In our interview with Ulustrans General Manager Olgun Hacıalioğlu, we talked about the impact of increasing e-commerce volume on Ulustrans’s investments and what actions should be taken to increase the logistics sector’s share in the e-commerce ecosystem.
How does the increasing e-commerce volume shape Ulustrans’s investments and projects?
When compared to 2020, e-commerce volume increased by 69% in 2021 to reach 380 billion TL. If we assume that this increase will continue at the same rate through the end of 2022, it will be inevitable for the sector to exceed a volume of 650 billion TL, with the effect of inflation.
Therefore, I believe that logistics companies, including Ulustrans, and other distribution companies will see a huge amount of tasks and job opportunities coming their way.
In parallel to this rise in e-commerce, the R&D team at Ulustrans is constantly innovating on software with a view to improving e-commerce data flow management as a process and to increase its traceability. We make the majority of our investments on information technologies.
What is the difference you have created in the sector as Ulustrans regarding the delivery process, which is a fundamental component of e-commerce, and what does the logistics sector need in order to be more effective in e-commerce?
While in the past, it would take several days for an e-commerce order to arrive, consumer behavior today demands that everything be offered at affordable prices and in the fastest manner possible. Due to the highly competitive market, ondemand delivery speed has been becoming another differentiator. As Ulustrans, we endeavor to create solutions especially for the retail sector, and we engage in continuous efforts to reduce delivery time to a minimum.
When we look at global data, it is seen that market size was EUR 2.69 trillion in 2019 to hit EUR 3.73 trillion in 2020 and EUR 4.36 trillion in 2021. It is expected to reach EUR 4.91 trillion in 2022. Likewise, while the share of retail in overall ecommerce across the globe used to be 14%, it increased to 20% in the last 3 years. The same parallelism can be seen in Turkey. What should be dwelled on at this point is if and to which extent the Turkish logistics sector is prepared for this growth rate. Technology and infrastructure are important elements for our industry. Another important element of the logistics sector is qualifi ed human resources. We need to take the necessary measures proactively if we want to be an adequate actor in the e-commerce ecosystem. We train our young teammates within our own structure, but we also need to instill in them a love of the industry and a sense of ownership.
More than 30 million items were sold through e-commerce in Turkey in the first 6 months of 2022. Thanks to our performance in e-commerce logistics, our contribution to this rate as Ulustrans has been considerably high.
