Sok Market in Turkey with 2.3 billion IPO size was realized one of the largest IPOs of the last 10 years.
The mobility that started in the retail sector with Sok joining the Yildiz Holding family continues unabated. Holding the title of the fastest growing retailer in the last two years, Sok Markets grew by 46 percent in 2017 and realized a consolidated turnover of TL 9.5 billion in the same year.
The turnover of retail companies in Yildiz Holding exceeds 30% of the total group turnover. Retail is working on sustainability of the existing structure by improving and developing business models and opening new stores. SOK Markets, which provide online shopping opportunities, have been at the same time for the last two years. Ugur Demirel, CEO of SOK Markets, speaks about his strategies to become the only chain store that provides online shopping by setting a new ground in the world of affordable chain markets. He says that the “SOK in your pocket” application, which can be downloaded for free from the phones, provides a different option with “pay from the net get from the market”model. Developed with the principle of, Click & Collect, which is common in the world, the application enables consumers to save time and immediately access the products of SOK markets.
Regarding the implementation, Demirel shares the following information: “We took the first step of the ““SOK in your pocket”” project in August 2016 and it was designed in November 2016. Click & Collect is implemented in the UK and France around the world. The first market that sell affordable products in Turkey is SOK Market among the retail chains. This is also the first time in the world that sells affordable products. ” The digital application is aimed at working women and those who do not have time to shop. Depending on this service, Demirel said especially in the internet shopping basket has grown customers at affordable prices, as well as products that offer brand products and product variety in an affordable way to offer the opportunity to spend time on the Internet, the Internet makes it a habit to reach the consumers underlines the goal.

The three big discount markets, opened 7 thousand 305 markets in 3 years. The discount markets, such as BIM, A101 and Sok, exceed the number of markets three-year growth of 72 percent.
At the 3rd Private Label Summit, Nielsen Retail Services Director Tamer Gulsac announced that the Nielsen PL Sector Research is moving to shopping discount markets. There is a serious change in consumer habits. The consumer now prefers “weekly” shopping. In the last three years, the number of discount markets increased from 10 thousand 145 to 17 thousand 450 and the consumer’s “weekly” style shopping habits increased from 23 percent to 42 percent.

Especially the excessive price increases on foods led the consumer to buy “big packaged” products.
After the research, there was another development that would support the rapid growth of these markets. The Ministry of Agriculture started to sell cheap meat through these markets. The findings of Nielsen’s research for the Association of Private Branded Products Manufacturers and Suppliers (PLAT) are as follows:

In the three-year period between August 2014 and August 2017, there was 29 percent growth in national chains (Migros, Carrefour, Real, Tesco, Adese, Macro, Harmony, Onur, Begendik, Ozdilek and Happy) and 13 percent growth in local chains. Discount markets such as BIM, A101, SOK arrived 72 percent. Over the past year, national chains have grown by 1 percent, while local chains have grown by 4 percent, while the growth in discount markets has reached 16 percent and this shows that the trend in the discount markets will continue to grow. In the last five years, the frequency of weekly shopping increased by 19 percentage points to 42 percent, while the monthly frequency of shopping decreased from 49 percent to 36 percent.
AFTER ALL THESE DEVELOPMENTS, Demirel explained 2018 as a year of renewal and growth for Sok. He says that one of its main focuses is customer and he adds:
“During this period, we tried to understand customer expectations and took actions to meet their expectations. We launched our new store concept in order to provide our customers with a more beautiful and easier shopping experience. We quickly adapted this winning concept to our existing stores. In addition, we reviewed our product portfolio by considering the needs and expectations of our customers. We focused on excellence in store operations to better serve our customers.”
SOK Markets, which focuses especially on confidential customer research and brand control, carry out works to make the existing operations more efficient and simple in terms of operational efficiency. Demirel, says Turkey is taking the biggest difference with the brand and it is shocked them to provide the economy and he continues:
“Mintax, Mis, Piyale, Evin, each of which has high-renowned brands in their field, we presented to the taste of consumers. In this respect, we have a historical mission. These brands have achieved significant sales figures within SOK in a short time.” SOK Markets are working on issues such as simplifying the product portfolio and diversifying categories. The product puts forward the category transitions to the easily available portfolio. Demirel says that the priorities in the discount market are to be customer-oriented rather than the equivalent of a figure in the sector ranking, and that creating brand loyalty is much more important. This is one of the factors which dominates the SOK Market. Demirel’s working principle is based on on-site determinations and visits. He spends most of his time on the field. He’s doing audits at the markets. He explains his experience in the retail sector as the fastest and most widespread chain among the discount market chains.