Turkey's Most Popular Retail Supermarket Chains

Retail chains in Turkey are developed with the latest trends and technologies. The combination of new versions of traditional retailing with technologically modern solutions such as online sales provides Turkey's retail chains with enormous growth capacity.

The well-established infrastructure of these brands has brought them years of double-digit growth rates. Today, there are thousands of retail stores of these brands in every city in Turkey.

Proximity to amenities is one of the main factors when choosing a new home for foreigners to buy, relocate or invest in property in Turkey. Foreign buyers can choose it as their next home if the house is close to everyday amenities like markets and malls. That's why we have listed some of the best retail chains in Turkey.

Development of the Turkish Retail Chain Market

More than 20 years ago, the level of development of Turkish supermarket chains was unpredictable. The main reason is that the bazaar tradition is still valid. Bazaars in Turkey are weekly or monthly grocery stores and sometimes clothes shopping. Bazaars are still preferable, but limited in scope.

Markets are active in some communities, usually once a week. Supermarkets in Turkey have replaced bazaars with longer working days, a wider variety of products and discounts.

Turkey's leading supermarket chain has also ventured into online shopping. In the Internet era, relying only on physical sales and abandoning the big market of online shopping is considered a huge loss for enterprises. Because of this, most of the largest supermarkets in Turkey have an online presence. Online buyers can find the products they want with just a few clicks and have them delivered to their desired address in minutes.

While buying on short notice without leaving the home is advantageous, physical sales are still important to homebuyers. When the property is close to local amenities in Turkey, the price of the property increases significantly during both the lease and sale process.

The cost of living in Turkey has risen slightly due to the global crisis, so it is best to open a physical branch of a supermarket near where you live. Supermarkets in Turkey can offer different discounts for online and brick-and-mortar stores. So it's best to take advantage of both during the limited discount period.

Which Retail Chains Are the Most Popular in Turkey?

The retail industry accounts for a large portion of Turkey's GDP. Competition among companies makes them look for new ways. The best supermarkets in Turkey are working hard to increase their market share. They are looking for further improvements to their system.

During this period, customers can benefit from deep discounts and a wider selection of products. Turkey's top supermarkets also make life in Turkey easier for foreigners with English-speaking staff. The best supermarket chains are:

Migros

It is considered one of the best markets for Turkish retail chains. Migros was founded in 1954 by a Swiss company. In 1975, it was acquired by Koc Holding, one of the largest companies in Turkey.

The golden age of Migros started after the 1990s and peaked after the 2000s. The company has more than 2,000 branches in different cities. The branches of Migros are divided into 5 according to their size.

• Migros Jet - they are the smallest branch and are considered a mini market
• M Migros - They sell basic groceries and limited types of non-food items
• MM Migros - They offer more non-food options besides basic groceries
• MMM Migros - These supermarkets sell almost everything, including textiles, home appliances, bakeries, books, cosmetics and stationery.
• 5M Migros – These are large shopping malls with stores of different brands. They are usually found in tourist destinations such as the Mediterranean coast.

It is one of the most popular supermarket chains with more than 6 million loyal card users. 160 million people use Migros stores every year. There is also an online shopping system called Migros Hemen. Currently, it also has branches in Kazakhstan and North Macedonia.

A101

It is one of the largest discount stores in Turkey. It has more than 11,000 stores in 81 cities and 923 counties. The main highlight of A101 is the employment of persons with disabilities and women. Supermarkets aim to increase employment for these social groups.

There are different discounts every week. The supermarket's online shopping system is also activated through a mobile app called "A101 Kapımda". It is popular for its unique discounts. A101 was established in 2008.

Bim

It is a discount store established in 1995. It was founded with the main goal of providing basic food and consumer goods at high quality and affordable prices. This is the first example of a hard discount store in Turkey.

In 1997, BİM launched Turkey's first private label Dost Milk. It has more than 8530 branches in Turkey. BİM also has offices in Egypt and Morocco.
The company has the largest market share in the retail chain segment. With more than 60,000 employees and thousands of branches, it has the greatest impact. It also offers an online shopping service with a wider range of products.

Şok

It was established in 1995 as Migros' discount store format. The chain was later acquired by Yildiz Holding and separated from Migros. It is the third largest competitor in the discount market. The company's main goal is to build a network of low-cost supermarkets offering cheap products.
It has more than 40,000 employees and 9,000 branches. It also has a mobile app called Cepte ŞOK for online shopping and delivery. It has branches in all cities in Turkey.

Carrefour

It is a supermarket chain jointly established in 1991 by the French supermarket chain Carrefour and Turkey's Sabanci Holdings. The main feature of CarrefourSA is to bring western food retail practices to Turkey. In addition to super, super and mini formats, supermarket chains also have gourmet branches. Gourmet branches offer a wide variety of food retail.

CarrefourSA has more than 600 branches in 52 cities in Turkey. It also has an online shopping site. It combines brick-and-mortar and online sales with a total of 500,000 customers per day.

The growth of retail chains in Turkey has brought new opportunities to the country. This also includes creating a more stable market for foreigners. Especially in any tourist destination, tourists can only look for Turkish Delight in covered markets.

Nowadays, foreigners who want to move to Turkey want a home close to a supermarket in addition to the sea view. Real estate purchases in the area are known to increase with the addition of everyday amenities. Also, expats live and buy Turkish properties in areas where they can easily access everyday amenities.

Low prices, a wide range of products and easy access have helped the supermarket embrace the tradition of the modern Grand Bazaar.