What are E-Export Supports and Who Can Benefit?

While e-export is gaining more and more value every day in our globalizing world, it ranks among the most effective business areas for the growth of SMEs in Turkey. Especially considering the e-export support provided by the Ministry of Trade, there are incentives that will create opportunities for many business models.

So, which supports can you benefit from to move your business to international sales channels? What are the conditions? Everything you are looking for regarding e-export support is in the continuation of our article, keep reading!

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Who Can Benefit from E-export Support?

The following individuals and institutions can benefit from the support announced by the Ministry of Trade:

• Companies

• E-export Consortia

• Retail e-commerce websites

• Marketplaces

• B2B Platforms

What Are the E-export Support Models?

There are many e-export support models offered by the Directorate General of Exports of the Ministry of Trade. We can list these models as follows:

• Tailor Model

• Target Countries

• E-Export Consortium

• Monitoring Turkish Products

• Awareness of Turkish Products

• Turkey E-Export Platform (B2B National Platform)

So, what kinds of support do these models cover? Now let's look at the e-export supports offered by the Ministry of Trade.

What Are the E-export Supports?

The e-export supports announced by the Ministry of Trade cover the following:

• E-export Promotion Support

• Digital Marketplace Promotion Support

• Fulfillment Service Support

• Overseas Warehouse Rent Support

• Market Entry Report Support

• Integration Support for Overseas Marketplaces

• Online Store and Target Country E-commerce Stakeholders Services Support

• Marketplace Commission Expense Support

So, what do these support models cover, who can benefit, and what are their terms? Let's examine them all one by one.

1. E-export Promotion Support

E-export promotion support covers the exhibition and advertising expenses for marketing and advertising processes of products in physical and digital channels. It aims to increase the brand awareness and sales of e-export companies in relevant countries. Advertisement channels supported include:

• Social media account design, maintenance, and updates.

• Preparation of promotional images and video content for digital platforms.

• Advertisements published on social media platforms.

• Digital media purchasing (renting display and video advertising spaces).

• Viral actions in digital environments, referral methods (Growth activities).

• Search engine advertising, search engine optimization (SEO), app store optimization (ASO).

• Promotions aimed at bulk e-mail/SMS/MMS delivery.

• Expenses related to digital catalogs prepared in foreign languages.

E-export consortia, retail e-commerce companies, B2B platforms, and marketplaces can benefit from e-export promotion support.

E-export government support meets 50% of the expenses of beneficiary businesses and lasts for three years. However, the annual support provided cannot exceed 4 million TL for B2B platforms, 15 million TL for e-export consortia, 25 million TL for e-commerce sites, and 30 million TL for marketplaces.

What Are the Terms for E-export Promotion Support?

There are several terms that businesses must meet to benefit from e-export promotion support. Some of these conditions are as follows:

• Turkish products must be featured in product-oriented shopping promotion activities.

• Promotion activities must be conducted in a foreign language and targeted abroad.

• If the business is not manufacturing the product itself but sourcing it, it must submit an invoice sample proving this situation and at least one of the other documents (marketing contract, procurement business contract, sales authorization certificate, supplier capacity report, etc.) to the evaluating institution.

2. Digital Marketplace Promotion Support

Digital marketplace promotion support offers 3 years of support for each marketplace separately. Companies, e-export consortia, and retail e-commerce sites can benefit from this support. This support covers click-per-pay and product review service expenses from overseas marketplaces.

The support is provided in such a way that it does not exceed 20% of the revenue generated from digital advertisements, covering 50% of expenses. It is structured not to exceed 7 million 500 thousand TL annually for companies, 15 million TL for e-commerce websites, and 25 million TL for e-export consortia.

Commissions, memberships, taxes (except indirect taxes), and other fees related to this support are not included in the support scheme.

What Are the Terms for Digital Marketplace Promotion Support?

There are some terms that businesses must meet to benefit from digital marketplace promotion support. These conditions can be listed as follows:

• For products to be listed on overseas marketplaces or e-commerce sites, GTIN information, manufacturing location (country), and registered trademark information must be entered during the marketplace product listing.

• Beneficiaries with corporate company status, except for cooperatives, can only benefit from this support for their own registered trademarks.

3. Fulfillment Service Support

Fulfillment service support is provided for up to 3 years separately for each country. The scope of support is up to a maximum of 10% of e-commerce sales. Corporate companies, retail e-commerce websites, marketplaces, and e-export consortia can benefit from this service.

The scope of support covers 50% of the expenses, and the support provided for each type of business cannot exceed these amounts:

• For companies: 7 million 500 thousand TL

• For marketplaces: 15 million TL

• For retail e-commerce sites: 25 million TL

• For e-export consortia: 25 million TL

Within the scope of the fulfillment service support, per-unit fulfillment service expenses (including return acceptance) and warehousing expenses of the businesses are supported.

Which Companies Are Covered Under Fulfillment Service Support?

There are 394 different companies from which you can receive fulfillment services with support. You can obtain fulfillment services all over the world, from Europe to North America, and from Asia to the Middle East. Some of the companies covered by the service support announced by the Ministry are as follows:

You can check the Google Drive link we have prepared for you to see the list of companies covering all countries and regions.

Which Marketplaces Are Covered Under Fulfillment Service Support?

Fulfillment service support is valid not only for warehouses but also for marketplaces. There are 185 e-commerce sites and marketplaces covered by this support. We can list the most famous ones among them as follows:

• Amazon: In 18 different countries, including the USA

• e-Bay: USA, Germany, Australia, Italy, Poland

• Etsy: USA

• Walmart: USA and Canada

• Shopee: 6 Asian countries, including Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand

To see all marketplaces and countries covered by fulfillment service support, you can check our Google Drive link.

4. Overseas Warehouse Rent Support

Overseas warehouse rent support covers up to 3 years for each country and offers support for a maximum of 25 units. E-export consortia, retail e-commerce sites, and marketplaces can benefit from this. The goal is to allow businesses to operate from their own warehouses.

Within the scope of warehouse rent support, the net rental cost of the warehouse and costs taken from the lessor under the lease agreement for common areas and building management related to shared uses are supported. Commissions, taxes (except indirect taxes), and other expenses related to this rental are not covered under the support scheme.

5. Market Entry Report Support

Market entry report support is limited to a maximum of 20 reports and 20 memberships. With this support, the Ministry aims to enable strategies and action plans to be generated for entering foreign e-commerce markets.

Retail e-commerce sites, marketplaces, and e-export consortia can benefit from report support. The upper limit for each business is 1 million 500 thousand TL.

The scope of market entry report support is as follows:

• Reports and analyses focused on country, sector, category, product, brand, competitor, technology, logistics, customer relations, e-commerce, marketplace, brand positioning, and consumer reach.

• Reports and analyses from digital marketing companies aimed at increasing conversion rates on e-commerce sales platforms and defining digital marketing channels for new markets.

6. Integration Support for Overseas Marketplaces

Integration support for overseas marketplaces is limited to up to 3 years per market and a maximum of 6 marketplaces. The goal is to purchase integration services that will unite pricing, local language, currency, and management processes with operations like warehousing, shipping, and supply for products listed on overseas marketplaces.

Retail e-commerce sites, e-export consortia, marketplaces, and brand & Turquality companies can benefit from overseas marketplace integration support. The upper limit of the provided support is 200 thousand TL.

The support covers the initial software development cost per platform to be integrated, cloud service fees required to run the software, annual software maintenance and repair costs, and platform setup fees.

Commission expenses that the integrator will charge from the integration-related e-commerce sales, taxes (except indirect taxes), and other cuts and fees are not considered under this support.

7. Online Store and Target Country E-commerce Stakeholders Services Support

The relevant support covers store openings in digital marketplaces of target countries, annual store fees, and services from e-commerce stakeholders within those countries for companies with an export volume of $3,000,000 or more declared in the previous year. The support lasts for 3 years for each country.

Companies, retail e-commerce sites, and e-export consortia can benefit from this support. Within the framework, a maximum of 1 million 500 thousand TL is provided for companies and retail e-commerce sites, while 3 million TL is provided for e-export consortia.

You can access the list of target countries specified by the Ministry of Trade via this Google Drive link.

What Are the Terms for Online Store and Target Country E-commerce Stakeholders Services Support?

There are certain conditions for the services support received from online stores and target country e-commerce stakeholders. These conditions are as follows:

• For the same country, support cannot be obtained from more than one e-commerce stakeholder.

• For pre-approval, being a vendor approved, accredited, or recognized by the relevant overseas marketplace is taken into consideration.

• Under this support, Turkish products must be listed in the overseas marketplace.

8. Marketplace Commission Expense Support

Marketplace commission expense support is valid for countries listed in the "Target Countries List." Companies, e-export consortia, and retail e-commerce sites can benefit from this support. The support is valid for a maximum of 3 years for each of the relevant nations.

The package offers support of up to 750 thousand TL for companies, 2 million 500 thousand TL for retail e-commerce sites, and 3 million TL for e-export consortia.

What Are the Terms for Marketplace Commission Expense Support?

Some conditions to receive marketplace commission expense support are as follows:

• For products to be listed on overseas marketplaces or e-commerce sites, GTIN info, manufacturing location (country), and registered trademark info must be entered during the product listing.

• Beneficiaries with corporate company status, except for cooperatives, can only benefit from this support for their own registered trademarks.

• If the firm does not manufacture the product listed in the overseas marketplace but supplies it, they must submit at least one document proving this situation (such as an invoice sample, marketing contract, procurement contract, sales authorization certificate, or supplier capacity report) to the evaluating institution.

Final Words on E-export Support

It is possible to say that globalization is going through its golden age right now. Individuals and institutions producing valuable goods can easily sell in many countries using the internet, regardless of company size compared to the past. If you are just starting your journey, you can take a look at our article on how to start exporting.

The Ministry of Trade's e-export support aims exactly at this. Above, we examined each package included in the e-export support one by one, but for more detailed information, you can access the PDF file of the e-export support circular published by the Ministry of Trade here.

Frequently Asked Questions About E-export Support

What Is E-export Support?

E-export support is the name of the package announced by a circular by the Ministry of Trade, which financially and strategically encourages individuals and institutions wanting to engage in e-export.

How to Get E-export Support?

E-export support contains different terms depending on the topic. Among these terms, there are many elements such as the business type, target country, and the product sold.

What Is an E-Export Consortium?

Companies that possess end-to-end e-export services certified by the Ministry of Trade are defined as e-export consortia. E-export consortia manage processes from fulfillment to delivery and returns, simplifying the process between the seller and the customer.