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Market Research in Turkey

For more than 20 years, we help our clients to understand the Turkish market by conducting market research projects.

To understand the Turkish market, we offer three approaches: Market research, market visit, and opportunity screening.

Market Research is an important tool to understand the market conditions in Turkey, the market size, the competition, and the trends. This gives you important insights before entering the market, setting the strategy, or deciding on local investments.

The Turkish market with its 83 million inhabitants, its proximity to Western Europe, and a customs union with the European Union is an attractive market to sell products, services and to produce locally.

If you would like to have an easy-to-read and clear-cut formatted report which is prepared according to your questions about the Turkish market, we are the right partner for you.

We offer market research for Turkey, UAE, Morocco and Tunisia.

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Get in touch with us

Portrait of Berna Gurleyen, Head of Competence Centre-Research Services at FMC Group

Ms. Berna Y. Gurleyen

Head of Competence Centre-Research Services

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+90 542 559 25 86
b.gurleyen@fmcgroup.com

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Advantages of conducting a Market Analysis in Turkey with FMC Group

We offer

  • more than 20 years of market analysis experience in Turkey and have conducted hundreds of projects in 20+ different industries.
  • relevant insight. No matter how niche your sector is, we look at the market through the eyes of our clients, talk to the right people and understand how to filter the relevant data.
  • a tailor-made research scope, from answering a few questions up to a fully comprehensive market analysis with board presentations.
  • a flexible approach and can integrate our clients into the project steering, enabling them to dynamically adjust the research focus according to upcoming findings.
  • a highly developed methodology to research the markets.

FMC Group’s Market Research Methodology and Tools for the Turkish Market

We have proven methodology and tools which we can easily customize to your research needs.

Each research project can be a unique combination of:

  • Desk research
  • Phone interviews
  • Face-to-face in-depth interviews
  • Site visits
  • Online surveys
  • Focus Groups

Typical Scope for Market Research in Turkey

  • Market size
  • Market structure
  • Sales & distribution channels in Turkey
  • Key players (competition, customers and other stakeholders)
  • Market shares
  • Trends & developments in Turkey
  • Forecasts
  • Cost structure
  • Location analysis
  • SWOT analysis

We can also provide more insight by a detailed competition analysis & benchmarking

Client Examples for Market Research in Turkey

Below are a few selected case studies to give more insight into the work we typically conduct for our clients:

 

Market Size Estimations for the Turkish Section of a Published Global Syndicated Study

Client situation: A global market research company that publishes syndicated studies, as well as tailored custom reports, needed comprehensive data regarding Turkey for its Global Lubricants Market Analysis.

Project Scope: A comprehensive study of desk research, phone interviews, and in-depth face-to-face interviews conducted in parallel with other countries as part of a global team. The final report outlay a comprehensive and in-depth analysis of commercial & consumer automotive finished lubricants as well as industrial products with end-use industries, trade classes, major suppliers, and market trends.

Result: New estimations and forecasts for the lubricant market in Turkey have been produced in a classification which is much more detailed than ever before.

 

Strategy for Reentering Turkish Market

Client situation: A leading European stationery company was willing to reenter the Turkish market with the most suitable strategy.

Project Scope: FMC Group formed a flexible team together with market experts to gather information on the market structure, market size, competitors, distribution channels, market trends, marketing and advertising activities, sales conditions, and costs, by desk research and face-to-face interviews with manufacturers, distributors and wholesalers. Overall market size, as well as segment market sizes, were estimated both as value and volume together with growth forecasts.

Result: FMC Group showed a clear picture of such a difficult and unique market and provided all the required information on how to do business in the stationery sector to achieve success. Accordingly, the client decided on the right profile of the local partner and targeted the right customer portfolio in Turkey.

Result: The client saw where the market potential is in each industry and understood how to develop its business in Turkey. The study resulted in concrete sales deals.

 

Location analysis for an investment

Client situation: A German manufacturer of car wash systems was searching for a production location around greater Istanbul area.

Project scope: FMC Group analyzed Turkey according to the priorities of the client such as easy access to transportation, suppliers, and availability of the necessary infrastructure. In addition to contacting real estate agencies and organized zones, FMC Group gathered detailed information by desk research on the regions where the available lands are located. An overall analysis and recommendations were provided together with important cost items. Site visits to those regions were arranged and accompanied to help the client to better understand the experiences in Turkey.

Result: The client was able to compare the lands and regions in terms of prices, infrastructure, costs, and other qualities. In the end, an alternative location recommended by FMC Group found to be more promising.

 

Market Research for investments

Client situation: A global outsourcing service provider, headquartered in Germany, was willing to increase its understanding of the Turkish market in nine business segments as well as to identify, assess and implement growth opportunities in the Turkish market through M&A, BPO or Greenfield investment.

Project scope: The project was managed by an international team at FMC Group in Istanbul in close cooperation with the client‘s employees both in Turkey and in Germany. FMC Group conducted comprehensive market analysis and competitor analysis in 11 niche segments in 4 main sectors which are E-commerce, Financial Services, Supply Chain Management, and Marketing & Data Services. After evaluation of each report together with their Client, selected growth opportunities were analyzed further in detail with solid steps to follow for a board presentation.

Result: The project delivered valuable insights for each sector which helped the client to make the right decisions for their next steps also including narrowing down the number of industries to focus on the more high potential ones. 

Our additional services to understand the Turkish market:

Market visit to Turkey

This service is often used as an alternative solution for a lower budget. Our clients are using it also in addition to a market research to discuss with stake holders face-to-face in Turkey.

We accompany such visits in Turkey and give intercultural support in addition. Such visits are fully organized, starting from a pick-up at the airport to the travel organization with all visits, which is very helpful especially in a 20 Million city like Istanbul.

If personally traveling to Turkey is not an option, we can organize online meetings as well.

Opportunity screening in Turkey

Opportunity screening is a very pragmatic approach to understand the full potential of the Turkish market. Usually, we conduct a representative number of interviews with potential customers in Turkey to understand the full potential. The results are often used by our clients to contact the created leads

Information about the Turkish Market

QUICK FACTS

  • Official name: Republic of Turkey
  • Capital: Ankara
  • Financial center: Istanbul
  • Government type: Presidential system (from July 2018 on)
  • Head of state: President Recep Tayyip Erdogan  (since 2014)
  • Ruling party: The Justice and Development Party (AKP) leads the government
  • Land mass: 770,760 km² (297,592 mi²)
  • Sea and water: 9,820 km² (3,792 mi²)
  • Currency: Turkish lira (TRY=100 kurus)
  • Major urban areas: Istanbul (15.5 million), Ankara (5.6 million) and Izmir (4.4 million) (2019, out of 81 cities)
  • Language: Turkish (official), Kurdish, other minority languages
  • Time zone:  UTC + 03:00
  • Telephone code: +90
  • Climate: Temperate; hot, dry summers with mild, wet winters; harsher in interior
  • National holidays: January 1, April 23, May 1, May 19, July 15, August 30, October 29

 

GEOGRAPHICAL LOCATION

  • Neighboring countries: Greece and Bulgaria at West; Georgia and Armenia at Northeast; Syria and Iraq at Southeast; and Azerbaijan and Iran at East
  • Coastline: 7,200 km
  • Control of the Bosphorus and access to the Black Sea

Eurasian country 97% on the Asia Minor Peninsula (Anatolia) and 3% on the European Balkan Peninsula (Eastern Trace)

map of Turkey with major cities
  • Easy access to 1.4 billion potential customers in 78 countries in Europe, Central Asia, Middle East & North Africa
map showing the strategic location of Turkey

POPULATION

  • Population: 83.2 million with median age of 32.4 (2019)
  • Life expectancy: 76 years (men), 81 years (women) (2019)
  • Population density: 108.1/km² (2019)
  • Population growth rate: 1.39% (2019)
  • Population distribution: The most densely populated area is found around the Bosporus in the northwest where 19% of the population lives in Istanbul
  • Labor force: 32.5 million (2019)
  • The largest youth population compared with the EU 27 countries

 

LARGE DOMESTIC MARKET

  • Cell phone penetration rate in households: 98.7% (2019)
  • Internet access rate in households: 88.3% (2019)
  • Internet access rate in enterprises: 94.9% (2019)
  • Computer usage rate in households: 59.6%(2018)
  • Credit card users: 69.8 million credit cards (2019)
  • Cars registered to the traffic: 12.7 million (2019)

 

ECONOMY

  • 13th largest economy in the world in terms of GDP PPP (2019)
  • 5th largest economy compared with the EU in terms of GDP PPP (2019)
  • GDP in current prices: USD 754 bn (2019)
  • GDP growth: 0.9% (2019)
  • GDP per capita: USD 9,127 (2019)
  • Unemployment: 13.7% (2019)
  • Inflation: 11.84% (2019)

 

FOREIGN TRADE

  • Total exports: USD 180.8 bn (2019)
  • Total imports: USD 210.3 bn (2019)
  • Trade balance: USD -29.5 bn (2019) 
  • Main exports: Motor vehicles, machinery and electrical appliances, steel, and ready wear (2019)
  • Main imports: Mineral fuels and oils, machinery and electrical appliances, steel, precious stones and metals, and plastics (2019)
  • Customs Union with the EU since 1996
  • Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with countries including Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Chile, EFTA member countries (Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein), Egypt, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Israel, South Korea, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mauritus, Moldavia, Montenegro, Morocco, Palestine, Serbia, Singapore, Tunisia
  • Member of G-20, OECD, NATO, WTO, non-permanent member of UN Security Council

 

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

  • FDI: USD 8.8 bn (2019)
  • FDI stock: USD 164.9 bn (2019)
  • Countries with the highest FDI: Netherlands (14%), Spain (11%), Azerbaijan (9%), UK (8%), and the USA (7%) (between 2015-2019)
  • FDI Inflows from 2015 to 2019 has been the highest for the manufacturing sector; this followed by financial services, transportation and warehousing, wholesale and retail trade and energy
  • Foreign capital firms increased to 74,227 in 2020 from 6,700 in 2003
  • Equal treatment for all investors
  • International arbitration

Disclaimer: Although we carefully researched and compiled the above information, we do not give any guarantee with respect to the actuality, correctness, and completeness.