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In Turkey where there are 6 thousand bookstores in total, more than 570 million books were printed last year and the number of books per capita fell to 6.9. The retail book market in Turkey reached 8.5 billion liras with an increase of 27%. In order to reduce book prices on the internet and increase the number of books per capita, the first online sales network dedicated to bookstores was established.

*** This release is originally published in Turkish.
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ISTANBUL (TR) - According to the Federation of Publishers Professional Associations (YAYFED), the size of the Turkish publishing retail market increased by 27% in 2019 compared to the previous year, reaching a size of 8 billion 852 million TL. A total of 577 million 48,957 books were printed in Turkey last year.  According to the International Association of Publishers (IPA) data, Turkey maintained its position in the world rankings as the 6th country with the most published book. The number of books per capita declined to 6.9. This number was calculated as 7.76 in 2017 and 7.08 in 2018. Despite the increase in book prices and decline in the number of books per capita, online marketplace Kitap Jet was established where bookhouses can sell directly with low commission.

“The range of books accessible in the country of half a billion books is very small”

Referring to the fact that e-commerce sites condemn readers to a limited number of book diversity, Kitap Jet founder Salih Gürel said, “No e-commerce site alone can stock the number of books expressed in millions and the variety of books expressed in hundreds of thousands every year. This causes the same kind of works to be presented to readers as expensive due to high commissions. From this point on, we have established the largest book platform in the book sector in Turkey. The platform we have established includes all publishing houses and writers. We aim to provide a free store service for publishers, writers and stationery, and to bring the buyer and seller together first hand and to deliver cheaper and faster books.”

Cheaper books for book lovers, more income for publishers

Stating that the profit margin is low in the books, Salih Gürel said, “On top of that, publishers on e-commerce platforms are forced to pay high commission rates. Therefore, even if the sales are made, we see that the sellers are not able to make enough profit. As Kitap Jet, we have created a platform that includes free virtual stores and low commissions, not just bookstores. In this way, the bookstore and publishers will gain more, while the bookseller will be able to own books at a much more affordable price. Moreover, they will be able to reach 10 times the variety of books they see on existing e-commerce sites. In addition, because the book reaches the bookseller directly from the shelf of the relevant bookseller, we provide the consumer with a much faster e-commerce experience.”