Turkish retailer ŞOK Marketler said that it 'achieved its financial goals' for full-year 2020, achieving net sales of TL 21.4 billion (€2.4 billion) for the full-year.
This compares to a 2019 consolidated turnover of TL 16.05 billion (€1.8 billion), and was largely driven by an increase in sales as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
As well as enjoying a sales boost, ŞOK Marketler also increased its employee count by six thousand during the year, with the company now employing 35,000 across Turkey.
It said that its 'Tarladan Sofraya Doğru Tarım' (From The Farm To The Table) initiative has proven successful in ensuring uninterrupted supply to its stores during the pandemic, while it has also sought to reduce food inflation by maintaining low prices across its store estate.
Financial Success
“Operating with the goal of offering high-quality, fresh, and affordable products every day, we had a financially successful year at ŞOK Marketler and increased our revenue to TL 21.4 billion thanks to the contributions enabled by the new investments we made," commented ŞOK Marketler CEO Uğur Demirel.
"In addition, we significantly contributed to the Turkish economy and employment by employing six thousand new people, despite the challenging conditions of the pandemic."
Digital Investment
According to Demirel, one of the "most significant" pillars of its 2020 growth strategy was its investment in digitalisation, with its ‘ŞOK in Pocket’ shopping app proving popular with shoppers during the pandemic.
He added that the Tarladan Sofraya Doğru Tarım project has enabled the business to support hundreds of farmers across Turkey.
"While offering sales guarantee to farmers and rewarding them in due proportion to their efforts in a timely manner, we deliver quality-assured products to our customers at affordable prices," he said.
"With our prices which brought down the food inflation in 2020, we served our customers in the best way possible. We will continue to make contributions to the Turkish economy and the society in 2021 as well.”
ŞOK Marketler Ticaret A.Ş. has been part of Turkish conglomerate Yıldız Holding since August 2011.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
