In July last year, a bill containing important changes to restructure the e-commerce sector in Turkey was passed by the Turkish Grand National Assembly with the approval of both opposition and ruling parties. A few weeks later, the main opposition party, CHP unexpectedly applied to the Constitutional Court to cancel some of the articles of the law it had approved a few weeks ago. Meanwhile, some journalists who had previously supported the law also suddenly changed their minds and began writing against it almost simultaneously.
Before we go into details, let’s have a look at the Turkish e-commerce sector. The e-commerce landscape in Turkey is primarily dominated by two prominent entities, Trendyol and Hepsiburada.com. Hepsiburada.com outperforms others in the electronics sector, while Trendyol takes the lead in multiple domains such as fashion, beauty products, and personal care items. Notably, Amazon, a recent entrant into this market space, is quickly gaining momentum and is anticipated to pose significant competition in the near future.
Alibaba, the renowned Chinese e-commerce behemoth, holds a commanding majority stake (precisely 86 percent) in this company. After Alibaba consolidated it as a subsidiary in 2018, Trendyol rapidly emerged as the preferred online shopping hub for the Turkish populace, spanning virtually all categories of goods.
Trendyol’s grip on the market was formidable, to the point where it pushed eBay, the pioneer of international presence in Turkey’s e-commerce sector through the acquisition of a local player (GittiGidiyor), towards its departure. eBay’s struggles were exacerbated when Amazon made an audacious entrance into the market, armed with its full suite of Prime services. The combination of Trendyol’s strong presence and Amazon’s bold incursion intensified the heat on eBay. By the year 2022, eBay opted to close down GittiGidiyor, one of the oldest e-commerce platforms in Turkey, which had been operational for nearly twenty years. eBay, having taken over the site in 2016, conceded defeat six years later, blaming the cutthroat competitive landscape.
This series of events strengthened Trendyol’s standing as Turkey’s e-commerce giant, bolstering its already powerful market position. However, there were whispers of potential change and regulatory scrutiny from the capital, Ankara. If materialized, these could potentially present a significant threat to Trendyol’s dominance.
But things got really interesting when then Editor-in-Chief of the opposition daily Cumhuriyet, Tuncay Mollaveisoğlu announced that his article was not published on the paper. He stated that he knew about the alleged bribery scandal that took place before he took office and that he was prevented from investigating those responsible. The first big public appearance of this development was this article on a media outlet.
According to media ombudsman Faruk Bildirici, Trendyol, which was acquired by China-based Alibaba Group for $728 million in 2018, is behind the media operation we previously noted.
Cumhuriyet'te @Tmollaveisoglu ile ipleri koparan “Para karşılığı haber”in öyküsü: E-Ticaret yasasını önce destekleyen Cumhuriyet, 4 ay sonra aniden döndü, yasa aleyhine tam altı haber yayımladı! Para alındığı iddia edilen tarih de 5 Aralık! Yazı linki: https://t.co/nJ69EnAAGD pic.twitter.com/NVHAtF9QF4
— Faruk Bildirici (@farukbildirici) June 15, 2023
Although Bildirici’s allegations involve numerous publications and journalists, the focus is on the opposition daily, Cumhuriyet. Mollaveisoğlu’s job at the newspaper was terminated the day before.
Genel yayın yönetmeni olduğum Cumhuriyet’te yayımlanmayan yazım ve son günlerde medyada yer bulan haberlerle ilgili kamuoyuna açıklamam.https://t.co/h0cDyAcCF6 pic.twitter.com/p4F8xH1qH5
— Tuncay Mollaveisoglu (@TMollaveisoglu) June 14, 2023
Thanks to the investment it received, Trendyol, which has a disproportionately large advertising and marketing budget compared to its competitors, causes discomfort in the sector with its efforts to dominate the e-commerce sector.
The fact that GittiGidiyor, one of the four largest e-commerce sites in Turkey and acquired by eBay in 2011, was forced to close down last year, while another major e-commerce site, n11, lost market share and was acquired by the fast delivery app Getir, strengthens the monopolization claims in the sector.
Is every means fair for success?
Trendyol, which has grown steadily in recent years to reach a gigantic trade volume, has other dark spots in its record. The company, which is at the center of monopolization allegations, hired Hatice Yavuz from the Competition Authority, the official organization that oversees the entire e-commerce sector in the country, in 2021.
Trendyol, which creates and sells its own clothing brands in addition to being a marketplace, was investigated by the Competition Authority in 2021 for interfering with the listing algorithm to provide unfair advantage to its own products.
In March last year, Trendyol was fined approximately 1.9 million TL by the Advertising Board for misleading consumers by giving the impression that more discounts were being offered in its advertisements than they actually were.
After the allegations that have been brought to the judiciary, the repercussions are expected to continue in both the media and the e-commerce sector.
