DHL to ‘get faster’ with Turkey
The DHL International Cross Border eCommerce Summit was held last week at the Istanbul Congress Center by DHL Express. Speaking to daily DUNYA prior to the meeting, DHL Express Vice President for Global Sales Programs, Leendert Van Delft, highlighted the growing importance of fast delivery in the burgeoning e-commerce market. “Speed is the most important competitive factor in e-commerce,” he said. “Turkey is at the intersection point of Europe, Africa and Asia. We can deliver faster to many destinations in the Middle East and Africa via Turkey. At this point Turkey is a very important country for us and we continue our work to make it a regional hub. As we announced recently, the operation center at the Istanbul Airport will be the first step,”.
Van Delft said that international e-commerce is growing rapidly and will increase to one trillion dollars in 2020, a threefold increase compared to 2015. Van Delft pointed out that consumer behaviors and expectations have changed rapidly. “Nowadays, consumers want to buy everything they want from wherever they want and in accordance with their demands. Delivery options are expanding in order to get the advantage in global e-commerce. Today, 74 percent of customers think that ease of access to the product is the most important thing. The rate at which people leave a page without completing their shopping due to limited shipping options is 45 percent.”
91 percent of online shoppers leave retail sites that do not have the option of fast shipping. According to data shared by Van Delft, 35 percent of online shoppers are ready to pay more to buy products at the time and place they want. 70 percent are ready to pay for next day delivery.
Global players can emerge from Turkey
DHL Express Turkey CEO Claus Lassen said that there are more than two billion online shoppers globally of which 60 percent make purchases from international companies. “We believe that there are great opportunities for Turkish producers, retailers and and e-commerce entrepreneurs in a world like this. It is important to enrich shipping options in this process. 91 percent of consumers check delivery options before they leave the page. 30 percent of shoppers prefer retailers that offer premium or next day delivery. So we believe that entrepreneurs acting with a right business model and logistics partner can be powerful players in the global arena.”
Noting the rapid growth trend in e-commerce, DHL Express Turkey Assistant General Manager for Sales, Bogac Ozsan, said that the share of e-commerce shipping in global shipments by DHL is 29 percent. “It is expected to rise to between 45-50 percent in 2020. It is very much the same for Turkey. The share of e-commerce deliveries was 5 percent in 2016; it reached 10 percent in January 2018 and 15 percent in November 2018. The forecast for 2020 is 2530 percent.”