German based logistics firm DHL Express has said it will be investing more on ecommerce operations and infrastructure in Turkey in a bid to expedite parcels passing to and from Europe and several other parts of the world. A key part of the innovations and improvements will be a new operations hub at Istanbul airport but more developments are planned.
The announcements were made at the DHL International Cross Border eCommerce Summit, which took place in Istanbul during December. And it was noted that the importance of Turkey is its strategic position as the meeting point between Europe, Africa and Asia. As a crucial trading hub, they reckon that DHL will be able to move consignments to numerous destinations in the Middle East and Africa more quickly by operating through Turkey.
This makes Turkey a very important country for us, and we are working to make it a regional hub,” Leendert van Delft, VP Global Sales Programs DHL Express said. The operation center at the airport in Istanbul will be the first step in that direction the vice president announced. “Today, when you look at the world, everyone speaks of the US and China as ecommerce markets. But in the case of Turkey, you’re not at the initial phase of this journey, but you have actually moved from the infancy to the stage of walking. It is time for Turkey to run now.
DHL says that their current share of global ecommerce deliveries is estimated to be in the region of 29% but they they hope to achieve something closer to between 40-50% by the end 2020. They also note that the DHL portion of same stood at 5% in 2016 and increased to 10% at the start of 2017 before rising to 15% in November 2017. And as competition and ecommerce increases, an ongoing share of business of roughly 25-30% is their reported aim.