conducts a sort of “online retailing” method by ensuring production is conducted under its own brand. Kocasert said there have been very positive developments recently in terms of Amazon’s point of view regarding Turkey.
“Turkey has very high potential in terms of e-commerce, and Amazon knows this. I think the right producer and the right buyer have come together on a good platform, and we will yield positive results in a very short time,” he said.
“I believe that Amazon will be very satisfied with Turkey at the end of the day, and Turkish home textile products will take a serious share from this platform as a result,” he added.
Kocasert noted that e-commerce has a share of less than 5 percent in the total exports of the home textile sector.
“We aim to increase e-commerce infrastructure by two, three or even fourfold. In the next three years, the share of e-commerce in Denizli’s total trade volume will increase above 5 percent and we will be talking about two-digit figures for 2023,” he added.
Pointing to Amazon’s preparations to enter the Turkish market, recently reported after the e-commerce giant founded a Turkish subsidiary in Istanbul, Kocasert argued that these developments will have a positive effect on the purchasing process in Turkey.
Denizli is a center for Turkey’s home textiles production. Products from the city are exported to 165 countries worldwide.
According to recent figures, the city’s towel exports to the U.S. increased by 23 percent during the first eight months of the year and were recorded at $55 million compared to the same period last year. Turkey is also one of the largest home textile suppliers of Europe. The overall home textile exports in 2015 were recorded at $3 billion, and the major markets for exports were Germany, the U.S., U.K., France and Russia.