The new Digital Strategic
Business Unit aims to
foster existing digital
business capabilities
within Sabancı Group
and accelerate new
investments and initiatives
in target areas.
181
105K
m
2
1.9
billion
68%
31x
60
Countries
5
Countries
Stores
Sales Area
New Customer Acquisition
Growth in Online GMV
Growth in SKU numbers
Countries with Offices
During the year, Sabancı Holding significantly ramped up its commitment to create a global player in the digital arena. In-line with its ambitious growth plans in digital business and restructure its portfolio management strategies,
Sabancı Holding established the Digital Strategic Business Unit (SBU). This new SBU aims to foster existing digital business capabilities and accelerate new investments and initiatives in target areas. Mr. Max Robert Speur was appointed Digital SBU President. As a result of this corporate restructuring, DxBV and Teknosa will now be managed under the Sabancı Holding Digital SBU. These two digital flagship entities will continue their transformation together with technology marketplace services as part of the Digital SBU.
Protect and Grow the Core
In 2023, the Sabancı Digital SBU continued its strategic business transformation with a focus on investing in cloud business infrastructure and services through its primary entity SabancıDx under Dx BV. Opportune and Radiflow – two other Group companies, engaged in digital marketing and cyber security – played a key role in supporting growth locally and globally in their respective digital areas.
Meanwhile, Teknosa, the Group’s tech retailer, has transformed its retail approach by opening and revamping its stores into a new concept that focuses on experiential shopping. By blending its physical and its digital platforms, Teknosa has aimed to provide a comprehensive “phygital” experience for customers since 2022. This effort includes optimizing the store network for better customer engagement and satisfaction, contributing to improved sales. Teknosa’s operational footprint includes 181 stores across 64 cities, boasting a total sales area of 105,125 square meters.
Embracing a digital-first strategy, Sabancı Group’s tech retailer has expanded its online presence, social commerce, and integrated digital solutions in stores to enhance customer journeys. Significant investments in technology, such as the number of Teknosa app downloads have been approximately four times the 2022 figure and AI- enhanced supply chain initiatives, reinforced its market position and operational efficiency. İklimsa, operating under Teknosa and specializing in HVAC (Heating, Ventilating and Air Conditioning), solar energy, and B2B solutions, extended Teknosa’s reach and sustainability efforts. These strategic moves underscore Sabancı’s objective to blend digital innovation with customer- centric services, securing its leadership in technology retail.
Teknosa’s commitment to a value-driven approach is exemplified through its five key brands, attracting 1.9 million new customers, and maintaining an active customer base of 5 million. Notable successes include Preo achieving sales of over 2 million SKUs TeknoHizmet surpassing 3 million service sales, and the TeknoClub loyalty program growing to 3.2 million members within two years. Teknosacell has attracted ~500,000 subscribers. İklimsa, offering 200+ models, underscores Teknosa’s commitment to diversity and sustainability, including solar energy operations, emphasizing the synergy between Teknosa and İklimsa in enhancing market presence.
Invest in New Growth Platforms
SabancıDx solidified its position as a provider of multi and hybrid cloud solutions and technologies, in line with the Digital SBU’s strategy in the digital market. The strategic partnership with Microsoft has expanded Sabancı’s cloud value proposition, enabling Azure capabilities within Türkiye. The cooperation agreement with Microsoft focuses on offering hybrid cloud solutions to respond to both local and global customer needs. The collaboration extends to the Cloud Solution Center, providing hybrid cloud and artificial intelligence competencies to Türkiye’s digital ecosystem. The agreement also presents potential expansion opportunities for SabancıDx in Southeast Europe, Central and Eastern Europe, and the Middle East and Africa, enabling market access and foreign currency revenue generation. In addition to the Microsoft partnership, SabancıDx initiated cloud and cloud infrastructure partnerships with major brands, leveraging the expertise of digital native talent to implement and manage cloud solutions, thereby better serving its growing customer base.
Since 2022, Teknosa’s digitalfirst strategy has positioned the company as a leader in industry innovation and the digital economy. Teknosa, aiming to deliver an optimal omnichannel customer experience, introduced Türkiye’s first specialized electronics marketplace and bolstered its digital channels, contributing to Sabancı Holding’s overarching goals in digital business. In 2023, Sabancı Group’s tech retailer made a record TL 582 million investments in technology and digitalization, with plans to make TL 1 billion investment in 2024. This strategic move aims to enhance both the digital platform and physical stores, ensuring sustainable profitability and market growth.
Teknosa Marketplace, now in its second year, outperformed global benchmarks, contributing 38% to the online channel Gross Merchandise Value (GMV), which surged by 68% to TL 10.1 billion.
Teknosa online channel saw traffic increase by 1.3 times, boosting service quality, and performing a higher Net Promoter Score (NPS) resulting in a satisfying level.
Teknosa strategically expanded its customer satisfaction efforts, adopting a comprehensive NPS measurement across all touchpoints, including store, online, services, and returns – a significant evolution from the 2019 approach that focused solely on in-store experiences.
The Way Forward
Looking toward the future, Sabancı Group’s digital and tech retail business unit plans to ramp up its sustainability initiatives and product offerings, execute a blended digital and physical strategy, move into services that complement its current operations and effectively leverage its digitalization, transformation, cloud, and big data capabilities.
The Digital SBU’s vision is to create an end-to-end integrated digital value proposition for future connected enterprises. The digital strategy aims not only to accelerate Sabancı Group companies and Türkiye’s digital transformation but also to enable scaled business models and international expansion. The Group’s know-how, partnerships, and global access to resources serve as catalysts for all layers of the digital value chain. The focus remains on creating a reliable infrastructure for the growth of digital businesses, leveraging scalable and secure cloud capabilities. Future initiatives will also concentrate on investing in emerging and frontier markets, bringing next generation technologies into play to power the enterprises of the future.
Sabancı Group’s tech retailer embeds sustainability into its core business, promoting
gender equality and achieving a 52% female workforce at its headquarters, and endorsing the Women’s Empowerment Principles. Since 2007, Teknosa has championed gender equality, offering digital literacy training to over 28,000 women. Teknosa aims for ‘Net Zero Emissions’ by 2050, improving its Carbon Disclosure Project score from B- to A-, reflecting its commitment to environmental sustainability and leadership in climate initiatives.
