ONLINE SHOPPING IS APPEALING!
Turks are fond of the world of internet. According to Turkish Statistical Institute (TUIK) data, computer and internet usage of individuals aged 16-74, which was 54.9%, last year went up to 61.2%. The internet was used more for shopping purposes. Prof. Dr. Hakan Yetkiner, Lecturer, Department of Economics, Izmir University of Economics, who analyzed TUIK’s “Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Usage Survey on Households and Individuals”, stated that there were signs that consumer trading in Turkey, would switch to digital world in the long run.
Prof. Dr. Yetkiner said, “The most important aspect for the future of Turkish economy is that Turkish public used the internet for shopping purposes. The percentage of ordering or buying goods or services over the Internet for private purposes reached 34.1%. Individuals used the internet to buy clothes and sports goods, travel arrangements (transport tickets, rent a car etc.), and household goods. This is a proof that consumer trading in Turkey would switch to digital world in the long run”.
‘Major education projects for ICT literacy’
Prof. Dr. Yetkiner pointed that physical infrastructure needed to be strengthened in order to popularize information technologies among household, and trading over the internet should become more secure with the extend of competition. Prof. Dr. Yetkiner, who said that it would be beneficial to increase ICT literacy of households widely, stated the following:
“We need to have large education projects. Internet on mobile equipment should be much cheaper with a higher quota. Adapting new technologies quickly such as virtual reality, which is expected to be used widely in online shopping in the near future, and encouraging entrepreneurship based on information technologies especially would be beneficial. Investing on information technology is the biggest opportunity of Turkey’s economy, the most developed economy of the region, in the short and medium run. Taking that neighbor countries visiting our country for shopping purposes frequently into consideration, it is clear that Turkey has a long way to go.”
