# Kliksa (2012 – 2016)

- URL: https://girisimcikafasi.com/en/startup-graveyard/kliksa/
- Sector: E-commerce
- Country: Turkey
- Total funding: unknown
- Cause of closure: Ran out of cash

## What did it do?

Kliksa was a general e-commerce site founded in 2012 within Sabancı Holding, one of Turkey's largest conglomerates, as a subsidiary of the electronics retailer Teknosa. It sold products across many categories, including electronics, household appliances and personal care. Thanks to its promotions, it quickly joined the ranks of Turkey's big e-commerce sites.

## Why did it shut down?

According to Webrazzi, Kliksa had been looking for outside investment to grow for some time; talks with one investor reached the offer stage, but the board rejected the offer. Sabancı Holding, for its part, chose not to commit resources to such growth in the online market; Webrazzi suggested that the existence of the fast-growing Teknosa may have stood in the way of investing in a separate company. According to Bloomberg HT, Teknosa had first considered strategic alternatives for selling Kliksa and appointed an investment bank, but in the end absorbed the company. According to Webtekno, competing with strong rivals such as n11, Hepsiburada and GittiGidiyor was also becoming increasingly difficult. According to Turkishtime's 2016 round-up, Kliksa redesigned itself and moved to a marketplace model in 2014 with an investment of $10 million; the round-up argued that changing both the design and the business model reduced customer loyalty.

## The story

In 2012 Sabancı Holding, one of Turkey's largest conglomerates, entered online retail with a general e-commerce site: Kliksa, set up as a subsidiary of its electronics chain Teknosa. The site offered a wide range of products, from technology to household appliances and personal care, and many other categories besides. According to a later round-up by Webtekno, it attracted attention with its promotions and discounts, and by 2014 it had joined the ranks of Turkey's big e-commerce sites.

The general e-commerce field, however, was crowded. Rivals such as n11, Hepsiburada and GittiGidiyor were competing with big budgets. It had been talked about in the industry for some time that Kliksa was looking for outside investment to scale up. According to a Webrazzi report dated 11 January 2016, the company got as far as the offer stage with an investor, but the board rejected the offer.

The same day, an email from Kliksa general manager Nevgül Bilsel Safkan to employees announced the new structure: the operation would be scaled down, and Kliksa would be repositioned as an outlet channel under Teknosa. Webrazzi wrote that the move was technically close to a closure and suggested that Sabancı Holding had chosen not to commit resources to growth in the online market.

In April 2016 the final step was taken. According to Bloomberg HT, Teknosa's board decided on a merger, taking over Kliksa with all its assets and liabilities. Teknosa had earlier considered strategic alternatives for selling Kliksa and appointed an investment bank, but in the end merger was chosen over sale. After the merger the Kliksa brand gradually disappeared and the platform became Teknosa's outlet channel.

Kliksa's story shows that the backing of a big conglomerate is not always an advantage. With the parent company's own retail brand growing fast, the appetite needed to invest in a separate e-commerce venture was gone.

## Lessons

- A start-up set up inside a corporate group struggles to find resources once it starts to look like a rival to the parent company's priorities.
- If you are going to seek outside investment, make sure from the very start that the shareholders are prepared to accept an offer.
- The race for scale in general e-commerce is expensive; without a firm funding commitment, think twice before entering it.

## Sources

- [Unable to find the investment it wanted, KlikSA is restructuring and being placed under TeknoSA](https://webrazzi.com/2016/01/11/kliksa-teknosa-yeniden-yapilanma/)
- [Teknosa decides to take over Kliksa](https://www.bloomberght.com/teknosa-kliksayi-devralma-karari-aldi-1870847)
- [Why Did Kliksa, Which Had the Potential to Be Sabancı Holding's Amazon, Suddenly Disappear? (It's Actually Still Sort of Around!)](https://www.webtekno.com/kliksa-ya-ne-oldu-h147815.html)
- [Turkish e-commerce sites that closed before Markafoni! Why did online shopping sites close?](https://www.haberturk.com/ekonomi/teknoloji/haber/1517700-markafoniden-once-kapanan-turk-e-ticaret-siteleri)
- [50 failed start-ups and 50 lessons from their mistakes (30-50)](https://turkishtimedergi.com/dijital-girisim/%EF%BB%BF-50-basarisiz-startup-ve-hatalarindan-cikarilacak-50-ders-30-50/)