Tio

What did it do?

Tio was a Turkish price comparison and shopping site launched in 2007 by Embrio, the investment arm of Teknoloji Holding. Users could compare products across different online shops and buy the cheapest directly through Tio with a single account. It also let businesses open their own shops, let individuals sell second-hand goods and, through an app called TioMobile, let people shop from their mobile phones.

Why did it shut down?

According to a message the company sent to its members in October 2008, reported by ShiftDelete, the site ceased operations on 27 October 2008 for financial reasons. According to a tip reported by Webrazzi in July 2008, the holding company's management was unhappy with Tio's progress, had demanded either a sale or a closure within a month, and the group had decided to pull out of its internet ventures in Turkey. The same piece observed that corporate internet ventures run with large advertising campaigns and high staff costs were shut down quickly when they failed to meet expectations. Just before the closure, Tio appeared to have dropped direct sales, its real point of difference, and reverted to price comparison alone.

The story

In Turkey in 2007, price comparison sites and shopping sites were separate worlds. Users found the cheapest price in one place and went to another site to buy. Embrio, the investment arm of Teknoloji Holding, tried to merge these two steps with Tio, its third venture after SüperTeklif and KolayTedarik.

According to Webrazzi's write-up in November 2007, Tio let users buy products from different online shops at the lowest price directly through the site itself. It offered products in 11 categories, let businesses open shops and let individual users sell second-hand goods. With a small app called TioMobile, users could compare prices and buy products from their mobile phones; Webrazzi saw this as the service's most valuable feature. According to an Internet Archive snapshot from October 2008, the site listed around 250,000 products and 68 member shops.

After launch, Tio ran a big advertising campaign and made changes to its design and features. But according to a tip reported by Webrazzi in July 2008, the holding company was unhappy with its progress and had demanded either a sale or a closure within a month. According to the same report, sale talks were under way and the group had decided to withdraw from internet ventures of this kind in Turkey.

At the end of October 2008, Webrazzi wrote that Tio had dropped its direct sales service and turned into a price comparison service that sent users on to the relevant shopping site. A day later ShiftDelete published the message the site had sent to its members: Tio had decided to cease operations from 27 October 2008, and no orders would be taken after that date. The report said the site was closing for financial reasons. A 2016 round-up by the Turkish business magazine Turkishtime also listed Tio among the start-ups that closed in 2008 because of financial difficulties.

Tio's story shows that a good idea cannot grow without corporate patience and the right cost structure. Webrazzi's comment at the time was similar: ventures set up with big budgets and high expectations were shut down rather than given time when they failed to meet those expectations.

Lessons for founders

• If you are building an internet venture under a corporate umbrella, put the patience period and the measure of success in writing from the start.
• Launching with a big advertising budget is no substitute for measuring whether the product genuinely helps users.
• If you are forced to drop the feature that sets you apart because of cost, ask again why anyone would choose what is left.

Sources

1. Tio.com.tr has closed! (ShiftDelete, 2008-10-31)
2. Is the countdown for Tio nearly over? (Webrazzi, 2008-10-30)
3. Is Tio.com.tr being sold or shut down? (Webrazzi, 2008-07-23)
4. Tio takes e-commerce to a new dimension (Webrazzi, 2007-11-05)
5. 50 failed start-ups and 50 lessons from their mistakes (30–50) (Turkishtime, 2016-05-23)
6. tio.com.tr home page, Internet Archive snapshot (Internet Archive, 2008-10-02)

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