Koysepete

What did it do?

Koysepete was an Ankara-based online shopping site. It launched in 2003 as a joint project of Epdata Bilgisayar, a computer distributor, and the search portal arabul.com. Opening with a handful of categories, the site gradually expanded into computers, mobile phones, electronics, home textiles and natural products, and promoted long-term instalments at the cash price.

Why did it shut down?

Koysepete made no public statement when it closed. In February 2009 Webrazzi wrote that it had learned of the site's closure some time earlier and described it as a player that could be considered popular compared with many sites in the sector. A 2017 round-up by Habertürk reports that the closure was accompanied by rumours that it could not withstand the economic crisis. Sites such as Estore, Teketek and Yeterkiiste had also closed in the same months; it is plausible that the downturn at the end of 2008 squeezed small sites that relied on instalment sales and dealer relationships, but this has not been confirmed for Koysepete specifically; this is an interpretation.

The story

In the early 2000s few people in Turkey shopped online, but companies selling computers had begun to try out the channel. That is how Koysepete was born. According to the site's About page preserved in the Internet Archive, Koysepete was an Ankara-based online shopping site that began operating in 2003 under Epdata Elektronik Ticaret. The project was a joint venture between Epdata Bilgisayar, a computer distributor, and the search portal arabul.com. The archive also holds the site's first snapshot, dated March 2003.

According to that page, the site would initially sell products from well-known brands in six categories and add new categories over time. And so it did. In a snapshot from early 2006, categories ranging from clothing to games, and from audio-visual systems to communications technology, were on display, along with instalments of up to 12 months at the cash price. In a December 2008 snapshot Koysepete, now billing itself as a budget shopping site, offered a wide range of products, from computers to GPS devices and from natural foods to duvet cover sets.

A few weeks later the picture had changed. In an Internet Archive snapshot dated January 2009, the home page showed nothing but a logo image. In February 2009, listing e-commerce sites that had recently closed, Webrazzi included Koysepete: it wrote that the site had held a position that could be considered popular compared with many sites in the sector and that it had heard of its closure some time earlier. The same list included Estore, Weblebi, Tio, Yeterkiiste and Teketek.

The company gave no reason for the closure. A round-up published by Habertürk in 2017 reported that Koysepete closed amid rumours that it could not withstand the economic crisis. The logo page remained unchanged on the domain for more than a decade.

Koysepete's story is one of the quiet examples of the first shake-out wave that the 2008 crisis brought to Turkish e-commerce. Without any big announcement or controversy, it went from an active shop to a single logo within a month. This is an interpretation.

Lessons for founders

• In a model built on instalment sales, work out in advance how your financing costs will change in a crisis.
• An e-commerce site set up as a side project of a distribution company may be the first item cut when the core business hits hard times; give it its own budget and targets.
• When you close, leave your customers and suppliers a short explanation; a silent closure leaves nothing behind but rumour.

Sources

1. Which e-commerce sites have closed recently? (Webrazzi, 2009-02-12)
2. The Turkish e-commerce sites that closed before Markafoni (Habertürk, 2017-06-02)
3. koysepete.com About page, Internet Archive snapshot (Internet Archive, 2005-11-24)
4. koysepete.com home page, Internet Archive snapshot (Internet Archive, 2008-12-01)
5. koysepete.com home page, Internet Archive snapshot (Internet Archive, 2009-01-31)

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