Stationery and Book Expenses Increased 2 Times in August

While the increase in online shopping continued due to the pandemic, book and stationery shopping online in August increased by 126 percent compared to the same month last year.

Although schools are not physically opened due to the pandemic, preparations for returning to school have been brought forward this year with the start of distance education. According to the data of PayTR, a payment institution that was authorized by the BRSA in 2016 and developed by Turkish engineers, the volume of online shopping in the book and stationery category doubled in August compared to the same period last year. According to PayTR's data, books and stationery purchases on the internet increased 126 percent compared to the same period last year, and 44 percent increased compared to the pandemic period covering March-June this year.

Commenting on the issue, Tarık Tombul, PayTR General Manager, said: “Following the announcement that distance education will begin on 31 August, the mobility, which is normally seen in the stationery and book categories in September, started one month earlier this year. During this period, we also received extensive applications from businesses in the online education category, especially in July and August. There were days when we received 12 applications daily. With the pandemic process, we observe that consumers tend to shop online. These figures show us that spending in many areas of our lives is now shifting to digital environment.