Vartabi, who made an assertive entry into the e-commerce sector, broke the rules. While removing commission rates for sellers, it enabled buyers to reach the product in more economical conditions. Realizing a first in the world with the ‘happiness list’ option for consumers, Vartabi transforms the gift-giving culture on special days into a digital collaborative effort. Vartabi General Manager Gonca Soyluoğlu said, “Vartabi aims to provide affordable prices, good service and a different shopping experience in market conditions.”
Competition in the e-commerce sector benefits the consumer
With the global epidemic Kovid-19, the importance of e-commerce sites has increased even more. The high commissions received in the e-commerce marketplaces were one of the biggest complaints of the sellers. Vartabi, who brought a solution to the problem by eliminating the commission, succeeded in attracting attention by breaking the rules of the sector. Established with a capital of 200 million TL, Vartabi managed to reach 3 thousand members and 3 million products in a short time.
The platform, which works with an annual membership system, does not put any profit on cargo and bank collection fees. As such, the supplier’s costs decrease and profits increase, while the buyer can access the product under more economical conditions. Differentiating itself from its competitors with the product called the ‘happiness list’, Vartabi transforms the gift-giving culture on special days into a digital collaborative effort.
Europe’s largest e-commerce conference begins in Istanbul!
The World Ecommerce Forum, Europe’s largest e-commerce conference, will take place in Istanbul on September 28-29.
A launch was held at Mihrabat Korusu Restaurant on Thursday, August 18 to promote Vartabi, which brings a new breath to the e-commerce sector. Vartabi General Manager Gonca Soyluoğlu, who made a presentation at the meeting, said that Vartabi.com brought a new breath to the e-commerce market.
Stating that the platform aims to provide affordable prices, good service and a different shopping experience under market conditions, Soyluoğlu said, “The most important feature that distinguishes Vartabi from other market places is that it does not receive commissions from suppliers per product they sell, and it works with an annual membership system. In addition, Vartabi does not put any profit on cargo and bank collection fees.
Thus, it reduces the supplier’s costs and leads to the sale of more economical products to the end user. Explaining that they describe Vartabi as a digital shopping mall because no commission is taken from the sales, Soyluoğlu stated that they have increased the competitiveness of the seller in the sector with the annual membership application.
Buyer and seller, one-on-one communication
Explaining that according to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, 484 thousand companies were operating in e-commerce at the end of 2021, Soyluoğlu said, “This figure is expected to increase to 600 thousand by the end of 2022.” Stating that they want to see every online sales company in Turkey on vartabi.com, Soyluoğlu continued as follows:
“Coming into service with the aim of providing the most affordable price, the best service and a different shopping experience under the market conditions, Vartabi offers various advantages to both the consumer and the seller. Stores can upload their own company’s business cards to their pages. Therefore, the consumer and the seller can have direct contact with each other. The consumer does not have to buy the product from us.”
Stating that one of the most important features that distinguishes Vartabi from its competitors is the ‘happiness list’, Vartabi General Manager Gonca Soyluoğlu said, “We entered the e-commerce market with the system we call ‘digital imece’, which is the first in the world and in Turkey.”
Explaining that with this system, they aim to highlight the sense of social cooperation as well as being a classic e-commerce site, Soyluoğlu said, “In this context, we have developed the listing feature. With the listing option, we have brought the culture of cooperation coming from our traditions to the fore.
Explaining the importance of gift giving in Turkish culture with sectoral figures, Soyluoğlu said, “In 2021, 561 thousand couples got married. 1 million 79 thousand babies were born,” he said. Soyluoğlu continued as follows: “We are a society that always brings gifts to those who are going to have weddings, those who have a baby, birthday celebrations, and those who buy a house. Everyone buys gifts according to their own budget, but sometimes there are gifts that are not actually needed.
Based on this, we added the sharing happiness list feature for the consumer. To give an example, a couple who is about to get married lists the things they plan to buy while planning their wedding or setting up their new home on Vartabi. We say ‘Create your list, choose your products, share with your loved ones’. Share this list with the people they want.
they can share. Thus, both real needs are determined and everyone can support the couple who set up a new house within their own budget. The listing can be created for every special day such as wedding, baby shower, birthday, housewarming. We aim to see 300,000 listings in Vartabi within a year.”
Explaining that they aim to increase the number of stores in Vartabi to 25 thousand and the number of members to 2 million within a year, Soyluoğlu said, “Our annual turnover target is 1 billion TL.” Explaining that they aim to open up to the Turkish Republics and the Middle East market in Asia within 6 months, Soyluoğlu said,
“Vartabi currently offers a user-friendly experience both in terms of usage and with the list feature that no other site offers. The app will launch in October. We develop the APP software according to customer’s experience on our website. We will serve foreign markets in the language of the country we enter with Turkish suppliers.”
The e-commerce industry continues to grow
- 226.2 billion TL
- 2020 e-commerce volume
- 381.5 billion TL
- 2021 e-commerce volume
- 69%
- Growth rate of e-commerce volume in 2021 compared to the previous year
- 550 billion TL
- Expected e-commerce volume in 2022
- 44%
- Projected growth rate of e-commerce volume in 2022 compared to the previous year
7.2 billion TL spent
- According to TUIK data, 561 thousand couples got married last year.
- 1 million 79 thousand babies were born.
- Last year, approximately 1.5 million people shopped for weddings and babies or received gifts for these couples.
- The cost of saying, engagement, henna, wedding and starting a new house is approximately 200 thousand TL.
- According to the data of the Ministry of Commerce, approximately 53 billion TL was spent on white goods and small household appliances, 24 billion TL on clothing, shoes and accessories, 21.5 billion TL on electronic products, and 7.2 billion TL on the decoration and gardening sector, which is indispensable for events.
- While 80 percent of consumers in Turkey buy gifts, this rate is 48 percent in Europe.