The e-commerce sector in Turkey has been showing strong long-term growth dynamics. According to official statistics, the volume of online transactions increased by 52.2% year-on-year in 2025, reaching approximately USD 115.5 billion. In terms of financial transaction volume, the most significant segments are clothing, footwear and accessories (9.4%), electronics (6.7%), airline services (6.2%), and food services (5.9%). In dollar terms, the Turkish online market has expanded by 382% over the past six years. E-commerce now accounts for 6.9% of the country’s gross domestic product and represents nearly one-fifth of the total domestic trade volume. The sector has thus become an integral part of the Turkish economy.

Significant presence of foreign capital
Given the size of the market (over 85 million inhabitants) and the growing digital literacy of the population, Turkey has long been in the focus of global technology companies and multinational investors. They engage either directly or through acquisitions of established local projects. The dominant player in the retail market is the platform Trendyol, in which the Chinese group Alibaba Group holds a majority stake. The American company Amazon also operates a localized platform, focusing particularly on investments in logistics infrastructure. The main domestic marketplace, Hepsiburada, has recently come under the ownership of the Kazakh company Kaspi.kz. Foreign investors also hold significant shares in the delivery segment. The leading food delivery platform Yemeksepeti is fully owned by the German company Delivery Hero, while the rapid grocery delivery provider Getir has been acquired by the investment firm Mubadala from the United Arab Emirates. Financial operations and digital payments for thousands of local merchants are handled by the iyzico gateway, which is part of the Dutch PayU group. International platforms such as Shopify and Stripe are also widely used.

Untapped potential for Czech entities
While Turkish e-commerce platforms, led by the expanding Trendyol, are already actively operating in the Czech Republic and competing with Czech companies, trade in the opposite direction in the field of online sales is still virtually non-existent. At present, none of the major Czech e-commerce retailers has direct B2C operations or a localized version of their e-shop in Turkey. Turkish consumers, however, show strong demand particularly for clothing, footwear, electronics, and online food services. This represents a market space with clear potential for Czech companies. Turkish legislation is also favorable to foreign investment, allowing foreigners to establish limited liability companies (Ltd. Şti.) or joint-stock companies (A.Ş.) with 100% foreign ownership, without the need for a local partner.

Market specifics and regulatory conditions
However, entering the Turkish market requires thorough preparation and respect for local regulatory rules, which differ from EU standards. A key barrier to direct cross-border shipping is the strict de minimis threshold of EUR 30 for incoming international shipments. Goods exceeding this value are subject to full customs procedures, which encourages foreign companies to establish local subsidiaries and distribute from local warehouses. In addition, Turkey requires mandatory registration: every e-commerce platform operating in the country must be registered in the state information system ETBİS, which oversees compliance with consumer protection and personal data regulations. The Turkish market is also characterized by a high prevalence of installment payments (taksit) and mandatory electronic invoicing (e-fatura). As a result, foreign sellers often prefer to build e-shops on localized platforms (e.g. T-Soft or Ticimax) rather than purely global solutions. It is also necessary to monitor developments in withholding tax rules for e-commerce activities.

Roman Seidl
Head of the Trade and Economic Section
Embassy of the Czech Republic in Ankara