F-1 1 a2243271zf-1.htm F-1

Use these links to rapidly review the document
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS 3

Table of Contents

As filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on May 28, 2021.

Registration No. 333-        


UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549



FORM F-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933



D-MARKET Elektronik Hizmetler ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)



D-MARKET Electronic Services & Trading
(Translation of Registrant's Name into English)

Turkey
(State or other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
  5961
(Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
  Not Applicable
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)

Kuştepe Mahallesi Mecidiyeköy Yolu
Cadde no: 12 Kule 2 K2
Şişli 34387 Istanbul, Turkey
+90 (0) 212 304 20 00

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant's principal executive offices)



Cogency Global Inc.
122 East 42nd Street, 18th Floor
New York, NY 10168
+1 800-221-0102

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)



Copies of all communications, including communications sent to agent for service, should be sent to:

Laura Sizemore, Esq.
Era Anagnosti, Esq.
White & Case LLP
5 Old Broad Street
London EC2N 1DW
United Kingdom
Tel: + 44 20 7532 1000
Fax: + 44 20 7532 1001

 

Pierre-Marie Boury, Esq.
David Gottlieb, Esq.
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
2 London Wall
London EC2Y 5AU
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 20 7614 2200
Fax: +44 20 7600 1698

 

Ömer Çollak
Paksoy Ortak Avukat Bürosu Orjin Maslak,
Eski Büyükdere Caddesi No:27 K:11 Maslak
34485 Istanbul, Turkey
Tel: + 90 212 366 4700
Fax: +90 212 290 2355



Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:
As soon as practicable after this registration statement becomes effective.

            If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. o

            If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

            If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

            If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

            Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an emerging growth company as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act of 1933.

Emerging growth company. ý

            If an emerging growth company that prepares its financial statements in accordance with U.S. GAAP, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards† provided pursuant to Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act. o

            † The term "new or revised financial accounting standard" refers to any update issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board to its Accounting Standards Codification after April 5, 2012.



CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 
Title of Each Class of Securities
to be Registered(1)

  Proposed Maximum
Aggregate Offering
Price(2)

  Amount of
Registration Fee(3)

 
Class B ordinary shares, nominal value TRY 0.20 per share(1)   US$100,000,000   US$10,910.00
 
(1)
All Class B ordinary shares to be sold will be represented by American depositary shares, or ADSs, with each ADS representing                          Class B ordinary share(s). ADSs issuable upon deposit of the ordinary shares registered hereby will be registered under a separate Registration Statement on Form F-6 (Registration No. 333-                        ).

(2)
Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the amount of the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. Includes ordinary shares represented by ADSs that may be purchased by the underwriter pursuant to an option to purchase additional ADSs.

(3)
Calculated pursuant to Rule 457(o) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, based on an estimate of the proposed maximum aggregate offering price.



            The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.



   


Table of Contents

The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. We and the selling shareholders may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is declared effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and it is not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED            , 2021

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

LOGO

D-MARKET ELECTRONIC SERVICES & TRADING

American Depositary Shares Representing
            Class B Ordinary Shares
$            per ADS



        This is the initial public offering of American Depositary Shares ("ADSs") representing Class B ordinary shares of D-MARKET Elektronik Hizmetler ve Ticaret Anonim Şirketi ("Hepsiburada"), a joint stock company incorporated under the laws of Turkey. Each ADS will represent Class B ordinary shares. We are offering                        ADSs, and certain of our existing shareholders (the "Selling Shareholders") are offering                        ADSs. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of ADSs by the Selling Shareholders. Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our ordinary shares or ADSs. We anticipate the initial public offering price to be between $            and $            per ADS.

        We intend to apply to list our ADSs on Nasdaq Global Select Market ("Nasdaq") under the symbol "HBX."

        We are both an "emerging growth company" and a "foreign private issuer" under applicable U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules and will be eligible for reduced public company reporting requirements. See "Prospectus Summary—Implications of Being an 'Emerging Growth Company' and a 'Foreign Private Issuer'."

        Our Class B ordinary shares have one vote per share. ADSs in this offering will represent Class B ordinary shares. Our Class A shares are shares held by our founder and chairwoman, Hanzade Vasfiye Dogan Boyner (our "Founder"), and provide her and her permitted transferees (collectively, the "Class A Shareholders") with fifteen votes per Class A share. Following the completion of this offering our Founder will continue to beneficially own all of our Class A shares and is expected to own            % of our Class B ordinary shares, which will represent            % of the voting power of all of our Class A shares and Class B ordinary shares voting together as a single class, assuming no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option to purchase additional ADSs. As a result, we will be a "controlled company" under the Nasdaq listing rules.

        Investing in our ADSs involves a high degree of risk. See "Risk Factors" beginning on page 26.

        Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

       
 
 
  Per ADS
  Total
 

Public Offering Price

  $           $        
 

Underwriting discount(1)

  $           $        
 

Proceeds to us (before expenses)

  $           $        
 

Proceeds to the Selling Shareholders (before expenses)

  $           $        

 

(1)
See "Underwriting" for a description of the compensation payable to the underwriters.

        The underwriters have a 30-day option to purchase up to an aggregate of                        additional ADSs from us and the Selling Shareholders at the offering price, less the underwriting discount. We will not receive any of the proceeds from the sale of such additional ADSs by the Selling Shareholders.

        Delivery of the ADSs is expected to be made on or about                        , 2021.

Morgan Stanley   J.P. Morgan   Goldman Sachs & Co. LLC
BofA Securities   UBS Investment Bank

   

Prospectus dated                        , 2021


GRAPHIC


Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 
  Page  

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

    iii  

PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL AND OTHER INFORMATION

    v  

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

    vii  

TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS AND TRADENAMES

    viii  

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

    1  

THE OFFERING

    16  

SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

    20  

RISK FACTORS

    26  

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

    64  

EXCHANGE RATES

    66  

USE OF PROCEEDS

    67  

DIVIDEND POLICY

    68  

CAPITALIZATION

    69  

DILUTION

    70  

MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

    71  

INDUSTRY OVERVIEW

    103  

BUSINESS

    109  

MANAGEMENT

    150  

PRINCIPAL AND SELLING SHAREHOLDERS

    165  

RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

    167  

DESCRIPTION OF SHARE CAPITAL AND ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION

    169  

DESCRIPTION OF AMERICAN DEPOSITARY SHARES

    181  

SHARES AND AMERICAN DEPOSITARY SHARES ELIGIBLE FOR FUTURE SALE

    190  

MATERIAL TAX CONSIDERATIONS

    192  

UNDERWRITING

    199  

EXPENSES OF THE OFFERING

    206  

LEGAL MATTERS

    207  

EXPERTS

    208  

CHANGE IN REGISTRANT'S CERTIFYING ACCOUNTANT

    209  

ENFORCEMENT OF CIVIL LIABILITIES

    210  

WHERE YOU CAN FIND MORE INFORMATION

    212  

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

    F-1  

        For investors outside the United States: Neither we, the Selling Shareholders nor the underwriters have taken any action that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction, other than the United States, where action for that purpose is required. Persons outside the United States who come into possession of this prospectus must inform themselves about, and observe any restrictions relating to, the offering of our ADSs and the distribution of this prospectus outside the United States.

        We are incorporated in Turkey, and a majority of our outstanding securities are owned by non-U.S. residents. Under the rules of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), we are currently eligible for treatment as a "foreign private issuer." As a foreign private issuer, we will not be required to file periodic reports and financial statements with the SEC as frequently or as promptly as domestic registrants whose securities are registered under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act").

i


Table of Contents

        We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus. Neither we nor the Selling Shareholders have authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and neither we nor the Selling Shareholders take responsibility for any other information others may give you. We, the Selling Shareholders and the underwriters are not making an offer to sell, or seeking offers to buy, these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than its date regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or of any sale of the ADSs.

ii


Table of Contents

ABOUT THIS PROSPECTUS

        Except where the context otherwise requires or where otherwise indicated, the terms "Hepsiburada," the "Company," the "Group," "our company," "our," "ours" "us," and "we" or similar terms are to the registrant, D-MARKET Electronic Services & Trading, a joint-stock company incorporated under the laws of Turkey, together with its consolidated subsidiaries.

        All references in this prospectus to "TRY" and "Turkish Lira" are to the legal currency of Turkey, to "U.S. dollars," "US$" and "$" are to the legal currency of the United States, and to "euro" or "EUR" are to the currency of the member states of the European Union (the "EU") participating in the European Economic and Monetary Union.

        All references in this prospectus to "Turkstat" are to the Turkish Statistics Institute and to "BKM" are to the Turkish Interbank Card Center.

        All references in this prospectus to the "Commission" or to the "SEC" are to the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, to the "Exchange Act" are to the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and to the "Securities Act" are to the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended. All references to the "Turkey" are to the Republic of Turkey.

        With respect our business and operations:

    all references to "users" are to all persons accessing to our online platform (either through website or mobile application), with or without a registered account;

    all references to "members" are to users that have registered to our online platform by creating an account (either through website or mobile application), excluding cancelled memberships;

    all references to "customers" are to users (both unregistered users and members) that have purchased at least one item listed on our online platform (either through website or mobile application), including returns and cancellations;

    all references to "Active Customers" are to users (both unregistered users and members) who purchased an item within the 12-month period preceding the relevant date, including returns and cancellations;

    all references to "Loyalty Club" are to our customer loyalty club titled "Efsaneler Kulübü" in Turkish;

    all references to "Loyalty Club customers" are to our customers admitted our Loyalty Club, excluding customers that have dropped from the Loyalty Club as of the relevant date;

    all references to "merchants" are to legal entities who listed at least one item on our Marketplace within the 12-month period preceding the relevant date;

    all references to "Active Merchants" are to merchants who sold at least one item within the 12-month period preceding the relevant date, including returns and cancellations;

    all references to "Marketplace" are to the "3P" or "third party" model marketplace that we operate on our online platform, where merchants list and sell items to the customers;

    all references to "Direct Sales" are to "1P" or "first party" model direct sales operations that we perform on our online platform, where suppliers directly sell products to us on a wholesale basis, and we then store and sell such products to the customers;

    all references to "frequency" are to the average number of orders per Active Customer over a 12-month period preceding the relevant date;

    all references to "FBM" are to our fulfilled-by-merchant fulfillment model, where merchants perform fulfillment by their own means (only applicable to our 3P-based Marketplace operations);

iii


Table of Contents

    all references to "fulfillment" are to our logistical processes relating to the placement of an order, including accepting goods, of picking and storing products, consolidating them into batches and packing them into parcels for delivery as well as return operations, as described in greater detail under "Business—Order Fulfillment;"

    all references to the "HepsiLojistik model" are to our fulfilled-by-Hepsiburada fulfillment model, where we, in case of 1P-based Direct Sales, or merchants, in case of 3P-based Marketplace operations, perform fulfillment through HepsiLojistik, thereby performing fulfillment through our logistics infrastructure; and

    all references to the "Drop-shipping model" are to our drop-shipping fulfillment model, where we accept customer orders in our 1P-based Direct Sales and transfer orders to our suppliers and our suppliers in turn perform fulfillment by their own means (only applicable to 1P-based Direct Sales operations).

iv


Table of Contents


PRESENTATION OF FINANCIAL AND OTHER INFORMATION

Presentation of Financial Information

Financial Statements

        Our audited consolidated financial statements as of and for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 included in this prospectus beginning on page F-1 have been prepared and presented in Turkish Lira in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") as issued by the International Accounting Standards Board ("IASB"). The interim unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements as of and for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2021 have been prepared in accordance with IAS 34 Interim Financial Reporting. None of the financial statements were prepared in accordance with the generally accepted accounting principles of the United States ("U.S. GAAP").

Use of Non-IFRS Financial Measures

        Certain parts of this prospectus contain non-IFRS financial measures, including, among others, EBITDA, Net Working Capital and Free Cash Flow. We define:

    "EBITDA" as profit or loss for the period plus taxation on income less financial income plus financial expenses, plus depreciation and amortization;

    "Free Cash Flow" as net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures plus proceeds from sale of property and equipment; and

    "Net Working Capital" as current assets (excluding cash and cash equivalents) minus current liabilities (excluding current bank borrowings and current lease liabilities).

        The non-IFRS financial measures included in this prospectus are unaudited supplementary measures that are not required by, or presented in accordance with, IFRS or any other generally accepted accounting principles. See "Summary Consolidated Financial and Other Data" for a reconciliation of certain of these non-IFRS measures to the closest IFRS measure set forth in the consolidated financial statements.

        Prospective investors should not consider them as: (a) an alternative to operating profit or net profit as determined in accordance with IFRS or other generally accepted accounting principles, or as measures of operating performance; (b) an alternative to cash flows from operating, investing or financing activities, as determined in accordance with IFRS or other generally accepted accounting principles, or as a measure of our ability to meet liquidity needs; or (c) an alternative to any other measures of performance under IFRS or other generally accepted accounting principles.

        These measures are used by our management to monitor the underlying performance of the business and our operations. However, not all companies calculate these measures in an identical manner and, therefore, our presentation may not be comparable with similar measures used by other companies. As a result, prospective investors should not place undue reliance on this data.

Key Operating Performance Indicators

        Throughout this prospectus we provide a number of key operating performance indicators used by our management and often used by competitors in our industry. These and other key operating performance indicators are discussed in more detail in the section entitled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Indicators of Operating and Financial Performance." We define certain terms used in this prospectus as follows:

    "GMV" as gross merchandise value which refers to the total value of orders/products sold through our platform over a given period of time (including value added tax ("VAT") without

v


Table of Contents

      deducting returns and cancellations), including cargo income (shipping fees related to the products sold through our platform) and excluding other service revenues and transaction fees charged to our merchants;

    "Marketplace GMV" as total value of orders/products sold through our Marketplace over a given period of time (including VAT without deducting returns and cancellations), including cargo income (shipping fees related to the products sold through our platform) and excluding other service revenues and transaction fees charged to our merchants;

    "Share of Marketplace GMV" as the portion of GMV sold through our Marketplace represented as a percentage of our total GMV;

    "EBITDA as a percentage of GMV" as EBITDA represented as a percentage of our GMV;

    "Number of orders" as the number of orders we received through our platform including returns and cancellations;

    "Active Customers" as the users (both unregistered users and members) who purchased an item within the 12-month period preceding the relevant date, including returns and cancellations;

    "Gross Contribution" as revenues less cost of inventory sold; and

    "Gross Contribution Margin" as Gross Contribution represented as a percentage of GMV.

Rounding Adjustments

        Certain figures included in this prospectus have been subject to rounding adjustments. Accordingly, the figures shown for the same item presented in different tables may vary slightly and figures shown as totals in certain tables may not be an arithmetic aggregation of the figures that precede them.

vi


Table of Contents

MARKET AND INDUSTRY DATA

        The industry, market and competitive position data included in this prospectus is derived from our own internal estimates and research, our management's understanding of our business and the market in which we operate, as well as from publicly available information, industry and general publications and research, surveys and studies conducted by third parties, such as Arthur D. Little Danışmanlık Hizmetleri Anonim Şirketi ("ADL"), App Annie Inc. ("App Annie"), Euromonitor International Limited ("Euromonitor"), FutureBright Research and GfK Independent Research ("GfK").

        In anticipation of this offering, we retained ADL to provide certain e-commerce market assessment services, including an overview of macroeconomic indicators of Turkey, the evolution of Turkey's retail & e-commerce market size and an analysis of its underlying trends over time, relevant demographics, peer country benchmarks, COVID-19 impact and potential growth factors, as well as an assessment of key competitors and evaluation of their and our market position. ADL produced a research report titled "Turkey's e-retail market assessment" dated March 15, 2021. In connection with the preparation of ADL's report, we furnished ADL certain of our historical information and market competitive data. We use the data contained in ADL's report to assist us in describing the nature of our industry and our position in it. Such information is included in this prospectus in reliance on ADL's authority as an expert in such matters. See "Experts."

        Due to the evolving nature of our industry and competitors, we believe that it is difficult for any market participant, including us, to provide precise data on the market or our industry (see "Risk Factors—Our operating metrics and competitive information, both internally calculated and provided by third parties and included in this prospectus, may be calculated differently from the metrics or competitive information published by our competitors or other third parties in our industry and any perceived inaccuracies or inadequate cross-company comparisons may harm our reputation"). Unless otherwise indicated, information contained in this prospectus concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate, including our general expectation, market position, market size and growth rate of the markets in which we participate is based on information from various sources noted above, including ADL, App Annie, Euromonitor, FutureBright Research and GFK, and on assumptions that we have made that are based on those data and other similar sources and on our knowledge of the markets for our products and services. We have not independently verified the accuracy or completeness of the data contained in these industry publications and reports. Although we are not aware of any misstatements regarding the industry data that we present in this prospectus, our estimates involve risks and uncertainties and are subject to change based on various factors, including those discussed under "Risk Factors," "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements," and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in this prospectus.

        Some market data and statistical information contained in this prospectus are also based on management's estimates and calculations, which are derived from our review and interpretation of the independent sources, our internal market and brand research and our knowledge of our industry. Information that is based on estimates, forecasts, projections or similar methodologies is inherently subject to uncertainties, and actual events or circumstances may differ materially from events and circumstances that are assumed in this information. The forward-looking information obtained from these sources are subject to the same qualifications and uncertainties as other forward looking statements in this prospectus.

vii


Table of Contents


TRADEMARKS, SERVICE MARKS AND TRADENAMES

        We have proprietary rights to trademarks used in this prospectus that are important to our business, many of which are registered under applicable intellectual property laws.

        Solely for convenience, the trademarks, service marks, logos and trade names referred to in this prospectus are without the ® and ™ symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the rights of the applicable licensors to these trademarks, service marks and trade names. This prospectus contains additional trademarks, service marks and trade names of others, which are the property of their respective owners. All trademarks, service marks and trade names appearing in this prospectus are, to our knowledge, the property of their respective owners. We do not intend our use or display of other companies' trademarks, service marks, copyrights or trade names to imply a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, any other companies.

viii


Table of Contents

Our Vision

Lead digitalization of commerce

Our Mission

        Hepsiburada exists to be the reliable, innovative and sincere companion in people's daily lives to make every member of our community feel "I'm so happy I have Hepsiburada"

A letter from our Founder and Chairwoman, Hanzade Doğan

        I founded Hepsiburada with the vision to build the gateway for digitalization of commerce in Turkey, from shopping to payments to last mile delivery. Throughout our 20 year history we have scaled Hepsiburada with the conviction that digitalization would improve commerce by connecting every household and every merchant in Turkey. And by offering the broadest range of goods to our customers while setting the standard for affordability, accessibility and convenience.

        Our brand name, "Hepsiburada," meaning "you can find anything you want here" is our resounding declaration of that goal. That simple but audacious promise encoded in our name has shaped our culture, our aspirations and our values. To keep that promise, we have had to be a dynamic, relentlessly innovating presence at the epicenter of change.

        Hepsiburada has indeed proved itself to be a trailblazer in making commerce affordable, accessible and convenient for all. We measure our success by how happy we make our customers and merchants. We succeed when our customers and merchants say "I'm so happy I have Hepsiburada."

        We strive to offer the best prices, multiple payment options, consumer financing as well as other features like card-splitting to make our products affordable. We fulfill our mission every time a customer says, "I would not have been able to buy that laptop if it wasn't for Hepsiburada."

        We offer next-day delivery to every corner of Turkey and make all goods and services accessible by every customer. With our long tail selection and extended catalogue of over 44 million SKU's, our customers can find everything they need at their fingertips. We take pride in being the reliable companion every time a customer says "I would not have been able to find that toy for my child in my town if it wasn't for Hepsiburada."

        We offer the convenience of seamless flexibility through our frictionless return policy. We create value every time a customer says "Returning the product is so easy with Hepsiburada, I'm never disappointed."

        Our approach to e-commerce is distinct and defies the ethos of disrupting retail. We are not disrupters but enablers.    We want brands and merchants to be successful in the digital economy and be a true partner in growing their businesses. We offer our platform to approximately 45k active merchants to help them with their growth and digitalization. We achieve success every time a merchant says: "If I did not have Hepsiburada I could never expand my business exponentially. If I did not have Hepsiburada I would not have such accurate consumer insights that helped me improve my product. Hepsiburada handles everything for me, from fulfillment to marketing to distribution. It's the best partner I could ask for."

        I often tell my team to think of our customers and merchants as close friends and family whom we want to support and delight. On-time-delivery for us is like a promise we make to a close friend: we have to keep it. Frictionless return is like assuring a family member by saying "don't worry, I'll take care of it." We have to take care of it. With this sincere, collective dedication, our team sets ever-improving industry standards at every step of the way.

        Hepsiburada, at its core, is a technology company.    We constantly innovate and introduce new services from payment tools to agile, scalable, last mile delivery infrastructure. We have optimized all

ix


Table of Contents

our systems to offer instant grocery shopping to enable our customers to buy fresh groceries delivered in 30 minutes. We deliver increasing hyper-personalization of the shopping experience with our in-house-developed, AI-backed recommendation engine.

        We are proud of what we have achieved so far. We have managed to grow our business sustainably and profitably. Such growth has allowed us to reach more customers, enable more merchants, offer more products and expand our service offering. Post IPO, we remain committed to growing our business further in a similar, capital efficient way.

        We know our determination to digitize commerce will continue to create value for every life we touch and the communities we serve. We are keenly aware of our unique role and responsibility within the Turkish society. Inclusion, diversity, social responsibility are not afterthoughts or side projects for us but rather core elements of our identity and purpose.

        We are very proud to be the first e-commerce platform around the world to have launched ambitious initiatives to empower women entrepreneurs. We have helped over 19,000 women-owned businesses launch and grow their presence on our platform. We remain fully committed to continue empowering and supporting women entrepreneurs on our platform.

        Our uncompromising enthusiasm to innovate to improve life for everyone has made Hepsiburada a uniquely trusted household name. Being a reliable companion and a source of happiness for all our stakeholders is a hard-earned privilege that we cherish. Hepsiburada is ready, eager and well-positioned to build on that trust to lead digitalization of commerce.

Hanzade Doğan

x


Table of Contents

 

PROSPECTUS SUMMARY

        This Prospectus Summary highlights information contained in more detail elsewhere in this prospectus. This Prospectus Summary does not contain all the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. Before deciding to invest in our ADSs, we urge you to read this entire prospectus carefully, including the "Risk Factors," "Business" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections and our audited consolidated financial statements, including the notes thereto, included in this prospectus.

Our Mission

        Our mission is to be the reliable, innovative and sincere companion in people's daily lives and to make each member of our community feel 'I am so happy I have Hepsiburada'.

Our Vision

        Our vision is to lead digitalization of commerce. To that end, we have evolved from an e-commerce platform into an integrated ecosystem of services centered on making people's daily lives easier.

Company Overview

        We are a leading commerce platform in Turkey and, in 2020, we connected 33 million members, 9 million Active Customers and a fast growing base of approximately 45 thousand Active Merchants. We provide high-quality customer experience by relentlessly focusing on selection, price and delivery:

    Selection:  As of December 31, 2020 we had over 44 million stock keeping units ("SKUs"), including variants (color, size, etc.) across 32 different categories offered through a hybrid model combining a first-party Direct Sales model (1P model) and a third-party Marketplace model (3P model);

    Price:  We seek to provide the best value for our customers by offering products at highly competitive prices;

    Delivery:  We operate a large, fast and scalable in-house logistics network with robust last-mile delivery capabilities based on a proprietary technology platform.

        Founded in 2000, Hepsiburada has been one of the early pioneers of digitalization of commerce in Turkey and has become a household brand in the country. Our brand, which corresponds to "Everything is Here", is synonymous with a seamless online shopping experience and benefits from very strong brand awareness, with Hepsiburada scoring 96% for aided brand awareness (with the two closest competitors in Turkey scoring 95% and 92%, respectively), 78% for spontaneous brand awareness (with the two closest competitors in Turkey scoring 74% and 63%, respectively) and 91% for highest preference score (with the two closest competitors in Turkey scoring 89% and 87%, respectively), according to FutureBright Research Brand Health Report in 2020. Additionally, our brand had a market leading Net Promoter Score ("NPS") of 66 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 according to the company's internal reporting and has been named Turkey's favorite e-commerce brand several times by Mediacats' Lovemark, a survey which aims to reveal the brands consumers value within a given category. Supported by the strength of our brand, we benefit from substantial organic traffic, with approximately 70% of traffic being unpaid traffic, for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

        We believe that our commitment to five central pillars of our business culture is the reason we have risen to become a leader of e-commerce in Turkey as evidenced by our brand awareness track record. The five pillars of our business culture are:

    customer-first mentality;

1


Table of Contents

    entrepreneurial business acumen;

    meticulous execution;

    relentless innovation; and

    social consciousness, diversity and inclusion.

        Our aim is for customers of Hepsiburada to come to the platform and be able to do the following:

    Hepsiburada:  Shop a wide range of products online;

    HepsiExpress:  Order groceries and essentials to be delivered within 30 to 60 minutes;

    HepsiGlobal:  Discover and purchase products from international merchants online;

    HepsiPay:  Use different online payment options; and

    HepsiFly:  Buy airline tickets online.

        We have 20 years of e-commerce experience in Turkey, and our local know-how allows us to better tackle the needs of our community of customers, merchants and suppliers across the country. Our leadership team's commitment to our vision, mission and culture is one of our main differentiators and is the foundation on which our ecosystem continues to build in order to accelerate digitalization of Turkish commerce. We have grown together with our merchants located across the entire country and have contributed to the local economy and employment. Furthermore, Hepsiburada is one of the few female founded technology companies globally, and we have been actively promoting and empowering women entrepreneurship in Turkey.

        Since the launch of our Marketplace in 2015, Hepsiburada has become a trustworthy partner for merchants in Turkey by providing access to 33 million members and 9 million Active Customers and comprehensive end-to-end solutions to empower merchants to thrive digitally. In 2020, our 3P-based Marketplace model accounted for approximately 59% of our GMV, following the successful transformation of Hepsiburada from a 1P-based Direct Sales only business to its current hybrid 1P and 3P-based model. Our aim is for Hepsiburada's merchants to enjoy a seamless set of integrated e-commerce solutions:

    HepsiLojistik:  Fulfillment options across Turkey;

    HepsiJet:  Last-mile delivery services;

    HepsiPay:  Online payment solutions; and

    HepsiAd:  Personalized ads and data insights.

        We believe powerful network effects are created by our leading brand, hybrid commerce model with a unified 1P and 3P-based catalogue, and strong customer and merchant value propositions. Our expanding selection of products and services, as well as price competitiveness, has allowed us to attract a growing total Active Customer base from 4.8 million in 2018 and 6.5 million in 2019 to 9 million in 2020 and increase the frequency of orders on our platform from 3.1 in 2018 to 3.5 in 2019 and to 3.9 in 2020, which in turn draws more merchants and further enhances our customer value proposition. In addition, our proprietary data and insights collected over the last 20 years enable us to understand the needs of our customers and merchants and help us develop new services, expand into new verticals, and continuously innovate and strengthen our value proposition reinforcing the network effect.

2


Table of Contents

        Our large, fast and scalable logistics network has been critical to our success and we have been continuously focusing on improving our logistics capabilities and offerings. We have a robust operational footprint enabling fast delivery and merchant integration. As of March 2021, we operate:

    a nationwide infrastructure including six fulfillment centers in strategic locations that encompass a total area of more than 120 thousand square meters;

    our HepsiJet business is one of the fastest growing logistics companies with an on-time delivery performance of 95% in 2020, and operates in 63 cities with 115 cross-docks as of March 31, 2021; and

    our HepsiMat business is a pick-up & drop-off (PUDO) network with more than 950 branded parcel lockers and pick-up points as of March 2021 and has partnership with local stores, gas stations and retailers.

        We are a technology-driven company and have invested heavily in developing our own highly scalable proprietary technology to support the large and rapidly growing order volumes generated on our platform. Our in-house developed IT infrastructure is central to our ability to execute our business strategy and ensure a seamless experience for our merchants and customers with our single mobile app that connects our offerings and services.

        Our business has experienced a long history of strong growth as a result of our commitment to meticulous execution. Our revenues increased by 33% from TRY 2.0 billion in 2018 to TRY 2.6 billion in 2019, by 145% to TRY 6.4 billion in 2020 and by 66% from TRY 0.8 billion in the three months ended March 31, 2020 to TRY 1.4 billion in three months ended March 31, 2021 and our total GMV increased by 56% from TRY 5.1 billion in 2018 to TRY 8.0 billion in 2019, by 111% to TRY 17.0 billion in 2020 and by 95% from TRY 2.3 billion in three months ended March 31, 2020 to TRY 4.5 billion in three months ended March 31, 2021, fueled by increasing purchase frequency, greater customer loyalty and an expanding pool of Active Customers from 4.8 million in 2018 to 6.5 million in 2019 and to 9 million in 2020, a compound annual growth rate ("CAGR") of 37% over the period. We had Free Cash Flow of TRY 119.0 million, TRY 310.4 million, TRY 341.4 million in 2018, 2019 and 2020 respectively, and TRY 60.5 million and TRY (158.8) in three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Our Industry

        As a member of the G20, Turkey is the 13th largest economy in the world by gross domestic product ("GDP") based on purchasing power parity in 2019 according to the IMF World Economic Outlook report dated 2021 and a total GDP of US$717 billion in current prices for 2020 according to Turkstat. Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with real GDP CAGR of 5.2% from 2010 to 2020 based on Turkstat. In 2020, the year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey was one of the only two G20 member countries with real GDP growth (1.8% year on year according to Turkstat), along with China. The Turkish economy is expected to grow at a CAGR of 4.1% between 2020 and 2025 supported by fiscal stimulus and recovering consumer and business confidence according to a forecast from ADL.

        Turkey is the second most populous country in Europe with a population of 84 million as of December 31, 2020. Turkey benefits from attractive demographics, the second youngest in Europe (after Kosovo) with 46% of the population under the age of 30 according to Turkstat, and an increasing urban population share of approximately 75% based on UN data as of 2018, which is comparable to Germany.

        The retail market is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in Turkey. According to ADL, the Turkish retail market grew at a CAGR of 15.3% from 2015 to 2020 and reached TRY 866 billion in 2020. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.7% in the period 2020 to 2025 and to

3


Table of Contents

approximately TRY 1,798 billion based on the forecast from ADL. Turkey's e-commerce market (exclusive of services, travel and betting) has grown significantly faster than the broader retail market, at a CAGR of 46.1% from 2015 to 2020, reaching a total market size of TRY 88 billion in 2020 (in terms of gross merchandise value excluding cross-border sales, B2B sales, VAT and services (e.g., food delivery); not excluding returns), according to ADL. ADL's estimation of the e-commerce market size in Turkey is consistent with the Company's analysis based on information published by the Turkish Ministry of Trade through ETBIS. E-commerce penetration has more than tripled during the same time period from 3.1% of the overall retail market in 2015 to 10.1% in 2020, according to ADL. Low e-commerce penetration in Turkey suggests significant room for growth when compared to penetration in other large markets, with South Korea at 35.8%, China at 27.3%, closely trailed by the UK with 24.2% and the US with 20.3%, and with Poland at 14.4%, Brazil at 13.9%, Germany at 13.6% and Russia at 10.5% in 2020 based on Euromonitor data.

        The strong historical and projected growth of the e-commerce market has been supported by high internet penetration, wide spread usage of credit and debit cards for online payments and well-established logistics infrastructure enabling nationwide delivery of orders. As a result, e-commerce has grown to 10.1% of total retail commerce in Turkey as of 2020 and is expected to continue to grow as a share of total retail through 2025, according to ADL.

        Since its founding in the late 1990s, the Turkish e-commerce market has witnessed the shift of traditional brick-and-mortar players online, the establishment of new local e-commerce players and the entrance, either organically or via acquisition, of global e-commerce players. The Turkish e-commerce market today includes traditional brick-and-mortar retailers with omni-channel capabilities, quick delivery players, online players operating third party marketplace model only, such as N11 and Gittigidiyor, and online players offering hybrid models that combine a third party marketplace with their own first party sales, such as Hepsiburada, Trendyol, Amazon and Morhipo.

        Hepsiburada was among the first players to start operations in 2000 and since then, while its competitors either became acquisition targets or adopted a different business model, Hepsiburada has grown to become one of the main players in this space. Hepsiburada has a differentiated consumer proposition in the Turkish e-commerce market compared to the main marketplace competitors Trendyol, N11, Gittigidiyor, and Amazon. Hepsiburada has the most comprehensive offering in the Turkish e-commerce market across assortment, catalogue structure, fulfillment and inhouse logistics solutions (according to ADL), and it is the only marketplace with an e-money and payment service provider license in Turkey (according to the Turkish Central Bank's list of such licensed providers).

        As of 2020, Hepsiburada has a market share of approximately 2% in the highly fragmented Turkish retail market which remains dominated by offline retail players according to ADL. As the second largest player by market share in the Turkish e-commerce market, Hepsiburada is well placed to drive the shift from offline to online retail and gain market share as a result. Based on ADL's analysis, Hepsiburada has a market share of approximately 17% of the total e-commerce market as of 2020, which represents an increase of approximately 8 percentage points compared to approximately 9% in 2015, also having increased its market share despite strong competition after the acquisition of Trendyol by Alibaba in 2018 and the entry of Amazon into the Turkish e-commerce market.

Our Strengths

        We believe the following strengths are the basis for our success.

Proven Team with Deep Local Know-How and Commitment to our Vision and Mission

        Our business is led by an entrepreneurial management team with a strong track record of growth and a clear vision to lead digitalization of commerce. Our management team has a complementary and

4


Table of Contents

diversified skill set, with significant e-commerce expertise in multiple geographies backed by diverse backgrounds from technology, retail, banking and operations in Fortune 500 companies.

        At the core of our culture is our commitment to our customer-first mentality; entrepreneurial business acumen; meticulous execution; relentless innovation; and social consciousness, diversity and inclusion. To demonstrate to our community that we live up to our values, we lead by example:

    customer-first mentality has been a key pillar to our culture and we are committed to continue to be one of the favorite e-commerce brands in Turkey with strong customer satisfaction scoring higher than the industry average;

    entrepreneurial business acumen is critical to our business operations and innovations. Our strong relations with suppliers and merchants, strong track record in industry, deep understanding of local insights, cost-conscious management philosophy, and deep commitment to our vision help us better evaluate the business landscape in making strategic decisions;

    meticulous execution is indispensable to operate in Turkey, where we operate a 1P and 3P hybrid model and as a result recorded a GMV CAGR of 64% (11.8 times) (from TRY 1.4 billion in 2015 to TRY 17.0 billion in 2020), a growth in the number of Active Customers of 4.4 times from 2015 to 2020 and a GMV per Active Customer growth at a CAGR of 32% from 2018 to 2020;

    relentless innovation has been the key driver behind our pioneering achievements including the 1P-3P hybrid model, unified catalogue, customer reviews, new vertical expansions such as on-demand grocery service, last-mile delivery capability, same-day delivery, click & collect, frictionless return pick-up, licensed payment service, and online consumer loans; and

    social consciousness, diversity and inclusion have been our focus at every step that we have taken in building our business. We have been actively supporting local merchants and women entrepreneurs through targeted nationwide programs. As an example of our dedication to encourage women entrepreneurs, we launched Technology Empowerment for Woman Entrepreneurs, a program across Turkey which provides multiple benefits to women entrepreneurs making sales on our platform who elect to participate. Since the launch of this program, we have reached more than 19,000 women entrepreneurs (as of March, 31 2021) from across Turkey over the course of approximately 4 years. In 2020, more than 20% of our Active Merchants were women entrepreneurs. In addition, as of March 2021, women employees represent 49% of our workforce and 33% of our executive roles (excluding HepsiJet).

        At Hepsiburada, we bridge Silicon Valley's technical know-how with the local trading culture by merging analytical concepts such as big data analytics, customer segmentation and personalized recommendation with the understanding of local insights, expectations and values. Our globally proven business model, which is based on an e-commerce model that complements a marketplace of third-party sellers with a direct sales online retail business, combined with our local know-how enables us to execute our business strategy seamlessly, as evidenced by our operating and financial results.

        The COVID-19 pandemic underscored Hepsiburada's important position in the community and emphasized our critical role in supporting different segments of the society including health workers, small and medium sized enterprises, families in need, and entrepreneurs. As a commitment to our long term vision, we will continue to support our stakeholders and enable Turkey and the broader region to accelerate its digitalization journey.

5


Table of Contents

A Leader of E-Commerce in Turkey with One of the Most Trusted and Popular Digital Platforms for Customers' Everyday Needs

        As one of the early pioneers of online retail in Turkey, customer service and experience is our priority and we aim to provide a seamless experience on our platform throughout the entire customer journey. We provide an excellent customer experience on our platform by relentlessly focusing on selection, price and delivery. Our mobile "Super App" is at the center of our value proposition and it acts as a one-stop-shop solution for customers by offering a broad range of products and services and creates a differentiated user experience.

        Aiming to offer the largest and highest-quality product selection is one of the key pillars of our value proposition to customers. We offer over 44 million SKUs across 32 different categories including home appliances, books & hobbies, fashion & lifestyle, home & garden, groceries and technology products. Our strong alliances and partnerships with local brands and leading international brands, such as Apple, Casper, Oppo, Tefal, Rowenta, Eczacıbası, Spigen, Delta, Dyson, Vestel and Ülker Group help us to expand the variety of products available to our customers as well as partner to offer value-added services, such as trade-in options for, among others, Apple and Samsung products, delivery by appointment for Vestel products and live chat support from live agents from over 40 well-known brands, including Colgate-Palmolive, Apple and L'Oreal.

        We seek to provide the best value for our customers by offering products at highly competitive prices. We believe that our large merchant base with approximately 45 thousand Active Merchants in 2020, plays an important role and allows our customers to find the best value for money for products in our platform.

        We operate a large, fast and reliable in-house logistics network with scalable and robust last-mile delivery capabilities based on a proprietary technology platform. We are an end-to-end ecosystem with full in-house capabilities across fulfillment, logistics and last-mile delivery in Turkey. We believe that our logistics infrastructure is an important pillar of our success and enables us to improve the customer experience.

        Our mobile Super App is at the center of our platform, which acts as a one-stop-shop solution for customers and creates a differentiated user experience and a virtuous demand cycle for our business. Our app is one of the most popular in Turkey with 19 million average monthly app active users on our mobile applications in 2020 and has 37.3 million app downloads since 2018. Our website had more than 250 million monthly visits on average in the three months ended December 31, 2020.

        Our distinctive value proposition of a wide selection of products and services at competitive prices with convenient delivery options has resulted in a large, growing and loyal Active Customer base, according to company information, which demonstrated an increase in order frequency and retention on our platform in 2019 and 2020. We had an NPS of 66 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 according to the company's internal reporting records, were elected Turkey's favorite e-commerce brand several times by MediaCats' Lovemark and have won several awards since 2015 for our e-commerce platform. Further, we have reduced the rate at which customers raise customer services inquiries through our ticketing system from 6.4% of orders in 2019, to 5.1% in 2020 and to 2.6% in the first quarter of 2021.

Empowering Merchants to Thrive in a Digital Environment with a Comprehensive Suite of End-to-End Solutions

        We have one of the largest merchant bases in Turkey with approximately 45 thousand Active Merchants in 2020, and have become the "one-stop-shop" and one of the most attractive digital platforms for merchants to access consumers across Turkey. Our Active Merchant base has more than

6


Table of Contents

doubled in 2020 compared to 2019. In order to ensure high quality standards we have strict policies that allow us to monitor merchants' end-to-end operations and performance on our platform.

        Our platform also enables local merchants in Turkey to seamlessly sell their products to nearby countries outside Turkey through the HepsiGlobal app. Today, being listed on Hepsiburada not only helps our merchants manage and grow their businesses through our vast range of capabilities but also has become a source of credibility which they can proudly showcase both in online and offline channels.

        We make it easy for our merchants to maximize their success on our platform by providing them with a comprehensive set of advanced tools and services, including:

    Merchant portal and proprietary merchant store management tools;

    Advanced data analytics and advertising services to increase the effectiveness of their marketing efforts through HepsiAd;

    Financing options to more efficiently manage their working capital needs. In 2020, our financing program has grown approximately 5 times based on the aggregate value compared to the same period in 2019 and exceeded TRY 1.3 billion in volume, with an 11.4 times growth in merchant and supplier financing between 2018 and 2020;

    Access to our logistics infrastructure through HepsiLojistik, through which we allow them to deliver across Turkey with a superior customer experience; and

    Comprehensive training sessions through our merchant training portal, HepsiAkademi, accelerating our merchants' integration. More than 15,000 training sessions were completed on our platform by our merchants in the three months ended March 31, 2021.

        Our technological infrastructure and capabilities also allow our merchants to integrate through our in-house developed single dashboard where merchants can manage inventory and connect directly to our ecosystem using open Application Programming Interface ("API") capabilities and access to advertising monetization tools.

Integrated Ecosystem with Powerful Network Effects

        Our leading locally embedded brand, our hybrid commerce model with a unified 1P and 3P catalogue, our broad level of ecosystem services, and our strong customer and merchant value propositions create powerful network effects with increasing supply and increasing demand continuously boosting growth from each other.

        Our supply continues to grow, as evidenced by:

    an increasing number of Active Merchants, which has grown to approximately 45 thousand in 2020 from approximately 21 thousand in 2019 and approximately 12 thousand in 2018; and

    in addition to new value-added services such as frictionless return pick-up, trade-in option and 2-hour delivery (for selected mobile device products), our expansion into new verticals such as HepsiExpress (instant grocery delivery), HepsiFly, and HepsiGlobal (inbound cross-border purchases) strengthens the breadth and depth of our service & product offerings.

        Our demand continues to grow, as evidenced by:

    the growth of our already large Active Customer base with a CAGR of 37% from 2018 to 2020, thus reaching 9 million in 2020, compared to 6.5 million and 4.8 million in 2019 and 2018, respectively; and

    a significant increase in the frequency of orders on our platform to 3.9 in 2020, from 3.5 in 2019 and 3.1 in 2018.

7


Table of Contents

        This network effect is underpinned and reinforced by our robust logistics network and technological capabilities which further enhance the value proposition for our customers and merchants.

Large, Fast and Scalable In-House Logistics Network

        We are an end-to-end ecosystem with full in-house capabilities across fulfillment, 3P and 1P operations, logistics and last mile delivery in Turkey. We believe that our logistics infrastructure is key to our success and allows us to differentiate ourselves by offering our customers and merchants a variety of convenient delivery options, such as nationwide 24-hour delivery, 2-hour delivery for selected mobile device products, delivery by-appointment and over-the-weekend, in addition to robust services such as return pick-ups from customers' address.

        With a nationwide network of six fulfillment centers strategically located across Turkey (Kocaeli, Ankara, Izmir, Adana, Erzurum and Diyarbakir) and a total area of more than 120 thousand square meters, we have one of the largest logistics infrastructures among Turkish pure e-commerce players.

        Our logistics infrastructure is complemented by HepsiJet, our in-house last-mile delivery service and one of the fastest growing logistics companies in Turkey, and HepsiMat, our pick-up drop-off (PUDO) network with more than 950 branded parcel lockers and pick-up points throughout Turkey as of March 2021. Providing scalable, crowd-sourced, fast and cost efficient delivery to our customers and merchants, HepsiJet as of March 2021:

    provides next day, same day and 2-hour delivery services for selected products;

    operates 115 cross-docks in 63 cities with approximately 95% population coverage;

    provides last mile delivery service to more than 4,500 merchants;

    delivers approximately 65% of its orders within the next day (based on data for the three months ended March 31, 2021); and

    has a target of 100% nationwide population coverage by June 30, 2021.

        We further enhance this infrastructure advantage by applying technology to increase operational and cost efficiency, with examples such as AI-driven route optimization capabilities for HepsiJet drivers and advanced warehouse automation. Our internally developed technology backbone includes but is not limited to order-management-systems, warehouse-management-systems and demand forecasting tools.

        We believe that our nationwide logistics infrastructure gives us a significant competitive edge and will drive our future growth and enhance our service offerings to customers and merchants.

Proprietary Data-driven Technology Platform Underpinned by Continuous In-House Innovation

        Technology is at the core of Hepsiburada's business. Our in-house IT infrastructure is central to our ability to execute our business strategy, ensure seamless logistic execution and provide a seamless and comprehensive digital experience to our customers through our Super App. We currently integrate our service offerings through mobile and web applications, which enables us to scale rapidly and deliver a comprehensive experience to our customers and merchants across devices. We have invested significantly in developing our own flexible proprietary technology to support the large and rapidly growing transaction volumes generated on our platform.

        We believe we are one of the leading employers for top tech talent in Turkey with our three certified R&D centers in close cooperation with universities and academia across the country. As a result, our technology organization consists of high quality developers, engineers, data scientists and subject matter experts who leverage the latest technologies, our proprietary data and big data analytics to develop innovative in-house solutions which continue to enhance the platform experience.

8


Table of Contents

        Our IT engineers (developers, testers, and architects), designers, data analysts and product managers are dedicated to enhancing the customer experience. Our data science and machine learning teams embedded across product function teams analyze the data to identify trends and behaviors that enable us to personalize the customer experience on our platform such as to make more relevant product recommendations.

        Our engineering and technology teams focus on security, availability, scalability and performance while providing product features across our websites and mobile applications. Our technology department is essential to our ability to implement our strategy and continue to be at the forefront of innovation in the Turkish e-commerce market.

        The success of our technology team in developing almost all of our products in-house and our reliable, secure and scalable tech stack (the set of technologies we use to build our website and mobile applications) is based on three main pillars:

    a product-oriented team structure;

    high stability and availability standards; and

    early adoption and development of cutting edge technologies.

        To ensure operational continuity, we have two separate and synched data centers located in Istanbul. We own and operate the server hardware, network, storage devices and backup systems in both data centers and employ redundancy architectures, outage procedures and data protection practices on all our technology systems resulting in 99.9% availability in 2018, 2019 and 2020. Furthermore, we embrace cloud-ready architecture allowing us to utilize the cloud whenever extra capacity is needed, in order to ensure capacity management flexibility.

        Our technology teams develop almost all key product functions and features in-house and utilize select third-party tools and technologies to complement our efforts. We design and build products with an emphasis on security, scalability and ability to provide uninterrupted services.

        Our ability to scale quickly and efficiently has been tested and we have consistently demonstrated strong performance in peak seasons such as Legendary Friday (which takes place within the month of November) and unexpected demand shifts such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In the weeks of Legendary Friday in 2020 our average daily sales was 4.3 times higher than our average daily sales for the remainder of 2020. In 2019 and 2020, we experienced traffic of approximately 1 million and 0.8 million instantaneous visits (i.e., number of unique users visiting our platform at the same time), respectively, during the Legendary Friday season.

        We have a dedicated cybersecurity department which uses various technical means and procedures to protect our technology systems from cyber threats, such as perimeter protection tools, perimeter scanning, user rights restrictions on workstations, antivirus protection, software update controls, code review and anomaly detections. Our IT network is also protected from multilayered external denial-of-service attacks by malicious traffic filtering systems.

        We are the first on-site audited and PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) certified player in the Turkish e-commerce market and we maintain the ISO 27001 (Information Security Management System) certificate. We have developed a multi-level data security framework and secure data with a mix of analytical processes and development tools. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not experienced any material security breaches.

9


Table of Contents

Highly Attractive Financial Profile with Strong Growth at Scale, High Order Frequency Rates and Attractive Unit Economics

        Our business has grown substantially in recent years. Our revenues increased by 33% from TRY 2.0 billion in 2018 to TRY 2.6 billion in 2019, by 145% to TRY 6.4 billion in 2020 and by 66% from TRY 0.8 billion in the three months ended March 31, 2020 to TRY 1.4 billion in three months ended March 31, 2021, and our total GMV increased by 56% from TRY 5.1 billion in 2018 to TRY 8.0 billion in 2019, by 111% to TRY 17.0 billion in 2020 and by 95% from TRY 2.3 billion in three months ended March 31, 2020 to TRY 4.5 billion in three months ended March 31, 2021, as we pursued our significant transformation from a 1P-only business to a hybrid commerce model of 1P and 3P. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, and in 2020, 3P accounted for approximately 70% and approximately 59% of our GMV, respectively.

        The strong growth we experienced in recent years also enabled us to generate annual positive Free Cash Flow. We had Free Cash Flow of TRY 119.0 million, TRY 310.4 million, TRY 341.4 million in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively, and TRY 60.5 million and TRY (158.8) million in the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2021, respectively. We experienced negative Free Cash Flow in the three months ended March 31, 2021 due to purchases of inventories higher than usual, to be able to secure supply during the COVID-19 lockdown period in the second quarter of 2021.

        The growth has been fueled by several factors, including an increased frequency of orders from 3.1 in 2018 to 3.5 in 2019 and to 3.9 in 2020, and an expanding Active Customer base from 4.8 million in 2018 to 6.5 million in 2019 to 9 million in 2020.

        As we continue to scale up Hepsiburada, we believe that these trends will continue to positively impact our business, with further Active Customer base growth, strong cohort performance and increasing operational efficiency driving improvement in unit economics and profitability.

Our Strategy

        Our vision is to lead digitalization of commerce and our mission is to be the reliable, innovative, sincere companion in people's daily lives and to make each and every member of our community feel 'I am so happy I have Hepsiburada'. To this end, we aim to build on our leading position across existing product categories and services, launch new products and initiatives, and continue to scale our business. We plan to achieve this goal by pursuing the following objectives in our strategy:

Attracting More Customers to Our Platform

        Turkish online retail market is at the early stage of its development. According to ADL, the Turkish online retail segment is expected to continue to experience strong growth in the coming years. Driven by a sustained consumer shift to e-commerce, online retail in Turkey is projected to have approximately 44 million annual online customers until 2025, according to ADL. We had 9 million Active Customers in 2020 and we plan to attract more customers to our platform and reactivate the existing customer base by continuing to enhance our value proposition through an expanded product catalogue as well as added convenient and affordable delivery options. In addition, we believe our recent expansion into new verticals such as HepsiExpress and HepsiFly will further support our growth, and consistently improve the overall customer experience. We believe the main drivers for our customer attraction will be increasing focus on hyper-personalization and hyper-localization aspects while scaling the full-fledged Loyalty Club.

Increasing the Frequency of Our Customers on our Platform

        One of the main drivers of Hepsiburada's GMV growth has been the increase in our customers' order frequency as we expanded our product and service offerings. We aim to leverage the deep

10


Table of Contents

understanding of our customers' preferences which we have been building over the years and our advanced in-house lifecycle management engines powered by AI and deep-learning technologies to drive higher engagement, retention and frequency on our platform. As a result of these initiatives, we increased the frequency of orders on our platform from 3.1 in 2018 to 3.5 in 2019 and to 3.9 in 2020.

        We also plan to focus on providing our customers an enhanced experience through additional value added services such as trade-in, card splitting option (i.e., ability to pay for a single order via multiple credit cards) and same day delivery services, and additional verticals that will increase the daily interaction of our customers with Hepsiburada Super App by becoming the one-stop-shop of our customers' daily needs. As of March 31, 2021, approximately 5% of orders above TRY 5,000 were paid by card splitting option. Additionally, our customers applied for our trade-in option for more than 10% of mobile phones sold in the fourth quarter of 2020.

        Our Loyalty Club titled "Efsaneler Kulübü" ("Loyalty Club") aims to be one of the growth drivers of Hepsiburada and will expand its offerings with new partnerships and privileges such as wallet cashback capability. On average, from the launch of our Loyalty Club in August 2020 to December 31, 2020, members of our Loyalty Club shopped approximately 2.5 times more frequently on a monthly basis compared to our non-Loyalty Club customers.

        We believe HepsiExpress will be a key enabler to penetrate a wider range of customers through our grocery offerings, increasing retention and order frequencies of our existing customers and providing us with more data points to further benefit from cross-selling opportunities across all of our verticals and categories. According to ADL, of the approximate TRY 866 billion value of total Turkish retail market in 2020, Turkish supermarkets represented approximately TRY 430 billion (or 50%) of the total Turkish retail market, which had less than 4% online penetration. We believe the relatively low online penetration of such a large portion of the Turkish retail market represents an upside potential in the growth in the Turkish online groceries market as online penetration increases.

Attracting More Merchants to our Platform

        We plan to attract more merchants to our platform by offering access to an increasing Active Customer base, expanding and continuously improving our fulfillment services, extending merchant financing and launching new tools, alongside recently developed HepsiAd solutions. In addition, we launched our HepsiLojistik fulfillment service in 2020, which attracts an increasing number of merchants due to our enhanced service offerings and has already built up a strong pipeline of merchants to onboard into our integrated system. Furthermore, HepsiGlobal is also expected to help us strengthen our merchant base by expanding to international merchants.

Investing Further into and Leveraging Logistics and Technology as Enablers

        We plan to invest further into our nationwide logistics network, to maintain and consistently improve our service levels to our customers and merchants.

    We invested into regional fulfillment centers where we prioritized providing our customers and merchants with the highest level of logistics services across the whole country.

    As of March 31, 2021, we have expanded our logistics footprint with 115 cross-docks, through which we have achieved approximately 95% population coverage for HepsiJet.

    In the near and medium term, we plan to focus our efforts on going local with our scalable infrastructure and become the nearest commerce player to our customers and merchants.

        Our unified and in-house technology platform has been a major enabler of scalable and reliable operations to support our growth. We plan to constantly innovate and develop new capabilities to improve the experience for merchants and customers and the operational performance of our platform.

11


Table of Contents

Continue Innovation and Expand New Services on the Platform

        In 2020, we expanded our commerce platform and developed an ecosystem of services centered on making people's lives easier. The ecosystem we have been building includes HepsiExpress, HepsiPay, HepsiJet, HepsiLojistik, HepsiMat, HepsiAd, HepsiGlobal and HepsiFly as of the date of this prospectus. We aim to take advantage of the natural synergies that exist between our services and increase adoption amongst our customer base. We believe that greater utilization of our resources will drive further improvements in our unit economics.

        As a testament to our commitment to closely monitor the market and innovate to further address the daily needs of customers, we launched HepsiExpress in 2020 to penetrate and lead the fast-growing grocery delivery market through our robust model combining instant and slotted delivery options in a hyper-local fashion. Water and flower delivery services were launched in 2021 as complementary products to provide a one-stop-shop solution to our customers.

        In order to further increase our product selection and network effects regionally, we also started to offer an international shopping experience to our customers located in Turkey through the recently launched HepsiGlobal, which allows them to discover products listed by merchants around the world.

        In future, HepsiGlobal will also have outbound operations, which will focus on product groups where Turkey has a competitive advantage, such as apparel, fashion, home textile, accessories, food, kitchenware, small domestic appliances and will establish exclusive partnerships with global players for logistics solutions.

        In addition, we acquired a tourism agency license in February 2021 and are aiming to fully launch online airline tickets services once COVID-19-related restrictions on travel are lifted. HepsiFly is designed to provide our customers with an option to buy airline tickets with competitive prices. We are aiming to further develop HepsiFly by providing our customers with an option to make hotel bookings, buy package tours, travel insurance and cancellation policies.

Summary of Risk Factors

        An investment in our ADSs involves a number of risks that you should be aware of before making an investment decision. You should carefully consider all of the information set forth in this prospectus and, in particular, should evaluate the specific factors set forth in the "Risk Factors'' section of this prospectus in deciding whether to invest in our securities. Among these important risks are the following:

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

    We have incurred significant losses in the past and are likely to continue to incur losses as we continue to invest in order to grow, and we may not achieve profitability going forward.

    Our expansion into new products, services and markets subjects us to additional risks and we may not be able to manage our growth and expansion efficiently or effectively scale and adapt our existing infrastructure.

    We may fail to maintain or improve our technology infrastructure, which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operation and financial condition.

    If we fail to maintain and enhance our brand or network effects from our established Marketplace, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

    We operate in a highly competitive market, and in the future we may not be able to compete effectively.

12


Table of Contents

    If we fail to attract new and retain current customers or grow or maintain the level of their engagement, our business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

    A significant disruption in internet access, telecommunications networks or our IT platform may cause slow response times or otherwise impair our customers' experience, which may in turn reduce traffic to our mobile apps and websites and significantly harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

    We may experience significant fluctuations in our results of operations and growth rate.

    The COVID-19 pandemic has affected and may continue to negatively affect certain of our business activities and results. Any future occurrence of natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks, or other catastrophic events could also materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

    We depend upon our Founder and chairwoman, our senior management, our IT specialists and other talented employees to grow, operate and improve our business; if we fail to retain our Founder as a result of ongoing litigation or if we fail to attract, retain and motivate key personnel, our business could be adversely affected.

    We may use open source code in a manner that could be harmful to our business.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

    Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential customer information or our failure or the perception by our users that we failed to comply with privacy laws or properly address privacy concerns could harm our business and reputation with customers, merchants and suppliers.

    We are subject to tax audits that may result in additional tax liabilities and are exposed to changes in tax laws and regulations as well as their interpretation and implementation, including Turkey's digital service tax.

    We may be subject to administrative fines and our reputation may be harmed if the Turkish Competition Authority were to determine we did not comply with Turkish competition laws and regulations.

    We are subject to extensive laws and government regulations across our business, and changes to these laws or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws and regulations could materially and adversely affect our business.

    We may be subject to product liability claims when people or property are harmed or damaged by the products that are sold on our platform.

Risks Related to Turkey

    We are subject to risks associated with doing business in an emerging market.

    Our headquarters and other operations and facilities are located in Turkey and, therefore, our prospects, business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by political or economic instability in Turkey.

    Turkey's economy is subject to inflation and risks related to its current account deficit.

    Turkey is subject to internal and external unrest and the threat of future terrorist acts, which may adversely affect us.

13


Table of Contents

Risks Relating to our Initial Public Offering and Ownership of our ADSs

    Our founder and chairwoman has significant influence and voting control and, as a principal shareholder, her interests might conflict with or differ from your interests as a shareholder.

    If you purchase ADSs in this offering, you will suffer immediate and substantial dilution of your investment.

    As a foreign private issuer we are permitted to, and we will, rely on exemptions from certain of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, including the requirement that a majority of our board of directors consist of independent directors. Our reliance on such exemptions may afford less protection to holders of our ADSs.

    Dividends paid to holders of the ADSs who are not tax resident in Turkey will be subject to a 15% withholding tax.

Implications of Being an "Emerging Growth Company" and a "Foreign Private Issuer"

        We are an "emerging growth company" as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (the "JOBS Act"). As such, we are eligible, for up to five years, to take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other publicly traded entities that are not emerging growth companies. These exemptions include:

    the ability to present more limited financial data, including presenting only two years of audited financial statements and only two years of selected financial data in the registration statement on Form F-1 of which this prospectus is a part;

    not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act");

    not being required to comply with any requirement that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board ("PCAOB"), regarding mandatory audit firm rotation or a supplement to the auditor's report providing additional information about the audit and the financial statements (i.e., an auditor discussion and analysis);

    not being required to submit certain executive compensation matters to stockholder advisory votes, such as "say-on-pay," "say-on-frequency" and "say-on-golden parachutes;" and

    not being required to disclose certain executive compensation related items such as the correlation between executive compensation and performance and comparisons of the chief executive officer's compensation to median employee compensation.

        We may take advantage of these provisions until the last day of our fiscal year following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering or such earlier time that we are no longer an emerging growth company. As a result, we do not know if some investors will find the ADSs less attractive. The result may be a less active trading market for the ADSs, and the price of the ADSs may become more volatile.

        We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of: (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenue exceeds $1.07 billion; (ii) the last day of the fiscal year during which the fifth anniversary of the date of this offering occurs; (iii) the date that we become a "large accelerated filer" as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of the ADSs that are held by non-affiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter; or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than $1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during any three-year period.

14


Table of Contents

        We qualify as a "foreign private issuer" under the U.S. Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and as such we are exempt from certain provisions of the securities rules and regulations in the United States that are applicable to U.S. domestic issuers, including:

    the sections of the Exchange Act regulating the solicitation of proxies, consents or authorizations in respect of a security registered under the Exchange Act;

    the sections of the Exchange Act requiring insiders to file public reports of their stock ownership and trading activities and liability for insiders who profit from trades made in a short period of time; and

    the rules under the Exchange Act requiring the filing with the SEC of quarterly reports on Form 10-Q containing unaudited financial and other specific information, or current reports on Form 8-K, upon the occurrence of specified significant events.

        We will file with the SEC, within four months after the end of each fiscal year, or such applicable time as required by the SEC, an annual report on Form 20-F containing financial statements audited by an independent registered public accounting firm.

        We may take advantage of these exemptions until such time as we are no longer a foreign private issuer. We would cease to be a foreign private issuer at such time as more than 50% of our outstanding voting securities are held by U.S. residents and any of the following three circumstances applies (i) the majority of our executive officers or directors are U.S. citizens or residents, (ii) more than 50% of our assets are located in the United States or (iii) our business is administered principally in the United States.

        Both emerging growth companies and foreign private issuers are also exempt from certain more stringent executive compensation disclosure rules. Thus, even if we no longer qualify as an emerging growth company, but we remain a foreign private issuer, we will continue to be exempt from the more stringent compensation disclosures required of companies that are neither an emerging growth company nor a foreign private issuer. In addition, as a foreign private issuer whose shares will be listed on Nasdaq, we will follow certain Turkish corporate governance practices rather than those of Nasdaq.

Corporate Information

        We were incorporated in Turkey on April 11, 2000 under the Turkish Commercial Code as D-MARKET Elektronik Hizmetler ve Ticaret A.Ş. Our registered office is located at Kuştepe Mahallesi Mecidiyeköy Yolu Cadde no: 12 Kule 2 K2 Şişli Istanbul, Turkey. The telephone number at this address is +90 212 304 20 00. Our corporate website address is https://www.hepsiburada.com. The information contained on, or that can be accessed through, our website is not a part of, and shall not be incorporated by reference into, this prospectus. We have included our website address as inactive textual reference only.

15


Table of Contents

 

THE OFFERING

ADSs offered by us

              , each representing            ordinary share(s).

ADSs offered by the Selling Shareholders

 

            , each representing            ordinary share(s).

ADSs outstanding immediately after this offering

 

            ADSs (or            ADSs if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs from us and the Selling Shareholders in full).

Ordinary shares to be outstanding after this offering

 

            ordinary shares (or            ordinary shares if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs from us and the Selling Shareholders in full).

Option to purchase additional ADSs

 

We and the Selling Shareholders have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to additional ADSs from us and up to additional ADSs from the Selling Shareholders, respectively, within 30 days of the date of this prospectus.

American Depositary Shares

 

The underwriters will deliver our ordinary shares in the form of ADSs. Each ADS, which may be evidenced by an American Depositary Receipt ("ADR"), represents an ownership interest in of our ordinary shares. As an ADS holder, we will not treat you as one of our shareholders. The depositary,             , will be the holder of the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs.

 

You will have ADS holder rights as provided in the deposit agreement. Under the deposit agreement, you may only vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs if we ask the depositary to request voting instructions from you. The depositary will pay you the cash dividends or other distributions, if any, it receives on our ordinary shares after deducting its fees and expenses and applicable withholding taxes. You may need to pay a fee for certain services, as provided in the deposit agreement.

 

You are entitled to the delivery of the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs upon the surrender of such ADSs, the payment of applicable fees and expenses and the satisfaction of applicable conditions set forth in the deposit agreement.

 

To better understand the terms of the ADSs, you should carefully read "Description of American Depositary Shares." We also encourage you to read the deposit agreement, the form of which is attached as an exhibit to the registration statement of which this prospectus forms a part. We and the Selling Shareholders are offering ADSs so that our company can be quoted on Nasdaq and investors will be able to trade our securities and receive dividends on them in U.S. dollars.

Depositary

   

16


Table of Contents

Use of proceeds

 

We estimate that the net proceeds to us from this offering will be approximately $            million, assuming an initial public offering price per ADS of $            , which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses of the offering payable by us (or approximately $            million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs from us in full). We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of ADSs by the Selling Shareholders.

 

We intend to use the net proceeds we receive from this offering for general corporate purposes. See "Use of Proceeds."

Dividend policy

 

We do not currently anticipate paying any cash dividends on our ordinary shares. We intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and expansion of our business. See "Dividend Policy."

Risk factors

 

See "Risk Factors" and the other information included in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should consider before deciding to invest in our ADSs.

Lock-up agreements

 

We have agreed with J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman, Sachs & Co. LLC, as representative of the several underwriters, subject to certain exceptions, not to sell or dispose of any of our ADSs or securities convertible into ADSs until            days after the date of this prospectus, without the prior written consent of J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman, Sachs & Co. LLC. Substantially all of our shareholders, including the Selling Shareholders, our executive officers and our board members have agreed to similar lockup restrictions for a period of            days. For further details, see "Underwriting."

Pre-emptive rights

 

Under Turkish law, shareholders have preemptive rights to subscribe to additional share issues pro rata based on their existing shareholding, unless another rate is stipulated under the articles of association (as long as shares are fully paid). See "Description of Share Capital and Articles of Association—Pre-emptive Rights."

Listing

 

We intend to apply to list our ADSs on Nasdaq under the symbol "HBX."

17


Table of Contents

        Unless otherwise indicated, all information contained in this prospectus assumes or gives effect to:

    no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional ADSs in this offering; and

    an initial public offering price of $            per ADS, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus.

Corporate and Capital Structure

        We are an entity incorporated in Turkey as a joint stock company on April 11, 2000 and currently have two wholly-owned subsidiaries: D Fast Dağıtım Hizmetleri ve Lojistik Anonim Şirketi, which is the operating company for our delivery service business, HepsiJet, and D Ödeme Elektronik Para ve Ödeme Hizmetleri Anonim Şirketi, which company through which we have developed our payment tool, HepsiPay.

        Our outstanding shares consist of Class A shares and Class B ordinary shares. Holders of Class A shares and holders of Class B ordinary shares have same rights except for voting and conversion rights. Each holder of our Class A shares is entitled to fifteen votes per share, and each holder of our Class B ordinary shares is entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to them for a vote. Our Class A shares are convertible at any time by the holder thereof into Class B ordinary shares on a one-for-one basis, while Class B ordinary shares are not convertible into Class A shares under any circumstances. Currently, our Founder beneficially owns all of our issued Class A shares and 12.2% of our issued Class B ordinary shares, representing 74.6% of the voting power of all of our Class A shares and Class B ordinary shares voting together as a single class. Following this offering, our Founder will continue to beneficially own all of our issued Class A shares and            % of our issued Class B ordinary shares, representing            % of the voting power of all of our Class A shares and Class B ordinary shares voting together as a single class, assuming no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option to purchase additional ordinary shares. As a result, our Founder will be able to exercise control over all matters requiring approval by our stockholders, including approval of significant corporate transactions. Our Founder's controlling interest may discourage or prevent a change in control of our company that other holders of our common stock may favor. See "Risk Factors—Our founder and chairwoman has significant influence and voting control and, as a principal shareholder, her interests might conflict with or differ from your interests as a shareholder."

        As a result of the foregoing we will be a "controlled company" under Nasdaq listing rules. Under Nasdaq listing rules, a listed company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors is held by an individual, group or another company is a "controlled company," and such a company may elect not to comply with certain Nasdaq corporate governance requirements. See "Management—Corporate Governance" and "Risk Factors—We are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the Nasdaq listing rules. As a result, we will qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements."

18


Table of Contents

        The following diagram illustrates our corporate structure as of the date of this prospectus:

GRAPHIC


Note: Each company is incorporated under the laws of Turkey. The diagram excludes Evimiz Dekorasyon İnternet Hizmetleri ve Danışmanlık Ticaret A.Ş. ("Evmanya") and Altıncı Cadde Elektronik Ticaret A.Ş. ("Altıncı Cadde"), which are dormant companies as of the date of this prospectus. Evmanya and Altıncı Cadde terminated operations on September 4, 2018 and October 7, 2019, respectively. On April 14, 2021, we decided to merge Evmanya and Altıncı Cadde with our fully owned subsidiary, D Fast. As of the date of this prospectus, the merger process is ongoing.

19


Table of Contents

 

SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

        The summary consolidated statement of comprehensive loss, consolidated balance sheet and consolidated statement of cash flows as of and for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019, and 2020, have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The summary consolidated statement of comprehensive loss and consolidated statement of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2020 and the summary consolidated statement of comprehensive loss, consolidated balance sheet and consolidated statement of cash flows for the three months ended March 31, 2021 have been derived from our unaudited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. Our historical results for any prior period are not necessarily indicative of results expected in any future period.

        We present our consolidated financial statements in Turkish Lira.

        The summary consolidated financial and other data set forth below should be read in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations," and our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Summary Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Loss

 
  Three months ended March 31,   Year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  
 
  (unaudited)
  (unaudited)
  (audited)
  (audited)
  (audited)
 
 
  (Turkish Lira)
 

Revenues

    1,385,835,317     836,638,395     6,375,726,545     2,603,735,368     1,955,312,749  

Cost of inventory sold

    (965,458,212 )   (603,697,730 )   (4,849,148,308 )   (1,847,108,983 )   (1,519,223,520 )

Shipping and packaging expenses

    (160,974,319 )   (71,411,952 )   (540,496,136 )   (195,352,060 )   (132,080,741 )

Payroll and outsource staff expenses

    (227,318,424 )   (58,184,977 )   (325,232,933 )   (180,787,497 )   (129,994,224 )

Advertising expenses

    (96,068,436 )   (68,265,382 )   (646,152,950 )   (151,517,076 )   (92,685,779 )

Technology expenses

    (12,750,709 )   (6,526,280 )   (31,717,181 )   (21,841,556 )   (20,580,102 )

Depreciation and amortization

    (27,146,528 )   (19,493,687 )   (93,182,568 )   (66,286,580 )   (78,272,531 )

Other operating expenses net

    (26,940,566 )   (13,740,659 )   (70,808,148 )   (39,726,919 )   (34,007,357 )

Operating (loss)/profit

    (130,821,877 )   (4,682,272 )   (181,011,679 )   101,114,697     (51,531,505 )

Financial income

    52,999,166     27,669,418     102,912,713     40,517,901     66,616,887  

Financial expenses

    (159,502,321 )   (79,911,871 )   (396,416,767 )   (273,279,582 )   (176,407,785 )

Loss before income taxes

    (237,325,032 )   (56,924,725 )   (474,515,733 )   (131,646,984 )   (161,322,403 )

Taxation on income

                     

Loss for the period

    (237,325,032 )   (56,924,725 )   (474,515,733 )   (131,646,984 )   (161,322,403 )

Actuarial losses arising on remeasurement of employment termination benefits

    (1,375,301 )   (281,588 )   (1,983,772 )   (1,222,438 )   (1,083,478 )

Total comprehensive loss for the period

    (238,700,333 )   (57,206,313 )   (476,499,505 )   (132,869,422 )   (162,405,881 )

20


Table of Contents

Summary Consolidated Balance Sheet

 
  As of March 31,   As of December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2019   2018  
 
  (unaudited)
  (audited)
  (audited)
  (audited)
 
 
   
  (Turkish Lira)
   
 

Current assets

    1,373,524,678     1,689,830,234     779,766,154     419,438,638  

Non-current assets

    311,478,143     275,125,623     176,235,030     222,028,707  

Total assets

    1,685,002,821     1,964,955,857     956,001,184     641,467,345  

Current liabilities

    2,622,167,850     2,656,144,175     1,206,804,621     892,023,067  

Non-current liabilities

    88,867,194     96,143,572     60,028,948     107,447,252  

Equity

    (1,026,032,223 )   (787,331,890 )   (310,832,385 )   (358,002,974 )

Total equity and liabilities

    1,685,002,821     1,964,955,857     956,001,184     641,467,345  

Summary Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

 
  Three months ended March 31,   Year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  
 
  (unaudited)
  (unaudited)
  (audited)
  (audited)
  (audited)
 
 
   
   
  (Turkish Lira)
   
   
 

Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period(1)

    592,280,767     281,982,151     281,982,151     136,218,040     206,752,032  

Net cash provided by/ (used in) operating activities

    (122,479,244 )   76,207,178     441,361,672     363,779,587     168,211,257  

Net cash used in investing activities

    (36,306,382 )   (15,739,952 )   (99,948,623 )   (53,339,961 )   (49,216,968 )

Net cash provided by/ (used in) financing activities

    (45,154,150 )   130,337,377     (18,887,304 )   (170,721,086 )   (188,349,384 )

Net increase/(decrease) in cash and cash equivalents

    (203,939,776 )   190,804,603     322,525,745     139,718,540     (69,355,095 )

Effects of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents

        3,949,437     (12,227,129 )   6,045,571     (1,178,897 )

Cash and cash equivalents at end of the period(1)

    388,340,991     476,736,191     592,280,767     281,982,151     136,218,040  

(1)
"Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of the period" and "Cash and cash equivalents at end of the period" in our consolidated statements of cash flows exclude interest accrual. For a detailed a discussion and reconciliation to "Cash and cash equivalents" in our consolidated balance sheet, see note 3 to our financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus.

21


Table of Contents

Non-IFRS Financial Measures

 
  Three months ended March 31,   Year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  
 
   
   
  (Turkish Lira)
   
   
 

EBITDA(1)(2)

    (103,675,349 )   14,811,415     (87,829,111 )   167,401,277     26,741,026  

Free Cash Flow(1)(3)

    (158,785,626 )   60,467,226     341,413,049     310,439,626     118,994,289  

Net Working Capital(1)(4)

    (1,133,637,759 )       (1,160,309,570 )   (663,998,273 )   (459,490,310 )

(1)
EBITDA, Free Cash Flow and Net Working Capital are supplemental measures of our performance that are not required by or presented in accordance with IFRS. See "Presentation of Financial and Other Information—Use of Non-IFRS Financial Measures."

(2)
References to "EBITDA" are to profit or loss for the period plus taxation on income less financial income plus financial expenses plus depreciation and amortization.

EBITDA is a supplemental non-IFRS financial measure that is not required by, or presented in accordance with, IFRS. We have included EBITDA in this prospectus because it is a key measure used by our management and board of directors to evaluate our operating performance, generate future operating plans and make strategic decisions regarding the allocation of capital. In particular, the exclusion of certain expenses in calculating EBITDA facilitates operating performance comparability across reporting periods by removing the effect of non-cash expenses and non-operating expense/(income). Accordingly, we believe that EBITDA provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

                   

    Management uses EBITDA:

    as a measurement of operating performance because it assists us in comparing our operating performance on a consistent basis, as it removes the impact of non-cash and non-operating items;

    for planning purposes, including the preparation of our internal annual operating budget and financial projections; and

    to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of our strategic initiatives.

    EBITDA has limitations as a financial measure, including that other companies may calculate EBITDA differently, which reduces its usefulness as a comparative measure and you should not consider it in isolation or as a substitute for profit/(loss) for the period as a profit measure or other analysis of our results as reported under IFRS.

        The following table shows the reconciliation of EBITDA to loss for the period for the periods presented.

 
  Three months ended March 31,   Year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  
 
  (Turkish Lira)
 

Loss for the period

    (237,325,032 )   (56,924,725 )   (474,515,733 )   (131,646,984 )   (161,322,403 )

Taxation on income

                     

Financial income

    (52,999,166 )   (27,669,418 )   (102,912,713 )   (40,517,901 )   (66,616,887 )

Financial expenses

    159,502,321     79,911,871     396,416,767     273,279,582     176,407,785  

Depreciation and amortization

    27,146,528     19,493,687     93,182,568     66,286,580     78,272,531  

EBITDA

    (103,675,349 )   14,811,415     (87,829,111 )   167,401,277     26,741,026  

(3)
References to "Free Cash Flow" are to net cash provided by operating activities less capital expenditures plus proceeds from sale of property and equipment.

22


Table of Contents

    Free Cash Flow is a supplemental non-IFRS financial measure that is not required by, or presented in accordance with, IFRS. We have included Free Cash Flow in this prospectus because it is an important indicator of our liquidity as it measures the amount of cash we generate/(use) and provides additional perspective on whether we have sufficient cash after funding our operations and capital expenditures. Accordingly, we believe that Free Cash Flow provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

    Free Cash Flow has limitations as a financial measure, and you should not consider it in isolation or as substitutes for net cash used in operating activities as a measure of our liquidity or other analysis of our results as reported under IFRS. There are limitations to using non-IFRS financial measures, including that other companies may calculate Free Cash Flow differently. Because of these limitations, you should consider Free Cash Flow alongside other financial performance measures, including net cash used in operating activities, capital expenditures and our other IFRS results.

        The following table shows the reconciliation of Free Cash Flow to net cash provided by operating activities for the periods presented.

 
  Three months ended
March 31,
  Year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  
 
   
   
  (Turkish Lira)
   
   
 

Net cash provided by/ (used in) operating activities

    (122,479,244 )   76,207,178     441,361,672     363,779,587     168,211,257  

Capital expenditures(a)

    (36,317,761 )   (15,744,289 )   (100,108,997 )   (53,557,859 )   (49,341,153 )

Proceeds from the sale of property and equipment

    11,379     4,337     160,374     217,898     124,185  

Free Cash Flow

    (158,785,626 )   60,467,226     341,413,049     310,439,626     118,994,289  

(a)
See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Cash Flows—Capital Expenditures."
(4)
References to "Net Working Capital" are to current assets (excluding cash and cash equivalents) minus current liabilities (excluding current bank borrowings and current lease liabilities). Net Working Capital is presented as of December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and March 31, 2021. Net Working Capital is a supplemental non-IFRS financial measure that is not required by, or presented in accordance with, IFRS. We have included Net Working Capital in this prospectus because it is used to measure the short-term liquidity of a business, and can also be used to obtain a general impression of the ability of company management to utilize assets in an efficient manner. Net Working Capital is critical since it is used to keep our business operating smoothly and meet all our financial obligations in the short-term. Accordingly, we believe that Net Working Capital provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating how we manage our short-term liabilities.

23


Table of Contents

        The following table shows the reconciliation of Net Working Capital to current assets and current liabilities as of the dates indicated:

 
  As of March 31,   As of December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2019   2018  
 
   
  (Turkish Lira)
   
 

Current assets

    1,373,524,678     1,689,830,234     779,766,154     419,438,638  

Cash and cash equivalents

    (388,362,900 )   (592,643,009 )   (282,303,760 )   (136,484,221 )

Current liabilities

    (2,622,167,850 )   (2,656,144,175 )   (1,206,804,621 )   (892,023,067 )

Bank borrowings, current

    432,617,982     347,436,451     18,977,287     103,576,504  

Lease liabilities, current

    70,750,331     51,210,929     26,366,667     46,001,836  

Net Working Capital

    (1,133,637,759 )   (1,160,309,570 )   (663,998,273 )   (459,490,310 )

Key Operating Performance Indicators

        The table below sets forth our operational information which we believe is useful in understanding the performance of our business as of the dates and for the periods indicated:

 
  Three months ended March 31,   Year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  

GMV (TRY in billions)(1)

    4.5     2.3     17.0     8.0     5.1  

Marketplace GMV (TRY in billions)(2)

    3.1     1.4     10.0     5.3     3.0  

Share of Marketplace GMV (%)(3)

    70     63     59     66     58  

Gross Contribution (TRY)(4)

    420,377,105     232,940,665     1,526,578,237     756,626,385     436,089,229  

Gross Contribution Margin (%)(5)

    9.3     10.1     9.0     9.4     8.5  

EBITDA as a percentage of GMV (%)(6)

    (2.3 )   0.6     (0.5 )   2.1     0.5  

Number of orders (in millions)(7)

    9.2     6.0     34.8     22.3     14.9  

Active Customers (in millions)(8)

            9.0     6.5     4.8  

(1)
References to "GMV" are to gross merchandise value which refers to the total value of orders/products sold through our platform over a given period of time (including VAT without deducting returns and cancellations), including cargo income (shipping fees related to the products sold through our platform) and excluding other service revenues and transaction fees charged to our merchants. For a discussion of GMV and its use, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Components of Our Results of Operations—GMV."

(2)
References to "Marketplace GMV" are to the total value of orders/products sold through our Marketplace over a given period of time (including VAT without deducting returns and cancellations), including cargo income (shipping fees related to the products sold through our platform) and excluding other service revenues and transaction fees charged to our merchants. For a discussion of GMV and its use, and the significance of measuring sales through our Marketplace as distinct from our Direct Sales, see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Components of Our Results of Operations—GMV."

24


Table of Contents

(3)
References to "Share of Marketplace GMV" are to the portion of GMV sold through our Marketplace represented as a percentage of our total GMV. Share of Marketplace GMV is a metric used to understand the relative size of our Marketplace operations compared to our other operations, such as our Direct Sales. Accordingly, we believe that Share of Marketplace GMV provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

(4)
References to "Gross Contribution" are to revenues less cost of inventory sold. Gross Contribution is an indicator of our operational profitability as it reflects direct costs of products sold to our buyers. Accordingly, we believe that Gross Contribution provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

The following table shows the calculation of Gross Contribution for the periods presented.

 
  For the three months ended
March 31,
  For the year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  
 
  (Turkish Lira)
 

Revenues(a)

    1,385,835,317     836,638,395     6,375,726,545     2,603,735,368     1,955,312,749  

Cost of inventory sold(b)

    (965,458,212 )   (603,697,730 )   (4,849,148,308 )   (1,847,108,983 )   (1,519,223,520 )

Gross Contribution

    420,377,105     232,940,665     1,526,578,237     756,626,385     436,089,229  

(a)
See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Components of Our Results of Operations—Revenues."

(b)
See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Components of Our Results of Operations—Operating Expenses."
(5)
References to "Gross Contribution Margin" are to Gross Contribution represented as a percentage of our GMV. Gross Contribution Margin is an indicator of our operational profitability as it reflects direct costs of products sold to our buyers for each Turkish Lira of GMV. Accordingly, we believe that Gross Contribution Margin provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

(6)
References to "EBITDA as a percentage of GMV" are to EBITDA represented as a percentage of our GMV. EBITDA as a percentage of GMV is a metric used as a measurement of our operating profit which allows us to assess how much operating cash is generated for each Turkish Lira of GMV earned. Accordingly, we believe that EBITDA as a percentage of GMV provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

(7)
References to "Number of orders" are to the number of orders we received through our online platform. Number of orders is a metric used to measure volume. Accordingly, we believe that Number of orders provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

(8)
References to "Active Customers" are to the users (both unregistered users and members) who purchased an item within the 12-month period preceding the relevant date, including returns and cancellations. Active Customers is a metric used to understand the size of our engaged customer base and an indicator of our value proposition to merchants. Accordingly, we believe that Active Customers provides useful information to investors in understanding and evaluating our operating results in the same manner as our management and board of directors.

25


Table of Contents

RISK FACTORS

        Investing in our ADSs involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. Additional risks not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial may also impair our business operations. Our business, financial condition or results of operations could be materially and adversely affected by any of these risks. The trading price and value of our ADSs could decline due to any of these risks, and you may lose all or part of your investment. When determining whether to invest, you should also refer to the other information contained in this prospectus, including our financial statements and the related notes thereto. This prospectus also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should carefully review the "Cautionary Statements Regarding Forward-Looking Statements." Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of certain factors, including the risks faced by us described below and elsewhere in this prospectus.

Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry

We have incurred significant losses in the past and are likely to continue to incur losses as we continue to invest in order to grow, and we may not achieve profitability going forward.

        We have historically incurred net losses, including net losses of TRY 161,322,403, TRY 131,646,984, TRY 474,515,733, TRY 56,924,725 and TRY 237,325,032 for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 and three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2021, respectively, as we invested in the expansion of our core businesses. We will need to generate and sustain increased revenue levels to outpace growing operating and capital expenses in future periods to achieve profitability in our core businesses, and even if we do, we may not be able to maintain or increase profitability. We anticipate that we will continue to incur losses in the near term as a result of expected increases in our operating expenses and continued capital expenditures, including investments to expand fulfillment centers, logistics operations and our core businesses, as we continue to invest in our business in order to grow.

        We believe that our ability to generate future profits mainly depends on our strategy of attracting more customers to our platform, increasing the frequency of our customers on our platform, attracting more merchants to our platform, investing further into and leveraging logistics and technology as enablers, continued innovation and expansion of new services on the platform and opportunistic M&A. See "Business—Our Strategy." These, in turn, depend on our success in improving the customer and merchant experiences through expanded logistics and fulfillment capabilities, developing and improving our platform and offering new products and services that complement our existing offering and preserve and foster further network effects (see "Business—Our Strengths—Integrated Ecosystem with Powerful Network Effects"). These efforts may prove more expensive than we anticipate, particularly since many of our ongoing revenue generation initiatives remain unproven (for example, our seed investments in new complementary and value-added services, see "Business—Our Value Added Services"). As a result, any failure to adequately increase our revenue or manage the costs related to our expansion could prevent us from attaining or increasing profitability. Additionally, the introduction of new services in connection with our expansion, such as our HepsiExpress services, could result in an unexpected increase in costs or divert our senior management's attention, which could negatively impact our goal of achieving and maintaining profitability. As we expand our services to additional customers and merchants in various regions and add new categories of products, our offerings in these markets/categories may be less profitable than those in which we currently operate, which may not offset the costs required to expand into these markets and could impact our ability to achieve or sustain profitability. As a result of the preceding factors, in addition to various other factors that may arise, we may not be able to achieve, maintain or increase profitability in the near term or at all.

26


Table of Contents

Our expansion into new products, services and markets subjects us to additional risks and we may not be able to manage our growth and expansion efficiently or effectively scale and adapt our existing infrastructure.

        Our growth strategy depends, in part, on our expansion into new product or service offerings, such as our new complementary and value-added services (see "Business—Our Value Added Services"). If we experience significant future growth, we may be required not only to make additional investments in our platform and workforce, but also to expand our fulfillment infrastructure and consumer support or expand our relationships with various partners and other third parties with whom we do business.

        Growth of our business may place significant demands on our management and key employees, as expansion will increase the complexity of our business and place a significant strain on our management, operations, technical systems, financial resources and internal control over financial reporting functions. Our current and planned personnel, systems, procedures and controls may not be adequate to support and effectively manage our future operations. If our expansion in offerings outpaces our development of fulfillment infrastructure, our performance may be adversely affected, such as our on-time dispatch performance or average time from order to ready-for-dispatch. If we are unable to successfully manage future growth, consumer satisfaction and our reputation may be negatively and materially affected.

        As we expand our relationships with third-parties, such as third-party carriers for deliveries or national and local retailers that provide groceries, water, flowers or other goods for HepsiExpress sales, we may need to expend time and money to integrate such parties into our operations. The expansion of our business could exceed the capacities of our partners and other third parties willing to do business with us. For example, retail suppliers for HepsiExpress may not have sufficient supply to keep pace with our growth and alternative or additional retailers may not be available or willing to do business with us. If third-party partners cannot keep pace they may constrain our growth and our operations could be adversely and materially affected.

        Expansion of the new services we are offering, such as ticketing services through HepsiFly and our expected expansion of payment solutions through HepsiPay, and any future expansion into cross-border sales through HepsiGlobal, may result in increased or new exposure to regulatory scrutiny and compliance requirements. See "—We are subject to extensive laws and government regulations across our business, and changes to these laws or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws and regulations could materially and adversely affect our business."

We may fail to maintain or improve our technology infrastructure, which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operation and financial condition.

        Our success depends, in part, on our ability to continue to innovate and provide a platform for products and services that is attractive to existing or new customers, and in turn attracts merchants and suppliers to our customer base. We are constantly upgrading our technology to provide improved performance, increased scale and better integration among our core businesses and complementary value-added services (see "Business—Our Value Added Services"). Adopting new technologies, upgrading our website and mobile app infrastructure and maintaining and improving our technology infrastructure require significant investments of time and resources, including adding new hardware, updating software and recruiting and training new engineering personnel. Adverse consequences for the failure to do so may include unanticipated system disruptions, security breaches, computer virus attacks, slower response times, impaired quality of experiences for our users and delays in reporting accurate operating and financial information. In addition, many of the software and interfaces we use are internally developed and proprietary technology. If we experience problems with the functionality and effectiveness of our software or platforms, or are unable to maintain and constantly improve our technology infrastructure to handle our business needs and ensure a consistent and acceptable level of

27


Table of Contents

service for our customers and merchants, our business, financial condition, and results of operation, as well as our reputation, could be materially and adversely affected.

If we fail to maintain and enhance our brand or network effects from our established Marketplace, our business, results of operations and financial condition may be materially and adversely affected.

        We believe that our "Hepsiburada" brand is fundamentally important to the success of our business and that our brand, as well as the interaction between our customer and merchant value propositions, create significant network effects. Failure to maintain and enhance our brand or the network effects that have contributed to our past growth may materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

        We invest in brand building, marketing and in expanding our offering of value-added services with the aim of attracting new and retaining existing customers and merchants and increasing their level of engagement. From this, we hope to benefit from network effects whereby our larger consumer base attracts more merchants and our broader spectrum of products and services offered by merchants attracts more customers. Over the long-term, our brand development or the benefits to our customer and merchant value propositions may not achieve the promotional benefits or network effects that we expect. Benefits may not outpace expenses. For example our brand awareness may not outpace marketing and brand building expenses. In addition, our competitors may increase the intensity of their own marketing campaigns or value-added services, which may force us to increase our spending to maintain our brand awareness and competitive advantages.

        The extent to which we are able to maintain or strengthen these network effects depends on our ability to execute a number of challenging tasks. See "If we fail to attract new and retain current customers or grow or maintain the level of their engagement, our business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected." Any failure to meet such challenges may lead to an increased risk of disruptions to our customer base or merchant base and our customer and merchant value propositions, which could adversely affect our profitability, and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, any changes we make to enhance and improve our platform to meet the needs and interests of certain users or merchants or other third-parties may have a negative impact upon others. If we fail to balance the interests of all users and merchants, users may stop visiting our website and using our mobile app and customers may conduct fewer transactions or use alternative e-commerce services, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        In the event that our brand is subject to persistent and material negative publicity, complaints from customers, or exposure as a result of our own actions or as a result of events outside of our control, such as our inability to attract users and merchants, to protect private information of our users and merchants against security breaches, any undetected errors, defects or bugs in software underlying our products and services, or disruption in our IT systems, we may have difficulty in retaining our existing users or merchants or attracting new users or merchants. If such negative publicity about us arises or if users or consumers otherwise perceive that content on our online platform is no longer reliable, our reputation, the value of our brand and our user traffic could decline. If our brand is harmed or we are forced to increase our marketing expenses, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

        To maintain good customer relations, we need prompt and accurate customer service to resolve irregularities and disputes. Effective customer service requires significant personnel expense and investment in developing programs and technology infrastructure to help customer service representatives carry out their functions. These expenses, if not managed properly, could significantly impact our profitability. Failure to manage or train our customer service representatives properly could

28


Table of Contents

compromise our ability to handle customer complaints effectively. If we do not handle customer complaints effectively, our reputation may suffer and we may lose our customers' confidence.

        In addition, from time to time in the past we have executed, and may in future execute, advertisement contracts with celebrities to promote our sites and brands in marketing campaigns. Harm to those celebrities' reputations, even if not associated with our sites and brands, could also harm our brand image and result in a material decrease in our net sales, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

We operate in a highly competitive market, and in the future we may not be able to compete effectively.

        The markets for our products and services are competitive and rapidly evolving. The successful execution of our strategy depends on our ability to continuously attract and retain merchants and customers, expand the market for our products and services, continue technological innovation and offer new capabilities to such users. We have many competitors not only among other e-commerce companies, but also omni-channel players who are primarily offline retailers and a large and fragmented group of other offline retailers. We compete with these current and potential competitors for customers, merchants and suppliers. From time to time, our customers may decide not to continue purchasing products on our platform for various reasons, including choosing to shop in offline retail stores once more. Our merchants may also decide to switch to our competitors' services. Some of our existing or potential competitors may have greater resources to develop stronger capabilities and expertise in management, technology, finance, product development, sales, marketing and other areas. Further, the internet facilitates competitive entry and comparison shopping, which enhances the ability of new, smaller or lesser known businesses, including businesses from outside of Turkey, to compete against us.

        As a result of these various types of current and potential competitors, we may not be able to maintain our leading position or level of traffic on our online platform, we may fail to retain or may lose our current market position, we may fail to continue to attract new and retain our existing customers and merchants, and we may be required to increase our spending or maintain lower prices, which could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Failed deliveries, excessive returns and other logistics issues may adversely affect our business, results of operation and financial condition.

        We offer customers a selection of delivery options, including delivery by courier or collection from our offline network of pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) points. If a delivery fails to reach the customer, we may continue bearing the inventory costs or be required to engage with the merchant for the return of the undelivered product. Even if the product is successfully delivered to the customer and delivery is verified, we and our merchants are required either by local regulations or by our operating standards, in most cases, to allow customers to return undamaged products within a certain period of time after delivery, depending on the product. We also face the risk that inventory might be misappropriated or packages mishandled, and we may struggle to verify delivery if the packages are delivered without obtaining customer signatures or otherwise duly identifying the customer. When products are delivered without verification, we may be required to deliver a duplicate product.

        A significant increase in failed deliveries, excessive or mistaken returns or other logistics issues may force us to allocate additional resources to mitigating these issues and may adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

29


Table of Contents

If we fail to attract new and retain current customers or grow or maintain the level of their engagement, our business, financial condition, prospects and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

        The size and engagement of our Active Customer base, including purchase frequency and customer loyalty, are critical to our success. A significant portion of our value proposition to merchants is their ability to access our 33 million members. Our business and financial performance have been and will continue to be significantly determined by our success in adding, retaining, and engaging Active Customers. We continue to invest significant resources to grow our Active Customers base and increase engagement, whether through innovation, providing new or improved goods or services, marketing efforts or other means. While our customer base has expanded significantly since 2016, our customer base and engagement levels may fail to continue to grow at satisfactory rates, or at all, or may decline. Our user base growth and engagement could be adversely affected if, among other things:

    we are unable to maintain the quality of our existing products and services;

    we are unsuccessful in innovating or introducing new products and services;

    we fail to adapt to changes in user preferences, market trends or advancements in technology;

    technical or other problems prevent us from delivering our products or services in a timely and reliable manner or otherwise affect the user experience;

    there are user concerns related to privacy, safety, security or reputational factors;

    there are adverse changes to our platform that are mandated by, or that we elect to make in response to, legislation, regulation, or litigation, including settlements or consent decrees;

    we fail to maintain the brand image of our platform or our reputation is damaged; or

    there are unexpected changes to the demographic trends or economic development of the markets in which we operate.

        Our efforts to avoid or address any of these events could require us to make substantial expenditures to modify or adapt our services or platform. If we fail to retain or grow our Active Customers base, or if customers, merchants or suppliers reduce their engagement with our platform, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected.

We may need to raise additional funds to finance our future capital needs including investing in growth and technology, which may dilute the value of the outstanding ADSs or prevent us from growing our business.

        Our growth strategy and technological infrastructure require significant and continuous investment. We may need to raise additional funds to finance our existing and future capital needs, including developing new services and technologies and ongoing operating expenses, such as our efforts to launch and develop new initiatives such as HepsiAd, outbound HepsiGlobal and HepsiPay, and expansion of our existing services which will require significant increases in shipping and packaging costs, advertising costs and general and administrative costs. If we raise additional funds through the sale of equity securities, these transactions may dilute the value of the outstanding ADSs. We may also decide to issue securities, including debt securities that have rights, preferences and privileges senior to the ADSs. Any debt financing would increase our level of indebtedness and could negatively and materially affect our liquidity and restrict our operations, including increasing our vulnerability to general economic and industry conditions, limit our ability to plan and react to changes in our business and industry and place us at a disadvantage compared to competitors that have less indebtedness. We also can provide no assurance that the funds we raise will be sufficient to finance our indebtedness.

        To date, our principal sources of liquidity have been equity injections from our shareholders and cash flows from operations and we have entered into short-term financing arrangements with several

30


Table of Contents

major Turkish banks (see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Borrowings", "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources" and "Business—Supplier and Merchant Financing"). Any breach of our financing arrangements or the inability to service our debt through internally generated cash flow or other sources of liquidity would lead to default, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Changes in our share ownership, including a change of control of our shares, could result in our inability to draw loans or cause acceleration or events of default under our indebtedness.

        The terms and conditions of substantially all of our credit facility arrangements with Turkish banks (under which we had outstanding loans of TRY 347.4 million and TRY 432.6 million as of December 31, 2020 and March 31, 2021, respectively), including loans under our supplier and merchant financing where the Company is the borrower (see "Business—Supplier and Merchant Financing") and loans under our short-term financing arrangements with several major Turkish banks (see "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Borrowings"), include clauses relating to the control or ownership of our issued ordinary shares. Under the terms of such credit facility arrangements, the exact terms of which vary, a transfer of our shares or change in our issued share capital structure, including as the result of this initial public offering, provide our lenders with the right to accelerate the outstanding debt facilities and may result in events of default that provide our lenders the right to terminate our arrangements. The terms of some of these credit facility arrangements with Turkish banks and the arrangement relating to the loans under our supplier and merchant financing, where the Company is the borrower, also include our undertaking not to distribute dividends during the duration of the agreement, or not to do it in a manner to negatively impact our debt ratios such as debt to equity.

        Although, based on our discussions with certain of those banks and their prior practice, our management does not believe it likely that the banks would exercise their rights to acceleration or termination under such clauses or otherwise limit the Company's ability to distribute dividends, the changes in our shareholding structure as a result of the initial public offering or future share sales in the Company or future distribution of dividends may result in the termination of our general loan agreements or acceleration of our outstanding debt thereunder. If any of the banks were to terminate a loan agreement or accelerate the debt outstanding thereunder, management believes that we have adequate credit lines under our other loan agreements and that the liquidity position of the Company would not require additional financing. However, if one or more of such banks terminate their agreements, or if all of such banks were to terminate their agreements, our access to debt financing may be limited, which would have a material impact on our ability to fund our business.

A significant disruption in internet access, telecommunications networks or our IT platform may cause slow response times or otherwise impair our customers' experience, which may in turn reduce traffic to our mobile apps and websites and significantly harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        Our e-commerce business is critically dependent on the performance and reliability of Turkey's internet infrastructure, accessibility of bandwidth and servers to our service providers' networks and the continuing performance, reliability and availability of our platform.

        We are heavily reliant on Turkey's internet infrastructure to operate our business. As our data centers and all of our backup centers, along with our headquarters, are located on the European and Asian sides of the city of Istanbul, our operations may also be negatively impacted by disruptions to the power grid, natural disasters, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, telecommunication failures, sabotage, vandalism, terrorist attacks, extreme weather or other events affecting the region. Similarly, if there were any system outages due to any internet delays, disruptions, natural disasters or any other issues

31


Table of Contents

with the infrastructure in Turkey more generally, this would have a material adverse impact on our business and results of operations depending on the length and severity of the issue.

        We may experience slow response times or system failures due to a failure of our information storage, retrieval, processing and management capabilities, human errors or capacity constraints. Slow response times or system failures may make our platform less attractive to merchants or customers. If we experience technical problems in delivering our services over the internet, we could experience reduced demand for our services and lower revenue. Also, if too many customers access our sites within a short period of time due to increased holiday demand, such as during our seasonal sales, or any other reason, we have in the past experienced system interruptions that make our platform unavailable or prevent us from efficiently fulfilling orders, which may reduce the volume of goods we sell and the attractiveness of our products and services. We cannot assure you that such events will not occur and while we have backup systems and contingency plans for certain aspects of our operations and business processes, our planning may not account for all possible scenarios.

        Significant disruptions in internet access or in the internet generally mentioned above could significantly harm our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We may experience significant fluctuations in our results of operations and growth rate.

        We have grown significantly in recent years, and we intend to continue to expand the scope and geographic reach of the services we provide. Revenue growth may slow down or decline for any number of reasons, including our inability to attract or retain merchants and customers, decreased customer frequency and spending, increased competition, slowing overall growth of the e-commerce market, the emergence of alternative business models, changes in government policies and general economic conditions. We may also lose customers and merchants for other reasons, such as a failure to deliver satisfactory customer or transaction experience or high-quality services. If we are unable to properly and prudently manage our operations as they continue to grow, or if the quality of our services deteriorates due to mismanagement, our brand name and reputation could be significantly harmed, and our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

        In addition, a disproportionate amount of sales on our platform historically took place during our fourth quarter, and we expect this to continue. As a result of peak seasonal sales, as of December 31 of each year, our cash and cash equivalents balances typically reach an elevated level (other than as a result of cash flows provided by or used in investing and financing activities). This operating cycle results in a corresponding increase in accounts payable, combined with a decrease in inventories, as of December 31. Our accounts payable balance generally declines during the first month of each year, resulting in a corresponding decline in our cash and cash equivalents balances. We typical experience our lowest sales during the months of July and August due to decreased frequency and traffic on our platform during the summer vacation months.

        Our results of operations and cash flows may fluctuate significantly as a result of a variety of factors, including those described above. As a result, historical period-to-period comparisons of our results of operations and cash flows are not necessarily indicative of future period-to-period results of operations or cash flows. You should not rely on the results of a single fiscal quarter as an indication of our annual results of operations, cash flows or future performance.

32


Table of Contents

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected and may continue to negatively affect certain of our business activities and results. Any future occurrence of natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks, or other catastrophic events could also materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition.

        The World Health Organization characterized COVID-19 as a pandemic in March 2020. As of the date hereof, COVID-19 has spread widely around the world and new variants of the virus have emerged, resulting in the implementation of significant governmental measures in Turkey and globally, including lockdowns of manufacturing and logistics facilities, closures of businesses and offices, quarantines of individuals, and travel bans. Although COVID-19 has generally resulted in a major increase in demand for e-commerce services in Turkey, there are a number of risks which have ensued from operating our businesses during the pandemic.

        The virus and the measures to contain its spread have resulted in business and manufacturing disruptions in our markets, impacted the business activities of e-commerce merchants, and other ecosystem participants (such as logistics networks and payment channels in the affected markets) and disrupted the global supply chain. Some of our merchants and partners have reduced or suspended, or may in the future reduce or suspend, their selling activities due to operational constraints or global supply chain disruptions. The scaling and ramp-up of HepsiFly may be slower than expected due to the impact of border and travel restrictions and consequences for the airline industry.

        Furthermore, COVID-19's impact on global and local economies may also adversely impact consumer discretionary spending, which may cause our customer demand to decline if the situation continues to worsen. As we roll out relief measures to assist the recovery of certain affected merchants and other ecosystem participants, including, among other things, waiver or reduction of certain transaction-related charges, these measures may have a materially negative impact on our financial results. In addition, we have taken numerous precautionary measures to ensure the wellbeing of our employees and communities (see "Business—Recent Developments") that may result in lower operational efficiency, higher operating costs, and a slowdown in certain of our business activities. Measures taken across our business operations to address health and safety may not always be sufficient to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Our operations could be disrupted if any of our employees or employees of our suppliers or merchants are suspected of contracting COVID-19, as this could require us or our suppliers or merchants to quarantine some or all of these employees and implement disinfection measures to the facilities and premises used for our operations. Relevant authorities could also order a complete suspension or closure of business generally, including our operations, as the pandemic further develops.

        The above developments have materially affected, and may continue to materially and negatively affect, certain of our business activities and results. As the COVID-19 situation remains fluid and continues to rapidly evolve, the ultimate impact of COVID-19 on our business, financial condition and results of operations cannot be reasonably estimated at this time. We will continue to monitor the situation and the effects on our business and operations closely. The extent of the impact of COVID-19 on our operational and financial performance will depend on many factors, including the duration and spread of the pandemic and actions taken by authorities and other parties in our ecosystem, as well as the overall size and duration of the impact on the economies of the markets in which we operate. If the pandemic continues to worsen, and measures put in place to curb its spread and to stabilize the economy are not effective, or if we are ordered by any authorities to suspend or close our material operations, there could be a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

        COVID-19 and the measures taken to limit its spread have impacted consumer behavior, including e-commerce shopping trends. During the COVID-19 pandemic, increased numbers of consumers in the Turkish market have shifted to e-commerce as a result of social distancing and other government

33


Table of Contents

restrictions, which resulted in the growth for demand for our products and services. However, customers may shift back towards offline retailers as social distancing and government restrictions ease, as a result of which we may experience slower than expected growth. Moreover, as the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic continues to evolve, it is uncertain what effect the pandemic will have on consumer behavior and the demand for various goods and services may evolve. For instance, e-commerce orders for groceries and other essential products have increased significantly during the pandemic, and the risk that this trend reverses or otherwise alters in the future cannot be excluded. See "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Factors Affecting Our Financial Condition and Results of Operations—COVID-19 Impact." We may not be able to keep pace with shifting trends as they respond to unpredictable changes in the evolution of the pandemic and the measures taken to reduce the spread of the virus.

        Similarly, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected by severe weather conditions, natural disasters, geopolitical events, wars, terrorist attacks, the occurrence or re-occurrence of other outbreaks of widespread health epidemics or pandemics, and other similar catastrophic events. The occurrence of a disaster or similar event could materially disrupt our business and operations, adversely affect our markets or the economy generally, or adversely affect our employees, third-party service providers, business partners or a significant portion of our users. These events could also cause us to close our operating facilities temporarily, which would severely disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our net sales could be materially reduced to the extent that a natural disaster, health epidemic or other major event harms the economy of the countries where we operate. Our operations could also be severely disrupted if our customers, merchants or other participants were affected by such natural disasters, health epidemics or other major events.

Undetected software errors and hacking may cause delays or interruptions on our systems and may reduce the use of our services and damage our brand reputation.

        Our online systems, including our websites, mobile apps and our other software applications, products and systems, could contain undetected errors, or "bugs," that could adversely affect their performance. While we regularly update and enhance our websites and IT platform and introduce new versions of our mobile apps, the occurrence of errors in any such updates or enhancements may cause disruptions in the provision of our services and may, as a result, cause us to lose market share, and our reputation and brand, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

        In addition, computer viruses and cyber security breaches may in the future cause delays or other service interruptions on our systems. We may also be subject to cybersecurity threats or attempts by malicious actors who seek to gain unauthorized access to our information or systems or to cause intentional malfunctions, loss or corruption of data or leakages of our customers' and merchants' sensitive or personal data. While we employ various antivirus and computer protection software in our operations, we cannot provide any assurance that such protections will successfully prevent all cybersecurity incidents (whether through the use of "denial of service" attacks or otherwise) or the transmission of any computer viruses which, if not prevented, could significantly damage our software systems and databases, cause disruptions to our business activities (including to our e-mail, short message service ("SMS"), push and other communications systems), result in security breaches or inadvertent disclosure of confidential, sensitive or personal information and hinder access to our platform.

        We use artificial intelligence solutions to inform our Direct Sales pricing and in the future our prices for Direct Sales may be informed in real-time by machine learning algorithms, any of which may, as the result of a bug or other error, result in unforeseen or disadvantageous pricing for our goods.

34


Table of Contents

        We may incur significant costs to protect our systems and equipment against the threat of, and to repair any damage caused by, computer viruses, hacking or other cybersecurity incidents. These costs, which could be material, could adversely impact our results of operations in the period in which they are incurred and may not meaningfully limit the success of future attempts to breach our information technology systems. Moreover, if a computer virus or other compromise of our systems becomes publicized, or if we are perceived to have failed to respond to security breaches of our systems or networks, our business, reputation and brand could be materially damaged, resulting in a decrease in the use of our products and services. Such failure to properly respond to cybersecurity incidents could also result in private consumer, business partner, or securities litigation and governmental investigations and proceedings, any of which could result in our exposure to material civil or criminal liability, and may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential customer information or our failure or the perception by our users that we failed to comply with privacy laws or properly address privacy concerns could harm our business and reputation with customers, merchants and suppliers.

        We collect, store, process, transmit and use certain personal information and other user data in our business. A significant risk associated with e-commerce and communications is the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks. The perception of privacy concerns, whether or not valid, may adversely affect our business and results of operations. We must ensure that any processing, collection, use, storage, dissemination, transfer and disposal of data for which we are responsible complies with relevant data protection and privacy laws, including Turkish data protection and privacy laws as well as other data protection and privacy laws, such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"), particularly due to the launch and development of cross-border sales through HepsiGlobal. The protection of our user, employee and company data is critical to us. Currently, a number of our users authorize us to bill their credit card accounts directly. We rely on commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide encryption, secure processing, transmission and storage of confidential customer information, such as credit card and other personal information. Despite the security measures we have in place, our facilities and systems, and those of our third-party service providers, may be vulnerable to security breaches, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors, or other similar events. Any security breach, or any perceived failure involving the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure of confidential information, as well as any failure or perceived failure to comply with laws, policies, legal obligations or industry standards regarding data privacy and protection, whether by us or our merchants, could damage our reputation, expose us to litigation risk and liability, subject us to negative publicity, disrupt our operations and harm our business. We cannot assure you that our security measures will prevent security breaches or that failure to prevent them will not have a material adverse effect on our business. Further, we do not carry and we do not require our vendors to carry cybersecurity insurance to compensate for any losses that may result from any breach of security. Therefore, our results of operations or financial condition may be materially adversely affected if our existing general liability policies did not cover a security breach.

We are subject to payments-related risks.

        We accept payments using a variety of methods, including credit and debit cards, money transfers, and we expect to launch HepsiPay to facilitate payments. For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we pay bank interchange and other fees. These fees may increase over time, which would increase our operating costs and adversely affect our results of operations. We use third parties to provide payment processing services, including the processing of credit and debit cards. Our business may be disrupted for an extended period of time if any of these companies becomes unwilling or unable to provide these services to us. We are also subject to payment card association operating rules, certification requirements, and rules governing electronic funds transfers, which could change or be

35


Table of Contents

reinterpreted to make it difficult or impossible for us to comply. If we fail to comply with these rules or requirements, we may be subject to fines and higher transaction fees and/or lose our ability to accept credit and debit card payments from customers and merchants or facilitate other types of online payments, and our business could be harmed. Moreover, although the payment gateways we use are contractually obligated to indemnify us with respect to liability arising from fraudulent payment transactions, if such fraudulent transactions are related to credit card transactions and become excessive, they could potentially result in our losing the right to accept credit cards for payment. If any of these events were to occur, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

        We, like our platforms, are susceptible to potentially illegal or improper uses, including, fraudulent and illicit sales on the payment methods accepted by us and bank fraud. In addition, our services could be subject to unauthorized credit card use, identity theft, employee fraud or other internal security breaches. We may incur significant costs to protect against the threat of information security breaches or to respond to or alleviate problems caused by any breaches. Laws may require notification to regulators, users or employees and we may be required to reimburse customers, merchants or credit card companies for any funds stolen as a result of any breaches or to provide credit monitoring or identity theft protection in the event of a privacy breach. These requirements, as well as any additional restrictions that may be imposed by credit card companies, could raise our costs significantly and reduce our attractiveness. In addition to the direct costs of such losses, if they are related to credit card transactions and become excessive they could result in us losing the right to accept credit cards for payment. If we are unable to accept credit cards, our business will be adversely affected given that credit cards are the most widely used method for our customers to pay for the products we sell.

We may suffer losses relating to the products we sell through our Direct Sales business.

        In connection with our Direct Sales and certain value-added services, we purchase products from manufacturers and third parties and subsequently sell such products on our platform. This subjects us to risks relating to managing our inventory turnover. We depend on our forecasts of demand and popularity for a variety of products to make decisions regarding product purchases. Our customers may not order products at the levels expected by us due to our failure to forecast accurately, unfavorable market conditions or changes in consumer trends. In addition, if the supply of products from manufacturers and third parties deteriorates, we may be unable to obtain the products that customers want to purchase. Manufacturers and third parties may discontinue selling products due to factors that may or may not be within our control. Our inability to secure timely and sufficient supplies of products would negatively affect inventory levels and may have an adverse effect on our financial performance and reputation.

We rely on many service providers in our business, and the nonperformance or loss of a significant third-party provider through bankruptcy, consolidation, or otherwise, could adversely affect our operations.

        We are party to agreements with third-party companies in various aspects of our business model, including the lessors of our fulfillment centers and various logistics providers and IT and data center service providers (domestically and from outside of Turkey). For example, if we are unable to maintain or renew leases, or lease other suitable premises on acceptable terms, or if our existing leases are terminated for any reason (including in connection with a lessor's loss of its ownership rights to such premises), or if a lease's terms (including rental charges) are revised to our detriment, such matters could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        If these third parties do not comply with applicable legal or administrative requirements, were to default on their obligations, or if we lose a significant provider through bankruptcy, consolidation or otherwise, we may be subject to litigation with these third-party providers, fail to renew the respective agreements on commercially acceptable terms and, therefore, face the need of switching to new third-

36


Table of Contents

party providers, who may provide services to us at higher prices. While we have backup systems and contingency plans for certain aspects of our operations and business processes (see "Business—Technology—Technology Infrastructure") and we have capacity to scale our fulfillment centers when extra capacity is required (see "Business—Logistics Infrastructure—Fulfillment Center Network"), our planning may not account for all possible scenarios and we may have limited access to alternative sites for our fulfillment operations, logistics services, IT and data center services, or other services and may not be able to timely replace these third parties, or find a replacement on a cost-efficient basis, in the event of disruptions, failures to provide services or other issues with them that may adversely affect our business. Any of these consequences could have a material adverse effect on our business financial condition and results of operations.

We operate platforms that include third parties over whose actions we have no control.

        Our e-commerce services business, other than our Direct Sales, requires the participation of third parties such as merchants who own the content and services offered through our Marketplace. We cannot control the actions of these third parties and if they do not perform their functions to our satisfaction or the satisfaction of our users, it may damage the reputation of our platform. Our e-commerce business relies upon merchants to provide and post their products on our platform, and we cannot be certain that the products that they sell will all be legitimate, of a sufficiently high quality or that they will accurately represent the products in their postings. Though we take efforts to conduct security and know-your-customer procedures with respect to our merchants and carefully screen the listings placed by our merchants periodically and upon receipt of complaints (see "Business—Marketplace—Merchants"), we cannot be certain that we will detect every improper third-party action before it reaches our users. Further, while we have no liability for the content provided by third parties or illegal or unlawful activity related to goods or services provided by such third parties on our website as a "hosting service provider" and "intermediary service provider" under Article 5 of the Law on Internet Crimes and the E-Commerce Law (as each is defined under "Business—Regulatory Overview"), respectively, we may nevertheless face compensation claims, administrative fines or even criminal complaints under Turkish laws for content related to counterfeit products, content blocked or prohibited in Turkey or content infringing trademarks or other intellectual property rights if we receive a notification of the unlawful or illegal content and do not take any action (including removing the unlawful content). While we have agreements with each of our merchants that obligate them to carry out their respective businesses in a professional manner and while we are not liable under Turkish law for such merchants' content, except in the circumstances described above, any legal protections we might have could be insufficient to compensate us for our losses and would not be able to repair the damage to our reputation.

We may pursue strategic acquisitions, which could result in operational challenges, and the failure of an acquisition or investment to produce the anticipated results or the inability to fully integrate an acquired company could have an adverse impact on our business, results of operation and financial condition.

        Historically, we have generally grown organically. We have historically invested in software and technological development, including the acquisition of software licences and rights as well as certain vertical e-commerce websites, but as of the date of this prospectus we have not made any material acquisitions. However, we may decide to enter into strategic partnerships or to acquire complementary businesses or technologies in order to expand our operations, products and services and to adjust our business portfolio in response to changing market conditions. The success of acquisitions or investments is based on our ability to make accurate assumptions regarding the valuation of these operations, growth potential, integration and other factors related to the respective businesses. We cannot assure you that our acquisitions or investments will produce the results that we expect at the time we enter into or complete a given transaction. Such acquisitions and investments can be time-consuming and costly, could create unforeseen operational challenges and expenditures or may not meet our

37


Table of Contents

expectations. Furthermore, we may not be able to successfully integrate operations that we acquire, including their personnel, financial systems, distribution or operating procedures. If we fail to successfully integrate acquisitions, our business results of operation and financial condition could suffer. In addition, the integration of any acquired business and their financial results may adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

We may use open source code in a manner that could be harmful to our business.

        We use open source code, which is subject to licensing, in connection with our technology and services. Original developers of open source code do not provide warranties for the use of their source code. The use of such open source code may ultimately require us to replace certain code used in our platform, pay a royalty to use certain open source code, disclose and freely license all or a portion of our proprietary software code, or discontinue certain aspects of our platform. As a result, the use of open source code could have a material adverse effect on our business financial condition and results of operations.

Our operating metrics and competitive information, both internally calculated and provided by third parties and included in this prospectus, may be calculated differently from the metrics or competitive information published by our competitors or other third parties in our industry and any perceived inaccuracies or inadequate cross-company comparisons may harm our reputation.

        Most of our operating metrics included in this prospectus and which we regularly communicate to the market are calculated by us internally. We also provide industry, market and competitive information (including market share data) in this prospectus based on studies and reports of third parties (see "Market and Industry Data").

        Our methods of calculating operating metrics such as Active Customers, number of orders and GMV and those of third parties in calculating industry, market and competitive information (including market share data) may differ from estimates published by third parties or from similarly titled metrics published by our competitors or other parties due to differences in methodology. For instance, we calculate GMV as the total value of orders/products sold through our platform over a given period of time (including VAT without deducting returns and cancellations), including cargo income (shipping fees related to the products sold through our platform) and excluding other service revenues and transaction fees charged to our merchants. Other companies or third parties may calculate GMV differently, for instance, by excluding returns and cancellations, VAT or cargo income, or including other service revenues. They may also calculate Active Customers or the number of orders differently based on differences in the technology used or technical methods used to record such metrics. We believe our calculation of GMV, as well as other metrics and third party information, in this prospectus provides investors with a useful tool to understand the value of transactions processed through our platforms. However, if customers, merchants or investors do not perceive our operating metrics or the information on our industry, market and competitive information (including market share data) included in this prospectus to be accurate our reputation could be materially and adversely affected.

        For further information on our operating metrics, their calculation and assumptions relating thereto, see "Presentation of Financial and Other Information—Key Operating Performance Indicators" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Key Indicators of Operating and Financial Performance"

38


Table of Contents

We may not be able to, or may choose not to, insure against all risks we face and may incur losses not covered by insurance, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

        We rely on insurance coverage to insure against damage and loss to our IT infrastructure and operational assets, including the server hardware, fulfillment centers, network, and storage devices and back-up facilities in our data centers. We maintain insurance coverage for our employees, executives and investment properties. We expect to continue to maintain our existing insurance coverage and to purchase any additional insurance coverage as necessary for our operations, including social security and health insurance coverage for our employees and executive officers and management liability insurance for our directors and executive officers. However, we cannot assure you that our insurance coverage provides us with sufficient coverage for all losses, events or incidents. We also may choose not to insure against all risks we face. Therefore, should an uninsured loss or a loss in excess of our insured limits occur, we would lose the capital invested in, and the anticipated revenue from, the affected assets, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

We depend upon our Founder and chairwoman, our senior management, our IT specialists and other talented employees to grow, operate and improve our business; if we fail to retain our Founder as a result of ongoing litigation or if we fail to attract, retain and motivate key personnel, our business could be adversely affected.

        We depend upon the continued services and performance of our senior management team and other key personnel, many of whom have a level of experience and local knowledge that would be difficult to replicate. The unexpected departure of any of them from the Company could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to attract or retain suitable replacements for such personnel in a timely manner or at all.

        We benefit from the input of our Founder. As discussed in "Management—Legal Proceedings Relating to Senior Management," our Founder formerly served on the board of directors of Petrol Ofisi A.Ş., a major Turkish fuel company. In 2016, she was one of 47 executives subject to an indictment alleging that illegal activity was committed by Petrol Ofisi between 2004 and 2007. As of the date of this prospectus, the criminal proceeding stemming from the 2016 indictment has not progressed beyond the initial stage. In the event of an adverse outcome to this legal proceeding, our Founder could be required to step down from her position as a board member of any company, including Hepsiburada, which could have an adverse impact on our business. Further, although this lawsuit has been in the public domain over the past five years and has received considerable publicity, any negative public opinion relating to the allegations forming the basis of the proceeding, regardless of the legal outcome, may affect our brand and reputation and therefore may have an adverse impact on our business in the future. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not experienced any negative impact from these standing allegations. For more information, see "Management—Board of Directors—Legal Proceedings."

        Our success and growth strategy also depend on our continued ability to identify, hire, develop, motivate and retain talented employees. Our ability to execute and manage our operations efficiently is dependent upon contributions from all of our employees. Competition for senior management and key IT personnel is intense, and the pool of qualified candidates is relatively limited.

        From time to time, some of our key personnel may choose to leave our company for various reasons, including personal career development plans or alternative compensation packages. An inability to retain the services of our key personnel or properly manage the working relationship among our management and employees may expose us to legal or administrative action or adverse publicity, which could adversely affect our reputation, business, prospects, financial condition and results of

39


Table of Contents

operations. For example, other leading technology platforms also operate in Turkey and compete directly with us for the same talent pool, which has a limited number of skilled IT or other professionals.

        Training new employees with no prior relevant experience could be time consuming and require a significant amount of resources. We may also need to increase the compensation we pay to our employees from time to time in order to retain them. If competition in our industry intensifies, it may be increasingly difficult for us to hire, motivate and retain highly skilled personnel due to significant market demand. If we fail to attract additional highly skilled personnel or retain or motivate our existing personnel, we may be unable to pursue growth, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

        An inability to retain and replace existing personnel or to attract new personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Employee misconduct is difficult to determine and detect and could harm our reputation and business.

        We face a risk that may arise out of our employees' lack of knowledge or willful, negligent or involuntary violations of laws, rules and regulations or other misconduct. Misconduct by employees could involve, among other things, the improper use or disclosure of confidential information (including trade secrets and personal information), embezzlement or fraud, any of which could result in regulatory sanctions or fines imposed on us, as well as cause us serious reputational or financial harm. We have experienced fraudulent misconduct by employees in the past, which to date has not caused any material harm to our business. However, any such further misconduct in the future may result in unknown and unmanaged risks and losses. We have internal audit, security and other procedures in place that are designed to monitor our employees' conduct. However, despite these controls and procedures, there can be no assurance that we will discover employee misconduct in a timely and effective manner, if at all. It is not always possible to guard against employee misconduct and ensure full compliance with our risk management and information policies. The direct and indirect costs of employee misconduct can be substantial, and our business, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We face uncertainties relating to the growth and profitability of the e-commerce industry in our region and we may face challenges and uncertainties in implementing our e-commerce strategy

        Our future sales depend substantially on consumers' widespread acceptance and use of e-commerce. While e-commerce has existed in our region for decades, only recently have certain regional e-commerce companies become sizeable. Our future results of operations will depend on numerous factors affecting the development of the e-commerce retail industry in our region, which may be beyond our control. These factors include:

    the growth rate of internet, broadband, personal computer, and smartphone penetration and usage in our region;

    the trust and confidence level of e-commerce consumers, as well as changes in customer demographics and consumer tastes and preferences;

    the selection, pricing and popularity of products that online merchants offer;

    whether alternative retail channels or business models that better address the needs of consumers emerge; and

    the development of logistics, payment and other ancillary services associated with e-commerce.

40


Table of Contents

Our business would be adversely affected if last mile delivery service carriers were classified as employees instead of independent contractors and we may incur significant additional expenses if the employees of subcontractors carrying out delivery services are considered our employees.

        For our HepsiJet operations, we (i) retain the services of self-employed last mile delivery service carriers and (ii) subcontract last mile delivery services from third party service providers.

        The classification of self-employed last mile delivery service carriers as independent contractors has been challenged in courts and by government agencies in various non-Turkish jurisdictions. However, as of the date of this prospectus, there are no threatened or pending legal proceedings involving the Group alleging last mile delivery service carriers should be classified as employees rather than as independent contractors. We believe that our carriers are independent contractors, as they decide for themselves how best to perform their services and they provide a vehicle to perform the delivery services, and they are under no exclusive commitment to us other than not providing delivery services to our competitors. We also subcontract last mile delivery services from third-party service providers, and such providers may or may not have employees of their own. As of the date of this prospectus, there are no threatened or pending legal proceedings initiated by employees of third-party subcontractors alleging the existence of or claiming to establish an employment relationship directly with us.

        If courts or government agencies of competent jurisdictions reclassify our self-employed carriers as employees instead of independent contractors, or establish an employment relationship between us and the employees of subcontractors, or otherwise find us to be in violation of any Turkish labor law or regulation, we may incur significant additional expenses to compensate those carriers or employees of third party subcontractors, potentially becoming liable for monetary obligations such as employee benefits, social security contributions, taxes, and penalties in addition to the costs associated with defending, settling, or resolving these matters. Further, any such reclassification of our carriers as employees may require us to make certain operational changes going forward, and as a result, our growth, operations, financial condition and operating results could be adversely and materially affected.

Legal and Regulatory Risks

We are subject to tax audits that may result in additional tax liabilities and are exposed to changes in tax laws and regulations as well as their interpretation and implementation, including Turkey's digital service tax.

        We are subject to a variety of taxes in Turkey including but not limited to corporate income tax, withholding tax, value added tax, payroll taxes and social security taxes, among others. The estimated net result of our business is based on tax rates which are currently applicable, as well as current tax regulations and interpretations by tax authorities. A change in applicable corporate tax rates or in general of any tax rule or interpretation made by tax authorities may impact our net results of operations. From time to time, we may be subject to tax audits by the Turkish tax authority. In July 2020, we received a request from the Turkish tax authority for the initiation of a tax audit for the years 2018 and 2019 with regards to corporate income tax and VAT. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, we did not pay any corporate income tax, as we recorded losses for such periods. We submitted our books and records to the Turkish tax authority in August 2020, and as of the date of this prospectus, we did not receive any further specific request or notification. Although our management believes this to be a routine and ordinary tax audit and the management does not consider the recognition of any provision is necessary in relation to this investigation, we may divert our efforts and resources and we may be subject to additional tax liabilities and penalties as a result of such investigation. In addition to our results of operations, any dividends or other distributions paid in respect of any of our ordinary shares may also be adversely affected in case of any changes to the applicable double taxation treaties or any increase in the level of withholding tax, which is currently 15.0%.

41


Table of Contents

        In March 2020, a digital service tax (the "DST") took effect in Turkey imposing a 7.5% tax on revenue generated from a broad range of digital services, including digital advertising, digital content sales, and digital platform services. The DST only applies to companies that generate revenues from covered digital services of at least: (i) TRY 20 million in Turkey; and (ii) €750 million globally. As of the date of this prospectus, we are not subject to the DST as our global revenues are below the threshold. However, as a result of our growth, we may in the future exceed such threshold if it is not increased, or we may exceed such threshold if it is reduced, at which time our operations may become subject to the DST.

        In addition, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development has published proposals to advance international negotiations to ensure large and highly profitable multinational enterprises, including digital companies, pay tax wherever they have significant consumer-facing activities and generate their profits. Certain jurisdictions in the European Union and Latin America have already enacted or are discussing new tax laws, rules and regulations directed at the digital economy and multi-national businesses. If existing tax laws, rules or regulations in our markets are amended, or if new tax laws, rules or regulations are enacted, including with respect to digital services tax, sales tax, value-added taxes, withholding taxes, revenue based taxes, or other similar taxes applicable to the digital economy or multi-national businesses, the results of these changes could increase our effective tax rate, tax liabilities and/or associated costs. Possible implications may include double taxation, multiple levels of taxation, additional obligations, prospectively or retrospectively, as well as imposition of interest and penalties if non-compliance is determined. Potential heightened tax law enforcement against us could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to administrative fines and our reputation may be harmed if the Turkish Competition Authority were to determine that we did not comply with Turkish competition laws and regulations.

        Our business is subject to Turkish competition laws and regulations. We have been, and may continue to be, subject to investigations by the Turkish Competition Authority (the "TCA") for compliance with these laws and regulations. In February 2019, the TCA initiated a preliminary inquiry against us and Anka Mobil Tedarik A.Ş., one of our suppliers, in response to one of our merchant's complaint that we and Anka Mobil Tedarik A.Ş. violated Turkish competition laws, including the most favored customer clause that applies to all transactions performed with our merchants in our Marketplace operations, price discrimination, restriction of intra-brand competition, refusal to deal, and resale price maintenance in the mobile accessories business. In June 2019, the TCA decided to proceed with a full investigation of the matter. On April 15, 2021, the Competition Board, the executive body of the TCA, concluded its investigation and issued its decision in our favor, indicating that we do not hold a dominant position in the relevant market and that we did not breach the Turkish competition law. No fines were imposed on Hepsiburada as a result of this investigation. The TCA is expected to issue a written reasoned decision by the end of the second quarter of 2021. Following the delivery of the reasoned decision of the TCA, any third party (including the complainer) will have 60 days to object to such decision at the Ankara administrative courts.

        We believe that our operations are in material compliance with Turkish competition laws. However, any successful objection to the TCA's decision, or any investigations that may be conducted by the TCA in the future into our operations or transactions, and the imposition of related fines, sanctions or conditions on us, could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

        In addition, the TCA, from time to time, conducts sector inquiries focusing on various industries. As of the date of this prospectus, we are aware of an ongoing sector inquiry initiated by the TCA on e-marketplace platforms that commenced in June 2020. As a result of this sector inquiry, from time to time, the TCA may request various information from us. Sector inquiries do not result in company specific administrative fines and penalties. However, if the TCA believes that the e-marketplace platform sector requires additional regulation, we may be required to comply with such regulations.

42


Table of Contents

We are subject to extensive laws and government regulations across our business, and changes to these laws or any actual or perceived failure by us to comply with such laws and regulations could materially and adversely affect our business.

        Our business is impacted by laws and regulations in Turkey that affect the industries our businesses operate in, and their scope has increased significantly in recent years. We are subject to a variety of regulations, including those relating to e-commerce, internet applications or content services, privacy and data protection, labor and employment laws, intellectual property, virtual items, national security, content restrictions, consumer protection, prevention of money laundering and financing criminal activity and terrorism, digital financial services regulation, electronic payment services regulation, traffic and transportation regulation and travel regulations.

        We are required under Turkish law to obtain a workplace opening and operation permit from the relevant authorities before beginning operations at each of our facilities. These permits are subject to examination or verification by the relevant authorities. We have not obtained, and in the future may fail to obtain, such permits for some of our facilities before beginning to operate them, which may result in administrative fines or penalties or even sanctions such as the temporary suspension of our operations at those facilities lacking valid permits, which could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition. As of the date of this prospectus, we have not yet obtained such a workplace opening and operation permit for either of our İzmir or Adana fulfillment centers, which began operations in the third quarter of 2020. We are in the process of obtaining such permits, and we expect to receive these workplace opening and operation licenses permits by the end of 2021. Although we have not been subject to any administrative fines, sanctions (such as the temporary suspension of our operations at such facilities) or investigations, or received any administrative warnings as of the date of this prospectus, the absence of these permits could result in administrative fines or sanctions such as the temporary suspension of operations of such facilities until such permits are received, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

        Recent and future expansion in terms of our services and geographic coverage, including the expansion of our ticketing services through HepsiFly, our ramp-up of payment solutions through HepsiPay and any future expansion into cross-border sales through HepsiGlobal, have recently subjected us to, and could further subject us to increased or new regulatory scrutiny and compliance requirements and other risks that may be costly or difficult to comply with, such as new and evolving travel agencies regulations, compliance with privacy laws and data security laws, including the GDPR, and compliance costs across different legal systems, including customs laws. We may have to come up with, adapt and implement different operating practices and protocols depending on the requirements of new regulators, which may require us to expend substantial resources.

        We are required to hold, and do currently hold, licenses in order to offer such solutions, but since legislation around these offerings is continuously evolving and may be subject to different interpretation by the relevant regulatory authorities in the future, there can be no assurance that we will not be required to obtain any additional permits or licenses in the future with respect to any of our current or future solutions. If we fail to obtain such permits or licenses in the future, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

        Regulators may regularly re-examine and increase enforcement of compliance obligations, which may require us or our business partners to further revise or expand the compliance program. Such compliance requirements may also make it more burdensome to use our services and products, which could potentially discourage users from using our services and products.

        The provision of financial services through HepsiPay, such as e-wallet and payment facilitation services, are particularly more regulated and subject to a broad range of complex laws and regulations that are rapidly changing. For example, after we obtained licenses from the Banking Regulation and

43


Table of Contents

Supervision Agency ("BRSA") to operate financial services through HepsiPay, in 2019 an amendment to the relevant legislation changed the competent authority regulating payment companies to the Central Bank of Turkey (the "Central Bank"). The Central Bank could impose new or additional licensing requirements, capital commitments, governance standards, reporting obligations or other regulatory requirements, requiring us to devote substantial operational and financial resources to comply with such requirements. We have in the past, and may in the future face, additional audits and investigations by such regulators for alleged violations of such requirements. For example, the Financial Crimes Investigation Board ("MASAK") completed an audit of our HepsiPay services in February 2021, and we paid TRY 193,077 in administrative fines for various breaches (particularly relating to know-your-client procedures required by MASAK regulations) between 2016 and 2018. We amended our internal rules and procedures as a result of the investigation and, as of the date of this prospectus, our management believes that we conduct know-your-client procedures in compliance with MASAK regulations. However, any further investigations may require resources to respond to and could result in further penalties or fines if it is determined that we violated any regulatory requirements, which may impact our business and financial condition.

If we fail to adequately protect our intellectual property rights, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

        Our trademarks, service marks, copyrights, trade dress, trade secrets, proprietary technology, domain names and other intellectual property rights are valuable assets that are critical to our success. We rely on registered trademarks and confidentiality agreements to protect our intellectual property rights. However, we may be unable to prevent third parties from acquiring domain names that are similar to, infringe upon or diminish the value of our trademarks and other proprietary rights.

        We are not always able to discover or determine the extent of any unauthorized use of our proprietary rights. Actions taken by third parties that license our proprietary rights may materially diminish the value of our proprietary rights or reputation. The protection of our intellectual property may require the expenditure of significant financial and managerial resources. Moreover, the steps we take to protect our intellectual property do not always adequately protect our rights or prevent third parties from infringing or misappropriating our proprietary rights. We also cannot be certain that others will not independently develop or otherwise acquire equivalent or superior technology or other intellectual property rights.

        The validity, application, enforceability and scope of protection of intellectual property rights for many internet-related activities, such as internet commercial methods patents, are uncertain and still evolving, which may make it more difficult for us to protect our intellectual property, and our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We may be subject to intellectual property infringement claims brought against us by others, which are costly to defend and could result in significant damage awards.

        We rely, to some extent, on third-party intellectual property, such as licenses to use software to operate our business and certain other copyrighted works. Due to the nature of our business operations, we may from time to time be subject to claims and legal proceedings regarding alleged infringement by us of the intellectual property of third parties. We also expect to be exposed to a greater risk of being subject to such claims in light of growing competition in the market. A number of internet, technology, media and patent-holding companies own or are actively developing patents covering e-commerce and other internet-related technologies, as well as a variety of online business models and methods. We believe that these parties will continue to take steps to protect these technologies, including, but not limited to, seeking patent protection in certain jurisdictions. As a result, disputes regarding the ownership of technologies and rights associated with e-commerce and other online activities are likely to arise in the future. In addition, we use certain open source code, and the

44


Table of Contents

use of open source code is often subject to compliance with certain license terms, which we may inadvertently breach. See "—We may use open source code in a manner that could be harmful to our business."

        Although our employees are instructed to avoid acts that would infringe the intellectual property of others, we cannot be certain that our products, services and brand identifiers do not or will not infringe on valid patents, trademarks, copyrights or other intellectual property rights held by third parties. We may incur substantial expenses in responding to and defending against infringement claims, regardless of their veracity. Such diversion of management time and expenses, and the potential liability associated with any lawsuit, may cause significant harm to our business, prospects, financial condition and operations. A successful infringement claim against us could result in significant monetary liability, such as being liable for license fees, royalty payments, lost profits or other damages, or material disruption of our business. Similarly, the owner of the intellectual property may obtain injunctive relief to prevent us from making further use of certain technology, software or brand identifiers. If the amount of such payments is significant or if we are prevented from incorporating certain technology or software into our products or services or using our brand identifiers without hindrance, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

We may be subject to material litigation.

        We have been involved in litigation relating principally to contract disputes, employment, consumer, intellectual property and tax related cases and other matters in the ordinary course of our business. As our business expands, we may face an increasing number of such claims or claims relating to product liability, including those involving high amounts of damages. After we become a publicly listed company with a higher profile and in the future though any expansion of our cross-border business through HepsiGlobal, we may face additional exposure to claims and lawsuits inside and outside Turkey.

        The outcome of any claims, investigations and proceedings is inherently uncertain, and regardless of the outcome, defending against these claims could be both costly and time consuming, and could significantly divert the efforts and resources of our management and other personnel. An adverse determination in any such litigation or proceedings could result in damages as well as legal and other costs, limit our ability to conduct business or require us to change the manner in which we operate, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be impacted by fraudulent or unlawful activities of merchants, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation and business and may result in civil or criminal liability.

        Despite measures we have taken and continue to take, our e-commerce services remain susceptible to potentially illegal or improper uses, which could damage our reputation and subject us to liability. Our standard agreement with the merchants on our Marketplace provides for monthly payments to merchants for the products sold rather than immediate payment after the sale of a product. Our standard form agreement with our merchants and suppliers provides that we will directly compensate the customer for the purchase price if a customer returns a product and the merchant or supplier must refund us the price of the returned product. These provisions are designed to prevent merchants or suppliers from collecting payments, fraudulently or otherwise, in the event that a customer does not receive the products they ordered or when the products received are materially different from the merchant's or supplier's descriptions, to prevent merchants on our Marketplace from selling unlawful, counterfeit, pirated, or stolen goods, selling goods in an unlawful or unethical manner, and to prevent our merchants or suppliers from violating the proprietary rights of others or otherwise violating our product requirements. If our merchants or suppliers circumvent or otherwise fail to comply with these provisions, it could harm our business or damage our reputation and, while we have no liability for the

45


Table of Contents

content provided by third parties or illegal or unlawful activity related to goods or services provided by such third parties on our website as a "hosting service provider" and "intermediary service provider" under Article 5 of the Law on Internet Crimes and the E-Commerce Law (as each is defined under "Business—Regulatory Overview"), respectively, we may nevertheless face compensation claims, administrative fines or even criminal complaints under Turkish laws for content related to counterfeit products, content blocked or prohibited in Turkey or content infringing trademarks or other intellectual property rights if we receive a notification of the unlawful or illegal content and do not take any action (including removing the unlawful content) and may be involved in civil or criminal claims against our merchants or suppliers for any such unlawful activities.

We may be subject to product liability claims when people or property are harmed or damaged by the products that are sold on our platform.

        We are exposed to product liability or food safety claims relating to personal injury or illness, death or environmental or property damage caused by the products that are sold by us or through our Marketplace or through our value-added services, and we do not maintain any insurance with respect to such product liability. As the products offered by us or through our Marketplace are manufactured by third parties, we have only limited control over the quality of these products. In addition, we cannot always effectively prevent our merchants from selling harmful or defective products on our Marketplace, which could cause death, disease or injury to our customers or damage their property. We may be seen as having facilitated the sale of such products and may be forced to recall such products. Under our Direct Sales model, where we act directly as seller, we may also have to recall harmful products.

        Although we require that our merchants only offer products that comply with the existing product safety rules and monitor such compliance, we may not be able to detect, enforce or collect sufficient damages for breaches of such agreements. In addition, any negative publicity resulting from product recalls or the assertion that we sold defective products could damage our brand and reputation. Any material product liability, food safety or other claim could have an adverse effect on our business, prospects, results of operations and financial condition.

If we fail to implement and maintain an effective internal control over financial reporting, we may be unable to accurately report our results of operations, meet our reporting obligations or prevent fraud and investor confidence in our company and the market price of our ADSs may decline.

        After the completion of this offering, as a public company, we will be subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, as amended (the "Sarbanes-Oxley Act"). Section 404(a) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that, starting with our annual report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, management evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, report any material weaknesses in such internal controls and provide a management report on internal control over financial reporting. Although Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act ("Section 404(b)") requires our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm to issue an annual report that addresses the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, we have opted to rely on the exemptions provided in the JOBS Act, and consequently will not be required to comply with SEC rules that implement Section 404(b) until such time as we are no longer an emerging growth company.

        Under the current rules of the SEC, starting with our annual report for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2022, we will be required to perform system and process evaluation and testing of our internal controls over financial reporting to allow management to assess the effectiveness of our internal controls. Our testing may reveal deficiencies in our internal controls that are deemed to be material weaknesses and render our internal controls over financial reporting ineffective or may reveal significant deficiencies. We expect to incur additional expenses and to spend significant management time in complying with these requirements. In each of the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2019,

46


Table of Contents

we had a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting relating to information technology general controls. We have implemented several measures in 2020 to address the material weakness, including (i) the implementation of segregation of duties controls in change management processes, (ii) the removal of excessive access rights and (iii) enabling a log mechanism to monitor activities performed by privileged user accounts. Although neither we nor our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm have performed, nor are obligated to perform, a full assessment and evaluation of our internal control environment, we believe that as of December 31, 2020 we have remediated this material weakness. We cannot assure you that our efforts are sufficient or will be effective in preventing any material weaknesses in the future in our internal controls over financial reporting, whether of a similar or different character to the foregoing. If we fail to maintain effective internal control environment, we could suffer material misstatements in our financial statements and fail to meet our reporting obligations, which could cause investors to lose confidence in our reported financial information. This could in turn limit our access to capital markets, harm our results of operations, and lead to a negative impact on the trading price of our ADSs. Additionally, ineffective internal control over financial reporting could expose us to increased risk of fraud or misuse of corporate assets and subject us to potential delisting from Nasdaq, regulatory investigations and civil or criminal sanctions.

The requirements of being a public company may strain our resources and divert management time, which could make it difficult to manage our business.

        As a public company with ADSs traded on an exchange located in the United States, we will become subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the listing requirements of Nasdaq and other applicable securities rules and regulations. Compliance with these rules and regulations will increase our legal, financial and other compliance costs and increase the demands on our legal, compliance and financial reporting personnel as well as our systems and other resources, particularly after we are no longer an "emerging growth company."

        The Exchange Act requires that we file annual and current reports with respect to our business, financial condition and results of operations. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires, among other things, that we establish and maintain effective internal controls and procedures over our financial reporting. Furthermore, establishing the corporate infrastructure demanded of a public company may divert our management's time and attention from implementing our growth strategy, which could prevent us from improving our business, financial condition and results of operations. We have made, and will continue to make, changes to our internal controls and procedures over our financial reporting and accounting systems to meet our reporting obligations as a public company. However, we have previously relied on experts and the measures we take may not be sufficient to satisfy our obligations as a public company. These additional obligations could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flow.

        As a public company with ADSs traded on an exchange located in the United States, we will become subject to a broader scope of laws, regulations and standards, and therefore, potentially subject to a broader scope of fines and penalties under U.S. securities laws. In addition, changing laws, regulations and standards relating to corporate governance and public disclosure create uncertainty for public companies, increase legal and financial compliance costs and make some activities more time consuming.

        For as long as we are an 'emerging growth company' under the JOBS Act, our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm will not be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We could be an emerging growth company for up to five years. See "Prospectus Summary—Implications of Being an 'Emerging Growth Company' and a 'Foreign Private Issuer'." Furthermore, after the date we are no longer an emerging growth company, our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm will only be required to attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting depending on our

47


Table of Contents

market capitalization. Even if our management concludes that our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, our Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm may still decline to attest to our management's assessment or may issue a report that is qualified if it is not satisfied with our controls or the level at which our controls are documented, designed, operated or reviewed, or if it interprets the relevant requirements differently from us. In addition, in connection with the implementation of the necessary procedures and practices related to internal control over financial reporting, we may identify deficiencies that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the deadline imposed by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. Failure to comply with Section 404 could subject us to regulatory scrutiny and sanctions, impair our ability to raise revenue, cause investors to lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and negatively affect the price of our ADSs.

We may be classified as a passive foreign investment company ("PFIC"), which could result in adverse U.S. federal income tax conequences to U.S. Holders of ADSs.

        We will be classified as a passive foreign investment company, or PFIC, in any taxable year if either: (1) 50% or more of the fair market value of our gross assets (generally determined on the basis of a quarterly average) for the taxable year produce passive income or are held for the production of passive income, or (2) 75% or more of our gross income for the taxable year is passive income. Based on the anticipated market price of the ADSs in this offering and the current and anticipated composition of the income, assets and operations of us and our subsidiaries, we do not expect to be treated as a PFIC for the current taxable year or in the foreseeable future. This is a factual determination, however, that depends on, among other things the composition of the income and assets, and the market value of the assets, of us and our subsidiaries from time to time, and thus the determination can only be made annually after the close of each taxable year. Because the market value of the assets for the purposes of the asset test will generally be determined by reference to the aggregate value of our outstanding ADSs, our PFIC status will depend in large part on the market price of our ADSs, which may fluctuate significantly. Therefore there can be no assurances that we will not be classified as a PFIC for the current taxable year or for any future taxable year.

        If contrary to our belief, we were characterized as a PFIC for the current taxable year or any future year, certain adverse U.S. federal income tax consequences could apply to a U.S. investor who hold ADSs with respect to any "excess distribution" received from us and any gain from a sale or other disposition of ADSs, and U.S. investors also may be subject to additional reporting obligations with respect to ADSs. In such case, we do not intend to provide the information necessary for a U.S. investor to make a qualified electing fund election with respect to the ADSs. See "Material Tax Considerations—Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Considerations for U.S. Holders—Passive Foreign Investment Company Rules."

Risks Related to Turkey

We are subject to risks associated with doing business in an emerging market.

        We mainly operate in Turkey and derive substantially all of our revenue from activities in Turkey. As a result, our business, results of operations, financial condition and prospects are significantly affected by the overall level of economic activity and political stability in Turkey. Despite Turkey undergoing significant political and economic reform in recent years that increased stability and led to economic growth, Turkey is still considered by international investors to be an emerging market. Emerging markets such as Turkey are subject to greater risk than more developed markets of being perceived negatively by investors based upon external events, and financial turmoil in any emerging market (or global markets generally) could disrupt the business environment in Turkey. Moreover, financial turmoil in one or more emerging market(s) tends to adversely affect prices for securities in other emerging market countries as investors move their money to countries that are perceived to be

48


Table of Contents

more stable and economically developed. An increase in the perceived risks associated with investing in emerging economies could dampen capital flows to Turkey and adversely affect the Turkish economy. As a result, investors' interest in the securities (and thus their market price) might be subject to fluctuations that might not necessarily be related to economic conditions in Turkey or our financial performance. Investors' interest in Turkey might be negatively affected by events in other emerging markets or the global economy in general, which could adversely affect the value of our business and could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and prospects.

Our headquarters and other operations and facilities are located in Turkey and, therefore, our prospects, business, financial condition and results of operations may be adversely affected by political or economic instability in Turkey.

        Substantially all of our revenue is derived from our operations in Turkey, and our headquarters and other operations and facilities are located in Turkey. Accordingly, political and economic conditions in Turkey may directly affect our business.

        Prior to its current presidential republic system, Turkey was a parliamentary republic from 1923 to 2018. Unstable coalition governments have been common and, since the establishment of the parliamentary system, Turkey has had over 60 governments, with political disagreements frequently resulting in early elections. Furthermore, although its role has diminished in recent years, the Turkish military establishment historically has played a significant role in Turkish government and politics, intervening in the political process in 1960, 1971 and 1980. Most recently in July 2016, the Turkish government was subject to a failed coup attempt. As a result of the coup attempt, a nationwide state of emergency was imposed until July 2018.

        Following a constitutional referendum on April 16, 2017, the parliamentary system and council of ministers were abolished and replaced with executive presidency and a presidential system. In the presidential election held on June 24, 2018, President Erdoğan was re-elected with approximately 52.6% of the vote.

        Political uncertainty has affected certain investors' perception of Turkey and the strength of the Turkish economy. Since 2016, each of Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch has repeatedly downgraded Turkey's sovereign credit rating, although Fitch revised Turkey's outlook from negative to stable in February 2021.

        If new developments that are considered to contribute to instability in Turkey emerge, the value of our ADSs could decline.

Turkey's economy is subject to inflation and risks related to its current account deficit.

        Macroeconomic developments in Turkey, in particular those related to current account deficit and inflationary pressures, also affect our business. The current account deficit in Turkey was 3.4%, (1.1)% and 5.3% of the GDP in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively. Turkey's high current account deficit may reflect both Turkey's long-standing structural economic problems and current economic and market conditions. Structural economic problems include dependence on imported energy and a high proportion of imports for manufacturing and domestic consumption and a low savings rate. To date, Turkey's current account deficit has been funded largely through short-term foreign capital borrowings and foreign portfolio investments. Increased uncertainty in the global financial markets could make it more difficult for Turkey to finance its current account deficit, leading to increased volatility in the Turkish economy, which could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

        The Turkish economy has also experienced significant inflationary pressures in the past with year-over-year consumer price inflation rates as high as 69.7% in the early 2000s. Consumer price inflation was 20.3% in 2018, 11.8% in 2019 and 14.6% in 2020, year-to-year. Although the Central

49


Table of Contents

Bank announced in February 2021 that it intends to maintain its existing tight monetary policy stable through 2023, inflationary pressures may result in Turkish inflation exceeding the Central Bank inflation target of 5%, which may cause the Central Bank to take further measures to control inflation. The Central Bank's policies are subject to change and the possibility of a revision in policies of the Central Bank in this respect cannot be excluded. This tight monetary policy has involved setting high interest rates, thereby restricting the availability of credit and limiting economic growth, which could adversely affect costs associated with our financing. Further, these policies may be incapable of preventing increases in the inflation rate, which could adversely affect economic stability. In the event of an increase in inflation, we may not be able to adjust the prices we charge our customers to offset the effects of inflation on our cost structure, which may adversely affect our business and results of operations. Inflation and government measures to combat inflation that impact macroeconomic stability in Turkey may also lead reductions in purchasing power of our users, consumer confidence, consumer spending, general demand for our products and services, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. If these events continue, or if new economic developments emerge that have a similar effect, the value of our ADSs could decline.

We are exposed to the risk of inadvertently violating anti-corruption, anti-money laundering, anti-terrorist financing and economic sanctions laws and regulations and other similar laws and regulations.

        We have policies and procedures designed to assist with compliance with applicable laws and regulations in Turkey, and upon becoming a public company in the United States, we will be subject to U.S. anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws and regulations, including the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act of 1970, the U.S. Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, and the Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, and U.S. anti-bribery and anti-corruption laws and regulations, including the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act of 1977 (the "FCPA"). The FCPA prohibits providing, offering, promising or authorizing, directly or indirectly, anything of value to government officials, political parties or political candidates for the purposes of obtaining or retaining business or securing any improper business advantage. In addition, our operations may be subject to economic sanctions laws and regulations imposed by the United States, the European Union, the United Kingdom, or any other relevant jurisdiction. Such laws and regulations may prohibit transactions in, with, involving, or relating to certain countries or regions or certain persons or entities.

        We maintain internal compliance policies and procedures, but we cannot provide any assurance that these policies and procedures will be complied with or that they will prevent all violations of the applicable laws and regulations and every instance of fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption. We also cannot provide any assurance that potential violations of our internal compliance procedures will be uncovered through our procedures or that violations of the applicable anti-bribery or money laundering, anti-terrorist financing and economic sanctions laws and regulations will not occur. We have internal audit, security and other procedures in place, which are designed to prevent instances of fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery and corruption. However, despite these controls and procedures, there can be no assurance that through these and other procedures we use we will timely and effectively catch any violations of our internal compliance procedures or any violations of laws and regulations, including those related to fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, bribery, corruption and economic sanctions. Moreover, we have adopted our internal anti-money laundering policy only recently and cannot guarantee that we were previously in compliance with such laws. As a result, we may be exposed to potential civil or criminal penalties or associated investigations under the relevant applicable laws and regulations which may, if not successfully avoided or defended, have an adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations. Similarly, actual findings or mere allegations of such violations could negatively impact our reputation and limit our future business opportunities, which may cause our reputation, financial condition and results of operations to be materially and adversely affected.

50


Table of Contents

Foreign exchange rate risks could affect the Turkish macroeconomic environment, could affect your investment and could significantly affect our results of operation and financial position in future periods if hedging tools are not available at commercially reasonable terms.

        We are exposed to foreign exchange rate risks between Turkish Lira and U.S. dollars. Although our income, expenses, assets and liabilities are primarily denominated in Turkish Lira, we also maintain some non-Turkish Lira denominated assets and liabilities, primarily in U.S. dollars. As of December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 we maintained Turkish Lira equivalent assets in U.S. dollars of TRY 112.5 million, TRY 245.4 million and TRY 280.4 million, respectively, primarily consisting of cash and cash equivalents. As of the same periods, we maintained Turkish Lira equivalent liabilities in U.S. dollars of TRY 139.2 million, TRY 155.6 million and TRY 246.7 million, respectively, primarily consisting of trade payables and payables to merchants and due to related parties.

        As of December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, if the U.S. dollar had strengthened or weakened by 10% against the Turkish Lira, with all other variables held constant, our loss before income taxes would have been TRY 2,673,154 lower/higher, TRY 8,983,025 lower/higher and TRY 3,374,370 lower/higher, respectively, in each case mainly as a result of foreign exchange losses or gains on the translation of U.S. dollar assets and liabilities. We do not currently undertake any currency hedging to manage our exposure in Turkey to changes in foreign exchange rates. Consequently, any sudden and significant changes in foreign exchange rates may have an adverse impact on our financial condition, revenue and results of operations.

        Because we are incorporated in Turkey, and because we are subject to Turkish accounting rules, we are bound to calculate and declare dividends, if any, in Turkish Lira, which will then be payable in U.S. dollars to the holders of ADSs. The depreciation of Turkish Lira against the U.S. dollar could cause fewer U.S. dollars to be obtained from the conversion of Turkish Lira at any time dividend payments are made to ADS holders.

        According to the Central Bank, the Turkish Lira depreciated by 12.9% against the U.S. dollar in 2019 and 23.6% in 2020. Any significant fluctuations in the value of the Turkish Lira relative to U.S. dollars could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Turkey is subject to internal and external unrest and the threat of future terrorist acts, which may adversely affect us.

        Turkey is located in a region that has been subject to ongoing political and security concerns. Turkey has been subject to a number of terrorist attacks, resulting in a number of fatalities and casualties. Such incidents have had, and could continue to have, a material adverse effect on the Turkish economy. This, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects.

        Turkey has been subject to a number of bombings, including tourist-focused centers in Istanbul and the city center in Ankara, which have resulted in a number of fatalities. Such incidents may continue to occur periodically, the most recent incident to result in fatalities in a major town occurred in January 2017. Such internal and external unrest and the threat of future terrorist acts may lead to reductions in purchasing power of our customers, consumer confidence, consumer spending, general demand for e-commerce goods and services, display advertising and marketing spending of our advertisers and, therefore, also a reduction in demand for our products and services, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

51


Table of Contents

Conflict and uncertainty in neighboring and nearby countries may have a material adverse effect on the Group's business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects.

        Turkey is located in a region that has been subject to ongoing political and security concerns. Political uncertainty in and tensions regarding certain neighboring and nearby countries has from time to time had an impact on the political and economic environment in Turkey and may affect investors' perceptions of the risks of investing in the securities of Turkish companies. Any material adverse impact on the Turkish economy or political stability as a result of deteriorations of Turkey's international relations, especially resulting from the events which affect Turkey's relationship with the countries or regions described below, could result in a reduction in the purchasing power of our customers, consumer confidence, consumer spending, general demand for e-commerce goods and services, display advertising and marketing spending of our advertisers and, therefore, also a reduction in demand for our products and services, which would have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Risks from events affecting Turkey's relationship with Syria and Iraq

        The impact on Turkey of political instability in the Middle East is exemplified by the internal conflict in the region. Turkey has conducted a number of cross-border operations in Iraq and Syria targeting organizations deemed to be terrorist organizations in order to prevent terrorist activities against Turkey. Given the continuing hostilities in Syria and the number of parties involved, it is very difficult to predict the impact of the continuing tensions on the geopolitical stability in the broader region, including Turkey.

Risks from events affecting Turkey's relationship with Russia

        Russia has become Turkey's second largest trading partner and the largest supplier of natural gas to Turkey but tensions between Turkey and Russia have arisen from time to time. Heightened tensions between Turkey and Russia could materially negatively affect the Turkish economy.

Risks from events affecting Turkey's relationship with the European Union

        In recent years, several important natural gas reserves have been discovered in the eastern Mediterranean. The European Union ("EU") and Turkey have supported conflicting claims to the gas in these waters. On November 11, 2019, the EU adopted a framework for imposing sanctions on individuals or entities responsible for, or involved in, drilling and exploration activities. In October 2020, both France and Greece asked the EU to consider suspending the bloc's customs union agreement with Turkey. Any decision by the EU to abolish the customs union with Turkey, end Turkey's EU accession bid or impose additional sanctions on Turkey might cause a deterioration of the relationship between Turkey and the EU, impede Turkey's access to EU funding and have a material adverse impact on Turkey's economy. These actions could also increase duties for cross-border sales and therefore increase the effective price of products imported from, or exported to, the EU, including products sold on our platform, such as those imported (or, once outbound services are launched, exported) through HepsiGlobal.

Risks from events affecting Turkey's relationship with the United States

        The relationship between the US and Turkey has been strained by recent developments in the region, and also by Turkey's agreement to acquire an air and missile defense system from Russia in December 2017. In response to these events, the United States Congress has considered potential sanctions on Turkey and limited Turkey's ability to acquire fighter jets from the United States. In December 2020, the United States imposed sanctions that targeted the Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB) of Turkey, its chairman and three other employees.

52


Table of Contents

        In 2018, a New York federal court found a former executive at Turkey's majority state-owned bank Türkiye Halk Bankası A.Ş. guilty on charges that included bank fraud and conspiracies to evade U.S. sanctions against Iran and sentenced him to prison. He was released in July 2019, but the US Department of Justice brought similar allegations against Türkiye Halk Bankası A.Ş., which are ongoing as of the date of this prospectus. As of the date of this prospectus, the final outcome in relation to the judicial process, or whether any sanction, fine or penalty will be imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control ("OFAC") or any other U.S. regulatory body on Türkiye Halk Bankası A.Ş. or any other Turkish bank or person in connection with those matters, as well as the possible reaction of the Turkish Government or the financial markets to any such events, is unknown.

        Actual or perceived political instability in Turkey, escalating diplomatic and political tensions with the United States or other countries, and/or other political circumstances could have a material adverse effect on the Group's business, financial condition or results of operations or on the market price of the ADSs.

Turkey's economy has been undergoing a significant transformation and remains subject to ongoing structural and macroeconomic risks.

        Since the mid-1980s, the Turkish economy has moved from a highly protected state-directed system to a market-oriented free enterprise system. Reforms have, among other things, largely removed price controls and reduced subsidies, reduced the role of the public sector in the economy, emphasized growth in the industrial and service sectors, liberalized foreign trade, reduced tariffs, promoted export growth, eased capital transfer and exchange controls, encouraged foreign investment, strengthened the independence of the Central Bank, led to full convertibility of the Turkish Lira by accepting Article VIII of the International Monetary Fund's (the "IMF") Articles of Agreement and overhauled the tax system.

        However, the Turkish economy has also experienced a succession of financial crises and severe macroeconomic imbalances. These include substantial budget deficits, significant current account deficits, high rates of inflation and high real rates of interest.

        In March 2019, the United States announced that imports from Turkey would no longer be eligible for tariff relief under the "Generalized System of Preferences" program, which seeks to promote economic growth in countries identified as developing countries. The United States cited Turkey's rapid economic development since its entry into the program and that it thus no longer qualified to benefit from these tariff preferences. Regulatory changes such as these reflect increasing challenges faced by some exporters, which might have a material adverse effect on Turkey's economy and/or the financial condition or one or more industries within Turkey.

        In September 2020, the Turkish Treasury and Finance Minister announced a new medium term economic program named the New Economic Program ("New Economic Program") for the 2021 to 2023 period. The New Economic Program set GDP growth estimates as 0.3% for 2020, 5.8% for 2021 and 5.0% for each of 2022 and 2023. Furthermore, it has estimated the inflation rate as 10.5%, 8.0%, 6.0% and 4.9% for 2020, 2021, 2022 and 2023, respectively. There can be no assurance that these targets will be reached, that the Turkish government will continue to implement its current and proposed economic and fiscal policies successfully or that the economic growth achieved in recent years will continue considering external and internal circumstances, including the Central Bank's efforts to curtail inflation and simplify monetary policy while maintaining a lower funding rate, the current account deficit and macroeconomic and political factors, such as changes in oil prices and uncertainty related with conflicts in Iraq and Syria (See "—Conflict and uncertainty in neighboring and nearby countries may have a material adverse effect on the Group's business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects") and the political developments in Turkey (see "—Our headquarters and other operations and facilities are located in Turkey and, therefore, our prospects, business, financial condition

53


Table of Contents

and results of operations may be adversely affected by political or economic instability in Turkey"). Any of these developments might cause Turkey's economy to experience macro-economic imbalances, which might impair our business strategies and/or have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and/or results of operations.

Internet and e-commerce regulation in Turkey is recent and is subject to further development.

        In 2007, Turkey enacted a law setting forth obligations and liabilities of content, access and hosting providers as well as certain requirements specific to online content (the "Internet Law"). A number of laws and regulations impacting e-commerce and digital businesses in Turkey have been enacted since 2007, including amendments to the Internet Law, a law on regulation of e-commerce stipulating the obligations of e-commerce operators (the "E-commerce Law"), various laws to protect personal data and laws on electronic payments, among others. However, unlike in the United States, little case law exists around the Internet Law and E-commerce Law and existing jurisprudence has not been consistent and may not reflect the latest amendments or additional legislation. Legal uncertainty arising from the limited guidance provided by current laws in force allows for different judges or courts to decide very similar claims in different ways and establish contradictory jurisprudence. This allows for legal uncertainty and could set adverse precedents, which individually or in the aggregate could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. In addition, legal uncertainty may negatively affect our customers' perception and use of our services.

Risks Relating to our Initial Public Offering and Ownership of our ADSs

Our founder and chairwoman has significant influence and voting control and, as a principal shareholder, her interests might conflict with or differ from your interests as a shareholder.

        As of the date of this prospectus, our founder and chairwoman, Hanzade Vasfiye Doğan Boyner, beneficially owns all of our issued Class A shares and 12.2% of our Class B ordinary shares, representing 74.6% of the voting power of all of our Class A shares and Class B ordinary shares when considered together as a single class. Upon completion of this offering, our Founder will beneficially own all of our issued Class A shares and        % of our issued Class B ordinary shares, representing        % of the voting power of all of our Class A shares and Class B ordinary shares when considered together as a single class, assuming no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option to purchase additional ordinary shares. See "Principal and Selling Shareholders."

        As a result of this, our Founder will have a continuing ability to effectively control our affairs, including with respect to the nomination and election of directors, payment of dividends and consummation of significant corporate transactions.

        In certain circumstances, the interests of our Founder may conflict with the interests of other shareholders, including interests of the holders of the ADSs. In addition, this concentration of ownership may negatively affect the market price of the ADSs by, among other things, as a result of any action:

    delaying, defending or preventing a change of control, even at a per-share price that is in excess of the then-current price of the ADSs;

    impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us, even at a per-share price that is in excess of the then-current price of the ADSs;

    forcing a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving us that increase the amount of indebtedness or outstanding ordinary shares, or the sale of revenue-generating assets; or

54


Table of Contents

    discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us, even at a per-share price that is in excess of the then-current price of the ADSs.

The dual class structure of our ordinary shares will concentrate voting control with certain shareholders, in particular our founder and chairwoman, Hanzade Vasfiye Doğan Boyner, which will limit your ability to influence corporate matters.

        Our Class A shares have fifteen votes per share, and our Class B ordinary shares, which are the ordinary shares we are offering, have one vote per share. Upon completion of this offering, our Founder will beneficially own all of our issued Class A shares and        % of our issued Class B ordinary shares, representing        % of the voting power of all of our Class A shares and Class B ordinary shares when considered together as a single class, assuming no exercise of the underwriters' over-allotment option to purchase additional ordinary shares. See "Principal and Selling Shareholders."

        Because of the fifteen-to-one voting ratio between our Class A and Class B ordinary shares, the Class A Shareholders (which, as of the date of this offering, will only include our Founder) will continue to control a majority of the combined voting power of our ordinary shares, and therefore will have the ability to control the management and affairs of our company and materially all matters requiring shareholder approval, including election of directors and significant corporate transactions, such as a merger or sale of our company or its assets, so long as the Class A Shareholders hold the majority of the voting rights at any general assembly of shareholders. This concentrated control will limit or preclude your ability to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future.

We may lose our foreign private issuer status in the future, which could result in significant additional costs and expenses.

        As discussed above, we are a foreign private issuer, and therefore, we are not required to comply with all of the periodic disclosure and current reporting requirements of the Exchange Act and certain other requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. The determination of foreign private issuer status is made annually on the last business day of an issuer's most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and, accordingly, the next determination will be made with respect to us on June 30, 2021. We would lose our foreign private issuer status if, for example, more than 50% of our total assets are located in the United States as of June 30, 2021. If we lose our foreign private issuer status on this date, we will be required to file with the SEC periodic reports and registration statements on U.S. domestic issuer forms beginning on January 1, 2022, which are more detailed and extensive than the forms available to a foreign private issuer. We will also have to mandatorily comply with U.S. federal proxy requirements, and our officers, directors and principal shareholders will become subject to the short-swing profit disclosure and recovery provisions of Section 16 of the Exchange Act. In addition, we will lose our ability to rely upon exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements under the listing rules of Nasdaq. As a U.S. listed public company that is not a foreign private issuer, we will incur significant additional legal, accounting and other expenses that we will not incur as a foreign private issuer, and accounting, reporting and other expenses in order to maintain a listing on a U.S. securities exchange. These expenses will relate to, among other things, the obligation to present our financial information in accordance with U.S. GAAP in the future.

We are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the Nasdaq listing rules. As a result, we will qualify for, and intend to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements.

        Our Founder will control a majority of our voting power. See "Principal and Selling Shareholders." Under Nasdaq listing rules, a listed company of which more than 50% of the voting power for the election of directors is held by an individual, group or another company is a "controlled company," and such a company may elect not to comply with certain Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, including (i) the requirement that a majority of the board of directors consist of independent directors,

55


Table of Contents

(ii) the requirement that the corporate governance and nominations committee making decisions on compensation and nominations be composed entirely of independent directors and (iii) the requirements to have a compensation committee and that such committee be composed entirely of independent directors. As a result, investors in our ADSs will not have the same protection as they would if we were not a controlled company.

        Following this offering, we intend to rely on these and other exemptions described in more detail under "Management—Corporate Governance." Accordingly, our Board of Directors and applicable committees will include fewer independent members than would be required if we were subject to all Nasdaq listing rules. As such, their approach may be different from that of a board with a majority of independent directors or a committee with only independent directors and, as a result, our management oversight may be more limited than if we were subject to all Nasdaq listing rules.

As a foreign private issuer we are permitted to, and we will, rely on exemptions from certain of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, including the requirement that a majority of our board of directors consist of independent directors. Our reliance on such exemptions may afford less protection to holders of our ADSs.

        The Nasdaq corporate governance rules require listed companies to have, among other things, a majority of independent board members and independent director oversight of executive compensation, nomination of directors and corporate governance matters. As a foreign private issuer, we are permitted to, and we will, follow home country practice in lieu of the above requirements. Therefore, our Board of Directors approach to governance may be different from that of a board of directors consisting of a majority of independent directors, and, as a result, the management oversight of our Company may be more limited than if we were subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards.

        Following this offering, we intend to rely on these and other exemptions described in more detail under "Management—Corporate Governance." We may in the future elect to follow home country practices in Turkey with regard to other matters. Accordingly, our shareholders will not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards, and the ability of our independent directors to influence our business policies and affairs may be reduced.

We are an "emerging growth company," and we cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to emerging growth companies make our ADSs less attractive to investors.

        We are an "emerging growth company," as defined in the JOBS Act, and we take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not "emerging growth companies" including, but not limited to, not being required to comply with the auditor attestation requirements of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We cannot predict if investors will find our ADSs less attractive because we rely on these exemptions. If some investors find our ADSs less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our ADSs, and the price of our ADSs may be more volatile.

While we currently qualify as an "emerging growth company" under the JOBS Act, if we cease to be an emerging growth company, our costs and the demands placed upon our management will increase.

        We will remain an emerging growth company until the earliest of: (i) the last day of the first fiscal year in which our annual gross revenue exceeds $1.07 billion; (ii) the last day of the fiscal year during which the fifth anniversary of the date of the IPO; (iii) the date that we become a "large accelerated filer" as defined in Rule 12b-2 under the Exchange Act, which would occur if the market value of our ADSs that are held by nonaffiliates exceeds $700 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter; or (iv) the date on which we have issued more than

56


Table of Contents

$1.00 billion in non-convertible debt securities during any three-year period. Once we lose emerging growth company status, we expect the costs and demands placed upon our management to increase, as we will be required to comply with additional disclosure and accounting requirements. In addition, management time and attention, as well as the engagement of our auditors and/or other consultants, will be required in order for us to prepare to comply with the increased disclosure and accounting standards required of companies who are not emerging growth companies, most notably compliance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related auditor attestation requirements.

There is no existing market for our ADSs, and we do not know if one will develop to provide you with adequate liquidity.

        Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our ADSs. We cannot predict the extent to which investor interest in our Company will lead to the development of an active trading market on Nasdaq or otherwise or how liquid that market might become. If an active trading market does not develop, you may have difficulty selling any of our ADSs that you purchase, and the value of such ADSs might be materially impaired. The initial public offering price for our ADSs will be determined by negotiations between us and the representative of the several underwriters and may not be indicative of prices that will prevail in the open market following this offering. Consequently, you may not be able to sell your ADSs at prices equal to or greater than the price you paid in this offering.

We have broad discretion in the use of the net proceeds from this offering and may not use them effectively.

        Our management will have broad discretion in the application of the net proceeds from this offering and could spend the proceeds in ways that do not improve our results of operations or enhance the value of our ordinary shares. We intend to use the net proceeds from this offering for general corporate purposes. See "Use of Proceeds." However, our use of these proceeds may differ substantially from our current plans. The failure by our management to apply these funds effectively could result in financial losses that could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition and cause the price of our ADSs to decline. Pending their use, we may invest the net proceeds from this offering in a manner that does not produce income or that causes them to lose value, in part as we undertook not to invest a significant portion of the proceeds of the offering in "investment securities" as defined in the US Investment Company Act of 1940.

If you purchase ADSs in this offering, you will suffer immediate and substantial dilution of your investment.

        The initial public offering price of our ADSs is substantially higher than the net tangible book deficit per share. Therefore, if you purchase our ADSs in this offering, you will pay a price per ADS that substantially exceeds our pro forma net tangible book deficit per share after this offering. Based on the initial public offering price of $            per ADS, you will experience immediate dilution of $            per ADS, representing the difference between our pro forma net tangible book value per share after giving effect to this offering at the initial public offering price. See "Dilution" for more detail.

We may need to raise additional funds to finance our future capital needs, which may dilute the value of our outstanding ADSs or prevent us from growing our business.

        We may need to raise additional funds to finance our existing and future capital needs, including developing new services and technologies, and to fund ongoing operating expenses. If we raise additional funds through the sale of equity securities, these transactions may dilute the value of our outstanding ADSs. We may also decide to issue securities, including debt securities that have rights, preferences and privileges senior to our ADSs. Any debt financing would increase our level of indebtedness and could negatively affect our liquidity and restrict our operations. We also can provide no assurances that the funds we raise will be sufficient to finance our existing indebtedness. We may be

57


Table of Contents

unable to raise additional funds on terms favorable to us or at all. If financing is not available or is not available on acceptable terms, we may be unable to fund our future needs. This may prevent us from increasing our market share, capitalizing on new business opportunities or remaining competitive in our industry.

The price of our ADSs might fluctuate significantly, and you could lose all or part of your investment.

        Volatility in the market price of our ADSs may prevent you from being able to sell your ADSs at or above the price you paid for such securities. The trading price of our ADSs may be volatile and subject to wide price fluctuations in response to various factors, including:

    the overall performance of the equity markets;

    issuance of new or changed securities analysts' reports or recommendations;

    additions or departures of key personnel;

    sale of our ADSs by us, our principal shareholders or members of our management;

    general economic conditions;

    changes in interest rates; and

    availability of capital.

        These and other factors might cause the market price of our ADSs to fluctuate substantially, which might limit or prevent investors from readily selling their ADSs and may otherwise negatively affect the liquidity of our ADSs. In addition, in recent years, the stock market has experienced significant price and volume fluctuations. This volatility has had a significant impact on the market price of securities issued by many companies across many industries. The changes frequently appear to occur without regard to the operating performance of the affected companies. Accordingly, the price of our ADSs could fluctuate based upon factors that have little or nothing to do with our Company, and these fluctuations could materially reduce our share price. Securities class action litigation has often been instituted against companies following periods of volatility in the overall market and in the market price of a company's securities. This litigation, if instituted against us, could result in substantial costs, divert our management's attention and resources, and our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected.

Future sales of our ADSs, or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.

        Sales of substantial amounts of our ADSs in the public market after this offering, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the price of our ADSs and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional shares. Upon completion of this offering, we will have ordinary shares outstanding, including            ADSs. The ADSs offered in this offering will be freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act, except for any of our ADSs that may be held or acquired by our directors, executive officers and other affiliates, as that term is defined in the Securities Act, which will be restricted securities under the Securities Act. Restricted securities may not be sold in the public market unless the sale is registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration is available.

        We, our executive officers, directors and substantially all of our shareholders, including the Selling Shareholders, have agreed, subject to specified exceptions, with the underwriters not to directly or indirectly sell, offer, contract or grant any option to sell (including any short sale), pledge, transfer, establish an open "put equivalent position" within the meaning of Rule 16a-l(h) under the Exchange Act, purchase, contract or grant any option, right or warrant to purchase, or otherwise dispose of any

58


Table of Contents

of our shares or ADSs, or securities convertible into or exchangeable or exercisable for our shares or ADSs currently or hereafter owned either of record or beneficially; or publicly announce an intention to do any of the foregoing; or enter into any swap or other agreement that transfers, in whole or in part, any of the economic consequences of ownership of our shares or ADSs or such other securities for a period of            days after the date of this prospectus without the prior written consent of J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Morgan Stanley & Co. LLC and Goldman, Sachs & Co. LLC. See "Underwriting."

        All of our ADSs outstanding as of the date of this prospectus may be sold in the public market by existing shareholders 180 days after the date of this prospectus, subject to applicable limitations imposed under federal securities laws. See "Shares and American Depositary Shares Eligible for Future Sale" for a more detailed description of the restrictions on selling our ADSs after this offering.

        In the future, we may also issue our securities if we need to raise capital in connection with a capital raise or acquisition. The amount of ADSs issued in connection with a capital raise or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding ADSs.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports or publish unfavorable research about our business, or we fail to meet the expectations of industry analysts, our stock price and trading volume could decline.

        The trading market for our ADSs will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us, our business or our industry. We may have limited, and may never obtain significant, research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no additional securities or industry analysts commence coverage of our Company, the trading price for our ADSs could be negatively affected. In the event we obtain additional securities or industry analyst coverage, if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our stock, the price of our ADSs will likely decline. If one or more of these analysts, or those who currently cover us, ceases to cover us or fails to publish regular reports on us, interest in the purchase of our ADSs could decrease, which could cause the price of our ADSs or trading volume to decline.

You may not be able to exercise your right to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs.

        Holders of ADSs may exercise voting rights with respect to the ordinary shares represented by their ADSs only in accordance with the provisions of the deposit agreement. The deposit agreement provides that, upon receipt of notice of any meeting of holders of our ordinary shares, including any general meeting of our shareholders, the depositary will, as soon as practicable thereafter, fix a record date for the determination of ADS holders who shall be entitled to give instructions for the exercise of voting rights. Upon timely receipt of notice from us, the depositary shall distribute to the holders as of the record date (i) the notice of the meeting or solicitation of consent or proxy sent by us, (ii) a statement that such holder will be entitled to give the depositary instructions and a statement that such holder may be deemed, if the depositary has appointed a proxy bank as set forth in the deposit agreement, to have instructed the depositary to give a proxy to the proxy bank to vote the ordinary shares underlying the ADSs in accordance with the recommendations of the proxy bank and (iii) a statement as to the manner in which instructions may be given by the holders.

        You may instruct the depositary of your ADSs to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs. Otherwise, you will not be able to exercise your right to vote unless you withdraw our ordinary shares underlying the ADSs you hold. However, you may not know about the meeting far enough in advance to withdraw those ordinary shares. The depositary, upon timely notice from us, will notify you of the upcoming vote and arrange to deliver voting materials to you. We cannot guarantee that you will receive the voting materials in time to ensure that you can instruct the depositary to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs. In addition, the depositary and its agents are not responsible for failing

59


Table of Contents

to carry out voting instructions or for the manner of carrying out voting instructions. This means that you may not be able to exercise your right to vote, and there may be nothing you can do if the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs are not voted as you requested. Under the deposit agreement for the ADSs, we may choose to appoint a proxy bank. In this event, the depositary will be deemed to have been instructed to give a proxy to the proxy bank to vote the ordinary shares underlying your ADSs at shareholders' meetings if you do not vote in a timely fashion and in the manner specified by the depositary. The effect of this proxy is that you cannot prevent the ordinary shares representing your ADSs from being voted, and it may make it more difficult for shareholders to exercise influence over our company, which could adversely affect your interests. Holders of our ordinary shares are not subject to this proxy.

Shareholders and ADS holders may not be able to exercise preemptive rights and, as a result, may experience substantial dilution upon future issuances of ordinary shares.

        In the event of an issuance of ordinary shares, subject to certain exceptions, each shareholder and ADS holder will have a pro rata preemptive right in proportion to the aggregate nominal value of the ordinary shares held by such holder. These preemptive rights may be restricted or excluded by a resolution of the general meeting or by the board of directors, which is authorized to restrict preemptive rights under a registered capital system. This could cause existing shareholders and ADS holders to experience substantial dilution of their interest in us. Additionally, ADS holders may also not be able to exercise preemptive rights directly (but possibly only by instructing the depositary as the registered holder of shares). In the United States, we may be required to file a registration statement under the Securities Act to implement preemptive rights. We can give no assurances that an exemption from the registration requirements of the Securities Act would be available to enable U.S. holders of ordinary shares to exercise such preemptive rights and, if such exemption is available, we may not take the steps necessary to enable U.S. holders of ordinary shares to rely on it. Accordingly, you may not be able to exercise preemptive rights on future issuances of ordinary shares, and, as a result, your percentage ownership interest in us would be diluted. Furthermore, rights offerings are difficult to implement effectively under the current U.S. securities laws, and our ability to raise capital in the future may be compromised if we need to do so through a rights offering in the United States.

ADSs holders may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to claims arising under the deposit agreement, which could result in less favorable outcomes to the plaintiff(s) in any such action.

        The deposit agreement governing the ADSs representing our ordinary shares provides that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, ADS holders waive the right to a jury trial for any claim they may have against us or the depositary arising out of or relating to our shares, the ADSs or the deposit agreement, including any claim under the U.S. federal securities laws.

        If we or the depositary were to oppose a jury trial based on this waiver, the court would have to determine whether the waiver was enforceable based on the facts and circumstances of the case in accordance with applicable state and federal law. To our knowledge, the enforceability of a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver in connection with claims arising under the federal securities laws has not been finally adjudicated by the United States Supreme Court. However, we believe that a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver provision is generally enforceable, including under the laws of the State of New York, which govern the deposit agreement, or by a federal or state court in the City of New York, which has non-exclusive jurisdiction over matters arising under the deposit agreement. In determining whether to enforce a contractual pre-dispute jury trial waiver, courts will generally consider whether a party knowingly, intelligently and voluntarily waived the right to a jury trial. We believe that this would be the case with respect to the deposit agreement and the ADSs. It is advisable that you consult legal counsel regarding the jury waiver provision before investing in the ADSs.

60


Table of Contents

        If you or any other holders or beneficial owners of ADSs bring a claim against us or the depositary in connection with matters arising under the deposit agreement or the ADSs, including claims under federal securities laws, you or such other holder or beneficial owner may not be entitled to a jury trial with respect to such claims, which may have the effect of limiting and discouraging lawsuits against us or the depositary. If a lawsuit is brought against us or the depositary under the deposit agreement, it may be heard only by a judge or justice of the applicable trial court, which would be conducted according to different civil procedures and may result in different outcomes than a trial by jury would have, including outcomes that could be less favorable to the plaintiff(s) in any such action.

        Nevertheless, if this jury trial waiver is not permitted by applicable law, an action could proceed under the terms of the deposit agreement with a jury trial. No condition, stipulation or provision of the deposit agreement or the ADSs serves as a waiver by any holder or beneficial owner of ADSs or by us or the depositary of compliance with any substantive provision of the U.S. federal securities laws and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder.

It is unlikely that we will declare any dividends on our ordinary shares represented by our ADSs and therefore, you must rely on price appreciation of our ordinary shares for a return on your investment; also, to the extent that we declare dividends, we will pay those dividends solely in Turkish Lira.

        We do not currently anticipate paying any dividends. Instead, we intend to retain earnings, if any, for future operations and expansion. Any decision to declare and pay dividends in the future will be made at the discretion of our general assembly of shareholders, acting pursuant to a proposal by our board of directors, and will depend on, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements, financial condition, contractual restrictions and other factors that our general meeting of shareholders or board of directors may deem relevant. Accordingly, investors will most likely have to rely on sales of their ADSs, which may increase or decrease in value, as the only way to realize cash from their investment. There is no guarantee that the price of our ADSs will ever exceed the price that you pay.

        Dividends may also be subject to limitations in the terms of our credit facility arrangements and any dividends paid may provide our lenders with the right to accelerate outstanding amounts thereunder or result in an event of default. See "—Changes in our share ownership, including a change of control of our shares, could result in our inability to draw loans or cause acceleration or events of default under our indebtedness."

        To the extent we declare cash dividends in the future, we will pay those dividends solely in Turkish Lira. As the value of the Turkish Lira fluctuates continuously, a holder of our ADSs will be exposed to currency fluctuations generally and particularly between the date on which a dividend is declared and the date on which dividends are paid. See "Exchange Rates."

You may not receive distributions on the ordinary shares represented by our ADSs or any value for them if it is illegal or impractical to make them available to holders of ADSs.

        The depositary of our ADSs has agreed to pay to you the cash dividends or other distributions it receives on our ordinary shares after deducting its fees and expenses. You will receive these distributions in proportion to the number of our ordinary shares your ADSs represent. However, the depositary is not responsible if it decides that it is unlawful or impractical to make a distribution available to any holders of ADSs. We have no obligation to take any other action to permit the distribution to any holders of our ADSs or ordinary shares. This means that you may not receive the distributions we make on our ordinary shares or any value from them if it is illegal or impractical for us to make them available to you. These restrictions may have a material adverse effect on the value of your ADSs.

61


Table of Contents

Dividends paid to holders of the ADSs who are not tax resident in Turkey will be subject to a 15% withholding tax.

        Dividends payable by a joint stock company that has its legal and/or business center in Turkey to shareholders (both individual and corporate) who are not tax residents of Turkey (i.e., non residents), and who do not have a permanent establishment constituted in Turkey through a permanent representative or place of business therein are subject to a 15% withholding tax to be deducted by the Turkish corporation from the gross amount of dividend distribution to its shareholders. Dividends distributed to a legal entity in Turkey (which should be already registered for corporate tax in Turkey) are exempt from such withholding tax. Consequently, our ADSs are being held and the non resident holder does not have a taxable presence in Turkey such as a permanent establishment constituted through a representative or place of business therein, any dividends that we may decide to distribute in the future in respect of such ADSs will be subject to this 15% withholding tax based on the corresponding gross amount of distribution, which could adversely affect the value of your investment. Turkey's tax treaties with different countries may provide reduced dividend withholding taxes such as 5% or 10%; however such reduced tax rates are not usually applicable to portfolio type investments because of minimum shareholding ratio requirements stipulated in most of Turkey's tax treaties. Therefore, final withholding tax burden for shareholders holding ADSs should be determined by considering their tax residency status as well as other conditions in the respective tax treaties. See "Taxation—Material Turkey Tax Considerations."

You may be subject to limitations on the transfer of your ADSs.

        Your ADSs, which may be evidenced by ADRs, are transferable on the books of the depositary. However, the depositary may close its books at any time or from time to time when it deems expedient in connection with the performance of its duties. The depositary may refuse to deliver, transfer or register transfers of your ADSs generally when our books or the books of the depositary are closed, or at any time if we or the depositary think it is advisable to do so because of any requirement of law, government or governmental body, or under any provision of the deposit agreement, or for any other reason.

You may experience difficulties in effecting service of legal process, enforcing foreign judgments or bringing original actions in Turkey based on United States or other foreign laws against us and our management.

        We are incorporated and conduct a substantial portion of our business and have substantial assets located in Turkey. In addition, the majority of our directors and officers are nationals and residents of countries other than the United States. As a result, it may be difficult to effect service of process within the United States upon these persons. It may also be difficult to enforce in U.S. courts judgments obtained in U.S. courts based on the civil liability provisions of the U.S. federal or state securities laws against us and our officers and directors who are not resident in the United States and the substantial majority of whose assets are located outside of the United States. The liability of our directors and executives towards us and the shareholders will be governed by Turkish laws as well as the shareholding rights of investors before the Turkish courts. Further, it is unclear whether an original lawsuit against us or our directors or executive officers based on U.S. federal or state securities laws can be enforced in Turkish courts. Moreover, Turkey does not have treaties with the United States providing for the reciprocal recognition and enforcement of judgments of courts. Therefore, even if a judgment were obtained against us or our management for matters arising under U.S. federal or state securities laws or other applicable U.S. federal or state law, it may not be possible to enforce such a judgment in Turkey.

        Furthermore, any claim against us which is denominated in a foreign currency would, upon pronouncement of our bankruptcy, only be payable in Turkish Lira, thereby shifting the currency exchange risk to you. The relevant exchange rate for determining the Turkish Lira amount of any such

62


Table of Contents

claim would be the Central Bank's exchange rate for the purchase of the relevant currency, which is effective on the date when the relevant court's decision on the bankruptcy is rendered in accordance with Turkish law. Such exchange rate may be less favorable to you than the rate of exchange prevailing at the relevant time.

We are a Turkish joint stock company. The rights of our shareholders under Turkish law may be different from the rights of shareholders under the laws of U.S. jurisdictions.

        We are a Turkish joint stock company. Our corporate affairs are governed by our articles of association and by the Turkish Commercial Code No. 6102, (the "TCC"). The rights of shareholders and the responsibilities of members of our board of directors may be different from the rights of shareholders and responsibilities of directors in companies governed by the laws of U.S. jurisdictions. See "Management—Corporate Governance." The rights of our shareholders and the fiduciary responsibilities of our directors under Turkish law are not as clearly established as they would be under statutes or judicial precedent in some jurisdictions in the United States. In particular, Turkey has a less exhaustive body of securities laws than the United States. In addition, some U.S. states, such as the State of Delaware, have more fulsome and judicially interpreted bodies of corporate law than Turkey. For example, we are not aware of any reported class actions having been brought in Turkish courts. Such actions are ordinarily available in respect of United States corporations in United States courts. As a result, the holders of our ADSs could face different considerations in and have more difficulty protecting their interests in actions against our management, directors or controlling shareholder than would shareholders of a corporation incorporated in a jurisdiction in the United States, and our ability to protect our own interests may be limited if we are harmed in a manner that would otherwise give rise to jurisdiction in a United States federal or state court. See "Description of Share Capital and Articles of Association—Comparison of Turkish Corporate Law and Delaware Corporate Law."

From time to time we may grant share based compensation to our management and employees, which may cause their interests to become excessively tied to the trading price of our ordinary shares.

        From time to time, we may grant share options to our management and employees. We may introduce new share option plans for our senior management and employees in order to increase their efficiency, align their interests with the interests of our shareholders and retain executives who commit to long-term earnings and short-term performance. If our shareholders or board of directors approve the issuance of new share option plans, you may be diluted in the event that the exercise price under such share option plan is lower than the trading price of our ordinary shares. In addition, new share option plans may cause the interests of our management to become excessively tied to the trading price of our ordinary shares, which may have an adverse impact on our business and financial condition. For more information about our share based compensation, see "Management—Compensation of Directors and Officers."

63


Table of Contents

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

        This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that relate to our current expectations and views of future events. These forward-looking statements are contained principally in the sections entitled "Prospectus Summary," "Risk Factors," "Use of Proceeds," "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and "Business." These statements relate to events that involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including those listed under "Risk Factors," which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

        In some cases, these forward-looking statements can be identified by words or phrases such as "believe," "may," "will," "expect," "estimate," "could," "should," "anticipate," "aim," "intend," "plan," "potential," "continue," "is/are likely to" or other similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this prospectus include, but are not limited to, statements about:

    our future financial performance, including our revenue, operating expenses and our ability to achieve and maintain profitability;

    our expectations regarding the development of our industry and the competitive environment in which we operate;

    the growth of our brand awareness and overall business; and

    our ability to improve our technology platform, customer experience and product offerings to attract and retain merchants and customers.

        These forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions, some of which are beyond our control. In addition, these forward-looking statements reflect our current views with respect to future events and are not a guarantee of future performance. Actual outcomes may differ materially from the information contained in the forward-looking statements as a result of a number of factors, including, without limitation, the risk factors set forth in "Risk Factors" and the following:

    our lack of historical profitability and risks in achieving profitability in the future;

    our ability to effectively manage our growth;

    our ability to maintain and enhance our brand;

    significant competition in our markets;

    our ability to improve our user experience, customer and merchant value propositions and technology to attract and retain customers and merchants;

    further impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic or other health crises affecting our customers, as well as any governmental or international response measures;

    any significant fluctuations in our results of operations and growth rate;

    global or Turkish political and economic stability;

    regulatory concerns;

    our ability to implement and maintain an effective system of internal control over financial reporting;

    our ability to retain and motivate our personnel and attract new talent; and

64


Table of Contents

    as a foreign private issuer, an emerging growth company and a controlled company, we are exempt from a number of rules under the U.S. securities laws and Nasdaq corporate governance rules and are permitted to file less information with the SEC than U.S. companies, which may limit the information available to holders of the ADSs.

        We operate in an evolving environment. New risks emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the effect of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements.

        The forward-looking statements made in this prospectus relate only to events or information as of the date on which the statements are made in this prospectus. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, after the date on which the statements are made or to reflect the occurrence of unanticipated events. You should read this prospectus and the documents that we have filed as exhibits to the registration statement, of which this prospectus is a part, completely and with the understanding that our actual future results or performance may be materially different from what we expect.

65


Table of Contents


EXCHANGE RATES

        The Turkish Lira has historically been and continues to be a volatile currency. The Turkish Central Bank (the "Central Bank") has adopted a floating exchange rate policy.

        The table below sets forth the high, low, period average and end and exchange rates for U.S. dollars announced by the Central Bank, expressed as the number of Turkish Lira per U.S. dollar, for the periods indicated.

Year ended December 31,
  Period
end(1)
  Period
average(2)
  High   Low  

2018

    5.2609     4.8134     6.8798     3.7371  

2019

    5.9402     5.6708     6.2026     5.1945  

2020

    7.3405     7.0090     8.4613     5.8529  

Month:

                         

January 2021

    7.3723     7.3940     7.4952     7.2733  

February 2021

    7.1924     7.0724     7.3216     6.9150  

March 2021

    8.3260     7.6282     8.3260     7.2670  

April 2021

    8.1753     8.1550     8.3295     8.0362  

Source: Central Bank U.S. dollar buying rates, based on the indicative exchange rates announced after 15:30, for the following business day

(1)
Represents the Central Bank's indicative U.S. dollar buying rate announced for the respective period end date,

(2)
Represents the daily average of the Central Bank's indicative U.S. dollar buying rates announced for the business days in the respective period.

        The table below sets forth the high, low, period average and period end exchange rates for Euro announced by the Central Bank, expressed as the number of Turkish Lira per Euro, for the periods indicated.

Year ended December 31,
  Period
end(1)
  Period
average(2)
  High   Low  

2018

    6.0280     5.6627     7.8327     4.4840  

2019

    6.6506     6.3477     6.9419     5.9328  

2020

    9.0079     8.0278     10.0279     6.5096  

Month:

                         

January 2021

    8.9216     9.0081     9.1164     8.9216  

February 2021

    8.7811     8.5562     8.8718     8.3867  

March 2021

    9.7741     9.0913     9.7741     8.6566  

April 2021

    9.9090     9.7339     10.0735     9.4646  

Source: Central Bank Euro buying rates, based on indicative exchange rates announced after 15:30, for the following day

(1)
Represents the Central Bank's indicative Euro buying rate announced for the respective period end date,

(2)
Represents the daily average of the Central Bank's indicative Euro buying rates announced for the business days in the respective period.

66


Table of Contents


USE OF PROCEEDS

        We estimate that the net proceeds to us from this offering will be approximately $             million, assuming an initial public offering price per ADS of $            , which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated expenses of the offering that are payable by us (or approximately $             million if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs from us in full).

        Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price per ADS would increase (decrease) our net proceeds, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and expenses, by $            , assuming that the number of ADSs offered by us, as set forth on the cover of this prospectus, remains the same. Each increase (decrease) of 1,000,000 ADSs in the number of ADSs offered by us would increase (decrease) our net proceeds, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and expenses, by approximately $             million, assuming no change in the assumed initial public offering price per ADS. Expenses of this offering will be paid by us.

        We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of ADSs by the Selling Shareholders.

        The principal purposes of this offering are to broaden and strengthen our shareholder base, increase financial flexibility and to create a public market for our ADSs. We currently intend to use the net proceeds we receive from this offering for general corporate purposes, including working capital, operating expenses, and capital expenditures. We may also use a portion of the net proceeds for acquisitions of, or strategic investments in, complementary businesses, products, services, or technologies. We have not quantified or allocated any specific portion or range of the net proceeds to us for any particular purpose and we do not have any plans or commitments to enter into any material acquisitions or investments at this time. We will have broad discretion over how we use the net proceeds from this offering. We intend to invest, subject to certain limitations, the net proceeds from the offering that are not used as described above in investment-grade, interest-bearing instruments.

        The amount and timing of our use of the proceeds for these purposes may vary significantly and will depend on a number of factors, including our future revenue and cash generated by operations and the other factors described in "Risk Factors." Accordingly, our board of directors will have broad discretion using the net proceeds of this offering.

67


Table of Contents


DIVIDEND POLICY

        We do not currently anticipate paying any cash dividends on our ordinary shares. We intend to retain all available funds and any future earnings to fund the development and expansion of our business.

        The timing and amount of any future dividend payments will depend on our existing and future financial condition, results of operations, liquidity needs and other matters that we may consider relevant from time to time, including, without limitation, capital expenditures, our financial performance and equity market conditions. See "Risk Factors—Risks Related to the ADSs and the Offering—It is unlikely that we will declare any dividends on our ordinary shares represented by our ADSs and therefore, you must rely on price appreciation of our ordinary shares for a return on your investment; also, to the extent that we declare dividends, we will pay those dividends solely in Turkish Lira."

        To the extent we declare cash dividends in the future, we will pay those dividends solely in Turkish Lira. Except as otherwise described under "Description of American Depositary Shares," cash dividends paid to the depositary in a currency other than U.S. dollars will be converted into U.S. dollars by the depositary and paid to holders of ADSs net of applicable fees and charges of, and expenses incurred by, the depositary and net of taxes withheld. As the value of the Turkish Lira fluctuates continuously, a holder of our ADSs will be exposed to currency fluctuations generally and particularly between the date on which a dividend is declared and the date on which dividends are paid. See "Exchange Rates".

        For a description of the legal and regulatory framework and the provisions of our articles of association with related to the declaration and payment of dividends, see "Description of Share Capital and Articles of Association—Articles of Association—Dividends."

        Under current Turkish regulations, any dividends or other repatriations that are deemed and treated as dividends for Turkish taxation purposes in respect of any of our ordinary shares will be subject to withholding taxes. The local withholding tax rate may be reduced pursuant to tax treaty provisions. See "Material Tax Considerations—Material Turkey Tax Considerations."

68


Table of Contents


CAPITALIZATION

        The table below sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of March 31, 2021:

    on an actual basis; and

    on an as adjusted basis to reflect the issuance and sale of ADSs in this offering at the assumed initial public offering price of $            per ADS, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us.

        Investors should read this table in conjunction with our audited financial statements included in this prospectus as well as "Use of Proceeds" and "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations."

 
  As of March 31, 2021  
 
  Actual   As adjusted  

Cash and cash equivalents

    388,362,900        

Bank borrowings current portion

    432,617,982        

Equity:

             

Share capital

    56,865,658        

Share premiums

    187,464,832        

Restricted reserves

    1,586,430        

Accumulated deficit

    (1,271,949,143 )      

Total equity

    (1,026,032,223 )      

Total Capitalization

    (205,051,341 )      

69


Table of Contents


DILUTION

        If you invest in our ADSs, your interest will be diluted to the extent of the difference between the initial public offering price per ADS and the as adjusted net tangible book value per share immediately following the consummation of this offering.

        At March 31, 2021, we had a historical net tangible book value of $             million, corresponding to a net tangible book value of $            per share or $            per ADS based on an ordinary share to ADS ratio of            . Net tangible book value per share represents the amount of our total assets less our total liabilities, excluding goodwill and other intangible assets, divided by the total number of our ordinary shares outstanding.

        After giving effect to the sale by us of ADSs (representing an aggregate of ordinary shares) in this offering at the assumed initial public offering price of $            per ADS, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, after deducting the estimated underwriting discounts and commissions and estimated offering expenses payable by us, our as adjusted net tangible book value at March 31, 2021 would have been approximately $             million, representing $            per share or $            per ADS. This represents an immediate increase in net tangible book value of $            per share or $            per ADS to existing shareholders and an immediate dilution in net tangible book value of $            per share or $            per ADS to new investors purchasing ADSs in this offering at the assumed initial public offering price. Dilution in net tangible book value per ADS to new investors is determined by subtracting as adjusted net tangible book value per ADS after this offering from the assumed initial public offering price per ADS paid by new investors.

        The following table illustrates this dilution to new investors purchasing ADSs in the offering.

Assumed initial public offering price

        $    

As adjusted net tangible book value per ADS as of March 31, 2021

  $          

Increase in net tangible book value per ADS attributable to this offering

             

As adjusted net tangible book value per ADS after this offering

             

Dilution per ADS to new investors in this offering

        $    

        If the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional ADSs from us in full, our as adjusted net tangible book value after this offering would be $            per ADS, representing an immediate increase in as adjusted net tangible book value of            per ADS to existing shareholders and immediate dilution of $            per ADS in as adjusted net tangible book value to new investors purchasing ADSs in this offering, based on an assumed initial public offering price of $            per ADS, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus.

        Each $1.00 increase (decrease) in the assumed initial public offering price of $            per ADS, which is the midpoint of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, respectively, would increase (decrease) the as adjusted net tangible book value after this offering by $            per ADS and the dilution per share to new investors in the offering by $            per ADS, assuming that the number of ADSs offered by us, as set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, remains the same.

70


Table of Contents

MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

        You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations in conjunction with the section entitled "Summary Consolidated Financial and Other Data," and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. This discussion and analysis contain forward-looking statements that involve numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described in the "Risk Factors" section of this prospectus. Actual results and timing of events could differ materially from those expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements. See "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" for more information.

Company Overview

        We are a leading commerce platform in Turkey and in 2020, we connected 33 million members, 9 million Active Customers and a fast growing base of approximately 45 thousand Active Merchants. We provide high-quality customer experience by relentlessly focusing on selection, price and delivery:

    Selection:  As of December 31, 2020 we had over 44 million SKUs, including variants (color, size, etc.) across 32 different categories offered through a hybrid model combining a first-party Direct Sales model (1P model) and a third-party Marketplace model (3P model);

    Price:  We seek to provide the best value for our customers by offering products at highly competitive prices; and

    Delivery:  We operate a large, fast and scalable in-house logistics network with robust last-mile delivery capabilities based on a proprietary technology platform.

        Founded in 2000, Hepsiburada has been one of the early pioneers of digitalization of commerce in Turkey and has become a household brand in the country. Our brand, which corresponds to "Everything is Here", is synonymous with a seamless online shopping experience and benefits from very strong brand awareness, with Hepsiburada scoring 96% for aided brand awareness (with the two closest competitors in Turkey scoring 95% and 92%, respectively), 78% for spontaneous brand awareness (with the two closest competitors in Turkey scoring 74% and 63%, respectively) and 91% for highest preference score (with the two closest competitors in Turkey scoring 89% and 87%, respectively), according to FutureBright Research Brand Health Report in 2020. Additionally, our brand had a market leading NPS of 66 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 according to the company's internal reporting and has been named Turkey's favorite e-commerce brand several times by Mediacats' Lovemark, a survey which aims to reveal the brands consumers value within a given category. Supported by the strength of our brand, we benefit from substantial organic traffic, with approximately 70% of traffic being unpaid traffic, for the three months ended March 31, 2021.

        We believe that our commitment to five central pillars of our business culture is the reason we have risen to become a leader of e-commerce in Turkey as evidenced by our brand awareness track record. The five pillars of our business culture are:

    customer-first mentality;

    entrepreneurial business acumen;

    meticulous execution;

    relentless innovation; and

    social consciousness, diversity and inclusion.

        Our aim is for customers of Hepsiburada to come to the platform and be able to do the following:

    Hepsiburada:  Shop a wide range of products online;

71


Table of Contents

    HepsiExpress:  Order groceries and essentials to be delivered within 30 to 60 minutes;

    HepsiGlobal:  Discover and purchase products from international merchants online;

    HepsiPay:  Use different online payment options; and

    HepsiFly:  Buy airline tickets online.

        We have 20 years of e-commerce experience in Turkey, and our local know-how allows us to better tackle the needs of our community of customers, merchants and suppliers across the country. Our leadership team's commitment to our vision, mission and culture is one of our main differentiators and is the foundation on which our ecosystem continues to build in order to accelerate digitalization of Turkish commerce. We have grown together with our merchants located across the entire country and have contributed to the local economy and employment. Furthermore, Hepsiburada is one of the few female founded technology companies globally, and we have been actively promoting and empowering women entrepreneurship in Turkey.

        Since the launch of our Marketplace in 2015, Hepsiburada has become a trustworthy partner for merchants in Turkey by providing access to 33 million members and 9 million Active Customers and comprehensive end-to-end solutions to empower merchants to thrive digitally. In 2020, our 3P-based Marketplace model accounted for approximately 59% of our GMV, following the successful transformation of Hepsiburada from a 1P-based Direct Sales only business to its current hybrid 1P and 3P-based model. Our aim is for Hepsiburada's merchants to enjoy a seamless set of integrated e-commerce solutions:

    HepsiLojistik:  Fulfillment options across Turkey;

    HepsiJet:  Last-mile delivery services;

    HepsiPay:  Online payment solutions; and

    HepsiAd:  Personalized ads and data insights.

        We believe powerful network effects are created by our leading brand, hybrid commerce model with a unified 1P and 3P-based catalogue, and strong customer and merchant value propositions. Our expanding selection of products and services, as well as price competitiveness, has allowed us to attract a growing total Active Customer base from 4.8 million in 2018 and 6.5 million in 2019 to 9 million in 2020 and increase the frequency of orders on our platform from 3.1 in 2018 to 3.5 in 2019 and to 3.9 in 2020, which in turn draws more merchants and further enhances our customer value proposition. In addition, our proprietary data and insights collected over the last 20 years enable us to understand the needs of our customers and merchants and help us develop new services, expand into new verticals, and continuously innovate and strengthen our value proposition reinforcing the network effect.

        Our large, fast and scalable logistics network has been critical to our success and we have been continuously focusing on improving our logistics capabilities and offerings. We have a robust operational footprint enabling fast delivery and merchant integration. As of March 2021, we operate:

    a nationwide infrastructure including six fulfillment centers in strategic locations that encompass a total area of more than 120 thousand square meters;

    our HepsiJet business is one of the fastest growing logistics companies with an on-time delivery performance of 95% in 2020, and operates in 63 cities with 115 cross-docks as of March 31, 2021; and

    our HepsiMat business is a pick-up & drop-off (PUDO) network with more than 950 branded parcel lockers and pick-up points as of March 2021 and has partnership with local stores, gas stations and retailers.

72


Table of Contents

        We are a technology-driven company and have invested heavily in developing our own highly scalable proprietary technology to support the large and rapidly growing order volumes generated on our platform. Our in-house developed IT infrastructure is central to our ability to execute our business strategy and ensure a seamless experience for our merchants and customers with our single mobile app that connects our offerings and services.

        Our business has experienced a long history of strong growth as a result of our commitment to meticulous execution. Our revenues increased by 33% from TRY 2.0 billion in 2018 to TRY 2.6 billion in 2019, by 145% to TRY 6.4 billion in 2020 and by 66% from TRY 0.8 billion in the three months ended March 31, 2020 to TRY 1.4 billion in three months ended March 31, 2021 and our total GMV increased by 56% from TRY 5.1 billion in 2018 to TRY 8.0 billion in 2019, by 111% to TRY 17.0 billion in 2020 and by 95% from TRY 2.3 billion in three months ended March 31, 2020 to TRY 4.5 billion in three months ended March 31, 2021, fueled by increasing purchase frequency, greater customer loyalty and an expanding pool of Active Customers from 4.8 million in 2018 to 6.5 million in 2019 and to 9 million in 2020, a CAGR of 37% over the period. We had Free Cash Flow of TRY 119.0 million, TRY 310.4 million, TRY 341.4 million in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively, and TRY 60.5 million and TRY (158.8) million in three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2021, respectively.

Key Factors Affecting Our Financial Condition and Results of Operations

General

        Our performance and results of operations have been, and will continue to be, affected by a number of key factors, which we believe include the following:

    macroeconomic and demographic factors in Turkey;

    growth and engagement of our customers;

    number of our merchants and the assortment offered on our platform;

    efficiency of our logistics infrastructure;

    our ability to leverage our growing scale;

    COVID-19 impact;

    seasonality; and

    exchange rate volatility.

Macroeconomic and Demographic Factors in Turkey

        As a member of the G20, Turkey is the 13th largest economy in the world by GDP based on purchasing power parity in 2019 according to the IMF World Economic Outlook report dated 2021 and a total GDP of U.S. $717 billion in current prices for 2020 according to Turkstat, which is projected to grow 4.1% CAGR to US$877 billion in 2025. Turkey is also the largest economy in the Central Eastern Europe (excluding Russia) according to ADL. Turkey is one of the fastest growing economies in the world, with real GDP CAGR of 5.2% from 2010 to 2020 based on Turkstat. In 2020, the year marked by the COVID-19 pandemic, Turkey was one of the only two G20 member countries with real GDP growth (1.8% year on year according to Turkstat), along with China, according to the IMF World Economic Outlook. According to the IMF, Turkey is the second most populous country in Europe with a population of 84 million as of December 31, 2020 and a population growth of 1.3% from 2010 to 2020. Turkey benefits from attractive demographics, the second youngest in Europe (after Kosovo) with 46% of the population under the age of 30 according to Turkstat, and an increasing urban population share of approximately 75% based on UN data as of 2018, which is comparable to Germany.

73


Table of Contents

        The retail market is one of the largest and fastest growing industries in Turkey. According to ADL, the Turkish retail market grew at a CAGR of 15.3% from 2015 to 2020 and reached TRY 866 billion in 2020. The market is projected to grow at a CAGR of 15.7% in the period 2020 to 2025 and to approximately TRY 1,798 billion based on a forecast from ADL.

        Turkey's e-commerce market (exclusive of services, travel and betting) has grown significantly faster than the broader retail market, at a CAGR of 46.1% from 2015 to 2020, reaching a total market size of TRY 88 billion in 2020 (in terms of gross merchandise value excluding cross-border sales, B2B sales, VAT and services (e.g., food delivery); not excluding returns), according to ADL. E-commerce penetration has more than tripled during the same time period from 3.1% of the overall retail market in 2015 to 10.1% in 2020, according to ADL. Low e-commerce penetration in Turkey suggests significant room for growth when compared to penetration in other similar large markets, with South Korea at 35.8% and China at 27.3%, closely trailed by the UK with 24.2% and the US with 20.3%, and with Poland at 14.4%, Brazil at 13.9%, Germany at 13.6% and Russia at 10.5% in 2020 based on Euromonitor1 data. See "Market and Industry Data."

        The strong historical and projected growth of e-commerce sector is underpinned by: (1) nationwide internet infrastructure with 78% internet penetration2 among the population between the ages of 16 and 74, according to Turkstat, and 77% smartphone penetration, according to Euromonitor3, in 2020; (2) high credit & debit card penetration with 91% credit card penetration and 225% debit card penetration in 2020 according to BKM (where penetration is calculated by dividing the number of credit and debit cards, respectively, by the population of Turkey); (3) well-established logistics infrastructure with high quality highways, railway networks, airports and seaports enabling nationwide delivery of orders (4) based on ADL projections, online e-commerce is projected to grow 35% CAGR from 2020 to 2025, with offline retail projected to grow by only 13% in the same period and as a result, e-commerce has grown to 10.1% of total retail commerce in Turkey as of 2020 and is expected to continue to grow as a share of total retail through 2025.

        As internet penetration and proliferation of smartphones increase, the number of consumers shopping online is expected to reach 44 million in 2025 compared with 26 million in 2020, implying 69% of the Turkish population between the ages of 16 and 74 will become online shoppers by that time, resulting in an e-commerce market size of TRY 397 billion (in terms of gross merchandise value excluding cross-border sales, B2B sales, VAT and services (e.g., food delivery); not excluding returns) and e-commerce penetration of 22.1% by 2025 based on ADL's forecast.

        Our results of operations, in particular our GMV, sales of goods revenue and services revenue, as well as our profitability are dependent on the growth in GDP and GDP per capita growth in Turkey in addition to the growth in the Turkish retail market and e-commerce market penetration. The Turkish economy's real GDP grew at a CAGR of 5.2% from 2010 to 2020 based on data from Turkstat, and the Turkish retail and e-commerce markets grew at a CAGR of 15.3% and 46.1%, respectively, between 2015 and 2020 according to ADL. Supported by the strong macroeconomic landscape, our GMV grew at a CAGR of 82% from TRY 5.1 billion in 2018 to TRY 17.0 billion in 2020 which in turn resulted in a revenue growth at a CAGR of 81% in the same period.

Growth and Engagement of our Customers

        Our ability to generate revenues and profits mainly depends on increasing purchase frequency, customer loyalty and expanding our Active Customer base, which depend on our success in improving the customer experience through expanded logistics and fulfillment capabilities, developing and

   


1
Euromonitor, Retailing 2021 ed.
2
Internet penetration is defined as the percent of the population between the ages of 16 and 74 that have used the internet within the last 3 months.
3
Euromonitor, Economies and Consumers data, March 2021

74


Table of Contents

improving our platform and offering new products and services. For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, our financial results have benefited from customer retention and an increased frequency of orders (3.1, 3.5 and 3.9 purchases per customer, respectively), and we believe our leading brand, hybrid commerce model with a unified 1P and 3P catalogue, and strong customer and merchant value propositions create powerful network effects.

        Our increasing selection of products and services, as well as price competitiveness, is another factor that contributes to attract a growing total Active Customer base and increase the frequency of transactions on our platform, which in turn draws more merchants and further enhances our customer value proposition. As of December 31, 2020, there were over 44 million SKUs on our platform (compared to 20.4 million SKUs in 2018) across 32 different categories. As a result of our wide variety of products, we believe we have been able to achieve attractive prices in Turkish e-commerce market. Based on GFK independent consumer research, 77% of online shoppers in Turkey rated our prices favorably (Question asked: "Please rate the following six e-commerce platforms for price from 1 to 5, 5 being the most positive performance", a response of 4 or 5 is considered favorable). In addition, our proprietary data and insights collected over the last 20 years enable us to understand the needs of our customers and merchants and help us develop new services, expand into new verticals, and continuously innovate and strengthen our value proposition reinforcing this network effect.

        Thanks to these efforts, we had a market leading NPS, an index ranging from (100) to 100 that measures the willingness of customers to recommend a company's products or services to others of 66 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 (52, 49, 56 in 2018, 2019 and 2020, respectively), and have been elected Turkey's favorite e-commerce brand several times by MediaCats' Lovemark and have won several other awards since 2015 for our e-commerce platform achievements and in customer excellence, which we believe is an indicator of our strong customer satisfaction. Further, we have reduced the rate at which customers raise customer services inquiries through our ticketing system from 6.4% of orders in 2019, to 5.1% in 2020 and to 2.6% in the first quarter of 2021.

        To ensure increased customer retention, we launched our Loyalty Club in August 2020. As of December 31, 2020, we had more than 230 thousand customers admitted to our Loyalty Club since its launch. Admissions to our Loyalty Club are made to create sustainable and recurring revenue, by increasing the purchase frequency of our customers. On average, Loyalty Club members bought approximately 2.5 times more frequently on a monthly basis compared to our non-Loyalty Club customers from its launch in August 2020 to December 31, 2020. In addition, one of the main drivers of our GMV growth has been the increase in our customers' order frequency as we expanded our product and service offerings. We aim to leverage the deep understanding of our customers' preferences, which we have been building up over the years, and our advanced in-house lifecycle management engines powered by artificial intelligence and deep-learning technologies to drive higher engagement and retention of customers and frequency of transactions on our platform. Approximately 13% of orders in 2020 included products that were recommended by our proprietary recommendation engine. As a result of these initiatives, in the period under review, we increased the frequency of orders on our platform from 3.1 in 2018 to 3.5 in 2019 and 3.9 in 2020. This increase drove an increase in our GMV, which in turn, during the period under review contributed to an increase in our revenue. In 2019, we observed a frequency increase of 11% which contributed to the increase in our revenues of 33.2% as compared to 2018. Similarly in 2020, we observed a frequency increase of 12% which contributed to the increase in our revenues of 144.9%.

        To track customer growth and engagement, we perform cohort analysis, where we group our Active Customers based on the year of their first purchase through our platform and track GMV generated per cohort customer as well as their order frequency. Since 2013, we observed a growing trend in GMV per cohort Active Customer. In the first year of purchase, our GMV per cohort customer in 2020 increased by 52% as compared to 2019.

75


Table of Contents

        Since 2013, we also observed a growing trend in order frequency per cohort Active Customer. In the first year of purchase, frequency per cohort customer in 2020 increased by approximately 11% compared to 2019.

        The figures below indicate the GMV per cohort Active Customer and the average number of orders placed by cohort customer per year:

GRAPHIC


(1)
Refers to GMV for a particular Active Customer cohort (2013-2020) in the respective year (Years 0-7), divided by the total number of Active Customers in that cohort.

(2)
Order frequency denotes the total number of orders placed by the Active Customer cohort (2013-2020) placed in the respective year (Years 0-7) divided by the total number of Active Customers in that cohort.

(3)
Year 0 is the year in which the Active Customers of each cohort made their first order, while Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5, Year 6 and Year 7 refer to the relevant subsequent years of each Active Customer cohort's life.

        The below charts indicate our GMV growth and growth in our Active Customer base between 2018 and 2020:

GRAPHIC

        Our results of operations, in particular our GMV, sales of goods revenue and services revenue, as well as our profitability are dependent on our ability to retain and grow our customer base, in addition to our ability to increase our customers' purchase frequency. We continuously strive for growing our

76


Table of Contents

customer base while we also target to increase customer retention and frequency to maintain our leading position in Turkey.

Number of Merchants and the Assortment Offered on our Platform

        Within our Marketplace operations, we have one of the largest merchant bases in Turkey, with approximately 45 thousand Active Merchants as of December 31, 2020, having become a "one-stop-shop" and one of the most attractive digital platforms for merchants to access consumers across Turkey. As of December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, and three months ended March 31, 2021, our Marketplace, which is based on a 3P model relying on merchants, represented approximately 58%, 66%, 59% and 70% of our total GMV, respectively. In order to ensure high quality standards we have strict policies that allow us to monitor merchants' end-to-end operations and performance on our platform.

        Our success depends on our ability to continue to innovate and provide products and services that are attractive to existing or new merchants. We are constantly upgrading our technology to provide improved performance, increased scale and better integration among our core businesses and complementary value-added services to our merchants (see "Business—Our Value Added Services"). Adopting new technologies, upgrading our online platform and technology infrastructure and maintaining and improving our technology infrastructure require significant investments of time and resources, including adding new hardware, updating software and recruiting and training new engineering personnel, which result in increased operational expenses. On the other hand, these initiatives also enable us to grow our customer base and increase purchase frequency, which results in an increase in our GMV, revenues and accordingly our profit. Between 2018 and 2020, our Active Merchant base grew at a CAGR of over 90%. The growth in our Active Merchant base enabled us to increase our product selection with competitive pricing. As a result, we were able to increase our GMV and therefore increase our services revenues. In 2019, we observed growth in our Active Merchant base of 73% which contributed to the overall increase in our services revenues of 89.3%. Similarly in 2020, we observed growth in our Active Merchant base of approximately 111% which contributed to the increase in our services revenues of 144.9%.

        The below illustration indicates the growth in our Active Merchants from 2016 to 2020.

GRAPHIC

77


Table of Contents

        The below illustration indicates our Marketplace GMV growth by Active Merchant cohort indexed to their first year of sales by Active Merchant cohort from 2016 to 2020.

GRAPHIC


(1)
Refers to Marketplace GMV for a particular Active Merchant cohort (2016-2019) in respective year (Years 0-4), divided by the total number of Active Merchants in that cohort, indexed to Year 0.

(2)
2015 cohort members are added to 2016 cohort members since Marketplace only launched by the end of 2015.

(3)
Year 0 is the year in which the active merchants of each cohort made sold their first order, while Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4 refer to the relevant subsequent years of each active merchant's cohort's life.

        Our results of operations, in particular our GMV, sales of goods revenue and services revenue, as well as our profitability are dependent on our ability to retain and grow our customer base, in addition to our ability to increase our customers' purchase frequency.

        To attract and retain merchants, we offer a highly-attractive online platform that had 33 million members, and 9 million Active Customers as of December 31, 2020. In our Marketplace, we offer a wide assortment of products and intend to continue expanding our catalog to strengthen our position as a one-stop shop for all of our customers' shopping needs. We organize the listings in our platform in what we believe is an intuitive and easy-to-use directory that facilitates the browsing and viewing of listings. As of December 31, 2020, there were over 44 million SKUs on our platform (compared to 20.4 million SKUs in 2018) across 32 different categories.

        As of December 31, 2020, of our approximately 45 thousand Active Merchants, approximately 42 thousand were small and medium enterprises ("SMEs"), whereas the remaining approximately 3 thousand were key account merchants. Key account merchants enable us to provide products from top brands, high volumes and quality whereas SMEs provide us with product assortment and variety.

Efficiency of our Logistics Infrastructure

        Our logistics infrastructure comprises a network of six fulfillment centers across Turkey, including our Gebze fulfillment center which is one of the largest dedicated e-commerce operation centers in the

78


Table of Contents

neighboring region in terms of square meters. Our fulfillment centers, including regional warehouses encompass a total area of more than 120 thousand square meters.

        To complement our logistics infrastructure responsible for delivery and fulfillment, we also provide last-mile delivery services. As of March 31, 2021, HepsiJet services were available in 63 cities in Turkey serving to approximately 95% of Turkey's population. By June 30, 2021, we aim for HepsiJet to serve in all 81 cities in Turkey. As of March 31, 2021, HepsiJet operated 115 cross-docks, with a target to expand to over 150 cross-docks (parcel transfer centers) throughout Turkey with approximately 3,500 carriers by the end of 2021 (carriers increased 13 times from December 2017 to December 2020). All our carriers (i.e., motorcycle and truck carriers) are crowd-sourced (i.e., we subcontract carriers who use their own vehicles for this service). We are an end-to-end ecosystem with full in-house capabilities across fulfillment, logistics and last mile delivery in Turkey.

        We believe that our logistics infrastructure is an important pillar of our success and enables us to improve the customer experience. We further enhance this infrastructure advantage by applying technology to increase operational and cost efficiency, with examples such as AI-driven route optimization capabilities for HepsiJet drivers and advanced fulfillment center automation.

        Our operating expenses are, in part, dependent on our shipping and packaging expenses, which are correlated with a number of factors, including volume of orders and levels of utilization of our fulfillment centers. Additionally, availability and efficiency of our HepsiJet services are one of the key factors affecting our ability for last-mile delivery services. We believe further expansion of our HepsiJet last-mile services which is supported by our existing logistics infrastructure, will give us an ability to provide fulfillment and delivery services in a more efficient and cost-effective manner, resulting in decreased operational expenses and therefore increased profits.

Our Ability to Leverage our Growing Scale

        Our ability to retain our position in the Turkish e-commerce market is dependent on our ability to retain, grow and expand our core e-commerce business, as well on our ability to expand our services to adjacent services. In our Marketplace and Direct Sales operations, our ability to retain (i) our leading position based on aided brand awareness of 96% in 2020 (FutureBright Research Brand Health Report), (ii) high levels of traffic (179 million average monthly visits in 2020), and (iii) our wide selection of product offering (over 44 million SKUs across 32 different categories in 2020) will affect our results of operations, in particular our GMV, revenue and profitability. To enable this, we have dedicated marketing teams that cover our advertising and marketing needs across all product categories and channels. Our marketing organization is designed to explicitly address brand marketing, growth and data and commercial marketing functions across teams. In addition, as our business has been driven by technology and data since its inception, we aim to leverage data and technology to provide the best experience to our users. For this purpose, our engineering and technology teams focus on security, availability, scalability and performance of our technology infrastructure while preparing new product features across our website and mobile applications. Our technology department is essential to our ability to implement our strategy and maintain our leading position in the Turkish e-commerce market.

        In addition, we expanded our commerce platform in 2020, and developed an ecosystem of services centered on making people's lives easier. The ecosystem we have been building includes HepsiExpress, HepsiPay, HepsiJet, HepsiLojistik, HepsiMat, HepsiAd, HepsiGlobal and HepsiFly as of the date of this prospectus. We aim to take advantage of the natural synergies that exist between our services and increase adoption amongst our customer base. Greater utilization of our resources will drive further improvements in our unit economics.

        As of the date of this prospectus, we have launched HepsiExpress, HepsiJet, HepsiLojistik, HepsiMat and HepsiGlobal (inbound). We are currently developing HepsiGlobal (outbound), HepsiFly, HepsiAd and HepsiPay, with each expected to launch later in 2021.

79


Table of Contents

        We launched HepsiExpress in 2020 as an expansion into grocery and essentials delivery services, embedded within the Hepsiburada application. Our short- to medium-term expansion plan is to reach a team of over 2,000 (including outsourced picking and delivery agents) with coverage of over 50 cities in Turkey, delivering groceries and essentials from more than 100 retailers and more than 3,000 stores. We are planning further expansion to deliver personal care products and goods from pet shops.

        We launched HepsiJet in 2017 to provide last-mile delivery logistics. As of March 31, 2021 we operated 115 cross-docks across 63 cities in Turkey, which we aim to expand to more than 150 cross-docks by the end of 2021 and nationwide HepsiJet coverage by June 30, 2021.

        As of March 31, 2021, we operated six fulfillment centers with a total area of over 120 thousand square-meters. We launched our 24/7 fulfillment operations as "HepsiLojistik" in 2020. With the launch of HepsiLojistik we expanded our fulfillment operations and made fulfillment services available to merchants in our Marketplace operations for a fee. In the future we aim to scale up HepsiLojistik by enhancing automation at our fulfillment centers. We also rebranded our "click-and-collect" services as HepsiMat in 2020, which provides pick-up and drop-off ("PUDO") logistics services.

        We launched HepsiGlobal in 2020, which is our international cross-border infrastructure that enables cross-border (both inbound and outbound) sales operations. As of December 31, 2020, we launched the inbound limb of our HepsiGlobal, which is integrated within the Hepsiburada application, so that customers in Turkey are now able to purchase long-tail products (i.e., a large variety of hard-to-find items offered to many customers, each in small quantities, as opposed to bulk sales of popular items) that are sold by merchants located outside of Turkey. Our target is to grow to offer approximately one million SKUs through HepsiGlobal by the end of 2021. From 2021 onwards, we aim to launch and reinforce the outbound limb of this service to enable merchants in Turkey to make sales outside of Turkey.

        In addition, we are developing HepsiFly, which is designed to provide our customers with an option to make airline ticket and hotel bookings, buy package tours, travel insurance and cancellation policies. For our HepsiFly services, we acquired a tourism agency license in February 2021 and HepsiFly went partially live in April 2021, initially focusing on airline tickets services with its full functionality still under development as travel restrictions related to COVID-19 are relaxed.

        We are also developing HepsiAd, which is designed as self-service advertising solutions for merchants as a service to promote their sales on our platform.

        Lastly, we are developing HepsiPay, which is a payment tool that will enable, upon its launch, instant money transfers between users, instant returns, cancellations and cashback and digital wallet and payment gateway capabilities. HepsiPay is designed to be a "companion wallet" to mobilize, spend, transfer and save money in a flexible manner across online and offline channels. We target delivering core capabilities by the end of 2021 with the goal, over time, of HepsiPay becoming the main payment facilitator for purchases on our platform, while also growing payment volumes in offline channels.

        Once these newly-developed services are fully-operational (and services still in development become operational), we expect them to sustain and leverage our existing customer base and support our growth. We expect HepsiExpress and HepsiGlobal (inbound) to begin to contribute to our GMV in the short to medium-term. As we expand our offerings and further develop our new businesses, we are also increasing our operating costs and capital expenditures, which to date have included, among other things, (i) costs related to personnel, tech development as well as marketing costs primarily for HepsiExpress, HepsiPay, HepsiGlobal, HepsiFly and HepsiAd, and (ii) costs related to leasing of property and equipment and leasehold improvements primarily for HepsiJet, HepsiLojistik. We anticipate such operating costs and capital expenditures will grow in line with our historical trends. In the near term we expect to prioritize the expansion and development of HepsiExpress, HepsiJet and HepsiPay and therefore these businesses are expected to receive a relatively larger proportion of our

80


Table of Contents

increased marketing, delivery expenses as well as research and development headcount. Although, we believe that in the near term these strategic investments are likely to have a negative impact on our margins and cash flow generation given their levels of maturity, growth rates, and scale, in the long term we believe these investments will enhance our market leading position and positively impact our total revenue, gross profits and Free Cash Flow.

COVID-19 Impact

        In the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, our financial results were positively impacted by a considerable shift to online shopping by Turkish customers in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. GMV grew for the three months ended March 31, 2021 by 95%, compared to the three months ended March 31, 2020, the year ended December 31, 2020 by 111%, compared to the year ended December 31, 2019 and GMV grew 56% for the year ended December 31, 2019 compared to the year ended December 31, 2018. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behavior led to significant increases in GMV growth in 2020 and in the three months ended March 31, 2021, which impacts the comparability of results of operations between the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2019, and the year ended December 31, 2020 and the three months ended March 31, 2020 and in the three months ended March 31, 2021. See "Market and Industry Data."

        COVID-19 has led to significant global disruptions that not only which affected our business, but also our customers, merchants and suppliers. See "Risk Factors—Risks Relating to Our Business and Industry—The COVID-19 pandemic has affected and may continue to negatively affect certain of our business activities and results. Any future occurrence of natural disasters, epidemics, pandemics or other outbreaks, or other catastrophic events could also materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations or financial condition." As of the date hereof, COVID-19 has spread widely around the world and new variants of the virus have emerged, resulting in the implementation of significant governmental measures in Turkey and globally, including lockdowns of manufacturing and logistics facilities, closures of businesses and offices, quarantines of individuals, and travel bans.

        Similar to the global trend, the COVID-19 pandemic led consumers in the Turkish market to shift to e-commerce as a result of social distancing measures, with a consequential growth in demand for our products and services. This was primarily supported by the change in customer behavior where consumers have adopted online shopping behavior during the pandemic, which we expect to become permanent. As a result of social distancing, e-commerce orders for groceries and other essential products have also increased significantly.

        Although COVID-19 has generally been a significant driver for customer adoption and growth of e-commerce services, the pandemic and the measures to contain its spread have resulted in business and manufacturing disruptions in Turkey, impacted the business activities of our e-commerce suppliers, merchants, and other ecosystem participants (such as logistics networks and payment channels in the affected markets), and disrupted the global supply chain.

        We continue to closely monitor the impact of COVID-19 on our business and operations. The pandemic and related actions taken by governments to limit its spread could cause a temporary closure of our operational facilities, interrupt our fulfillment, delivery or logistics systems or severely impact the behavior and operations of our merchants, customers, and suppliers. As COVID-19 continues to evolve, the extent of its impact on our business in future periods remains uncertain.

Seasonality

        Our business is affected by seasonality, which historically has resulted in higher sales volume during the fourth quarter of the year compared to the other quarters, and we expect this to continue. Higher sales during the fourth quarter of the year are mainly attributable to the increased demand for products during the peak New Year season in December, as well as Legendary Friday (Efsane Cuma)

81


Table of Contents

sales in November. In the weeks of Legendary Friday in 2020, our average daily sales was 4.3 times higher than our average daily sales for the remainder of 2020. As a result of peak seasonal sales, as of December 31 of each year, our cash and cash equivalents balances typically reach an elevated level (other than as a result of cash flows provided by or used in investing and financing activities). This operating cycle results in a corresponding increase in accounts payable, combined with a decrease in inventories, as of December 31. Our accounts payable balance generally declines during the first month of each year, resulting in a corresponding decline in our cash and cash equivalents balances. We typical experience our lowest sales during the months of July and August due to decreased frequency and traffic on our platform during the summer vacation months. See "—Liquidity and Capital Resources".

        Our results of operations and cash flows may fluctuate significantly as a result of a variety of factors, including those described above.

Exchange Rate Volatility

        We are exposed to foreign exchange rate risks between Turkish Lira and U.S. dollars. Although our income, expenses, assets and liabilities are primarily denominated in Turkish Lira, we also maintain non-Turkish Lira denominated assets and liabilities, primarily in U.S. dollars. As of December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020 we maintained Turkish Lira equivalent assets in U.S. dollars of TRY 112.5 million, TRY 245.4 million and TRY 280.4 million, respectively, primarily consisting of cash and cash equivalents. As of the same periods, we maintained Turkish Lira equivalent liabilities in U.S. dollars of TRY 139.2 million, TRY 155.6 million and TRY 246.7 million, respectively, primarily consisting of trade payables and payables to merchants and due to related parties.

        As at December 31, 2018, 2019 and 2020, if the U.S. dollar had strengthened or weakened by 10% against the Turkish Lira, with all other variables held constant, loss before income taxes would have been TRY 2,673,154 lower/higher, TRY 8,983,025 lower/higher and TRY 3,374,370 lower/higher, respectively, in each case as a result of foreign exchange losses/gains on the translation of U.S. dollar assets and liabilities. We do not currently undertake any currency hedging to manage our exposure in Turkey to changes in foreign exchange rates because such hedging strategies are not available on commercially reasonable terms. Consequently, any sudden and significant changes in foreign exchange rates may have an adverse impact on our financial condition, revenue and results of operations.

Segments

        Our Company is comprised of one reportable segment, namely e-commerce operations, therefore we do not present any segmental information in our financial statements.

Key Indicators of Operating and Financial Performances

        We regularly review a number of metrics, including the following key operating and financial metrics, to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends in our business, prepare financial projections and make strategic decisions. We believe these non-IFRS and operational measures are useful in evaluating our performance, in addition to our financial results prepared in accordance with IFRS. The following measures used by our management to monitor and manage operational risk and financial performance. For information regarding the definitions, calculation and use of the Non-IFRS financial measures and KPIs, some of which are APMs, see "Summary Consolidated Financial and Other Data—Non-IFRS Financial Measures", "Presentation of Financial and

82


Table of Contents

Other Information—Use of Non IFRS Financial Measures" and "Presentation of Financial and Other Information—Key Operating Performance Indicators."

 
  For the three months
ended March 31,
  For the year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  

GMV (TRY in billions)

    4.5     2.3     17.0     8.0     5.1  

Marketplace GMV (TRY in billions)

    3.1     1.4     10.0     5.3     3.0  

Share of Marketplace
GMV (
%)

    70     63     59     66     58  

Revenues (TRY in billions)

    1.4     0.8     6.4     2.6     2.0  

Gross Contribution (TRY)

    420,377,105     232,940,665     1,526,578,237     756,626,385     436,089,229  

Gross Contribution
Margin (
%)

    9.3     10.1     9.0     9.4     8.5  

EBITDA (TRY)

    (103,675,349 )   14,811,415     (87,829,111 )   167,401,277     26,741,026  

EBITDA as a percentage of GMV (%)

    (2.3 )   0.6     (0.5 )   2.1     0.5  

Free Cash Flow (TRY)

    (158,785,626 )   60,467,226     341,413,049     310,439,626     118,994,289  

Number of orders (in millions)

    9.2     6.0     34.8     22.3     14.9  

Active Customers (in millions)

            9.0     6.5     4.8  

Net Working Capital (TRY)

    (1,133,637,759 )       (1,160,309,570 )   (663,998,273 )   (459,490,310 )

Components of Our Results of Operations

Revenues

        Our revenues consist of:

    (i)
    sales of goods revenue generated under our 1P-model Direct Sales operations;

    (ii)
    marketplace revenues comprising (a) Marketplace commission, (b) transaction fees and (c) other contractual charges to the merchants;

    (iii)
    delivery services revenue generated under both 3P-model Marketplace and 1P-model Direct Sales operations, as well as delivery services provided to third parties outside our online platform; and

    (iv)
    other revenue generated from the use of our value-added services.

Sales of goods

        We generate revenue from sales of goods in our 1P-model Direct Sales operations, by which we purchase goods from our suppliers and sell them to our customers. In our Direct Sales business, we act as a principal and initially recognize revenue from the sales of goods on a gross basis at the time of delivery of the goods to our customers. Our customers have a right to return goods within 14 days from delivery and we ultimately recognize our sales of goods revenues net of return and cancellation allowances. We estimate future returns for the sales and we recognize a liability for the expected returns, as necessary.

83


Table of Contents

Marketplace revenue

        Our marketplace revenues consists of (a) Marketplace commission, (b) transaction fees and (c) other contractual charges to the merchants where:

    (a)
    Marketplace commission represents commission fees charged to merchants for selling their goods on our Marketplace, where upon sale of the goods, we charge our merchants a fixed rate commission based on the transaction value. We recognize Marketplace commission, net of returns and discounts, at the completion of the order delivery.

    (b)
    Transaction fees are charged to our merchants for each order received by them through our platform. Such fees are recognized as revenue at completion of the order;

    (c)
    Other contractual charges represent the charges to the merchants for late deliveries and cancelled orders. Such fees are recognized as revenue at the time the contractual rights are established.

Delivery services revenue

        The delivery services are charged to our merchants, customers and suppliers, as the case may be, in both Marketplace and Direct Sales operations. Charges for delivery services also include revenue generated from last-mile delivery services to third parties (through our HepsiJet services).

Other services revenue

        Other service revenue primarily comprise advertising revenues, and other commission revenues.

GMV

        We track our gross merchandise value which refers to the total value of orders/products sold through our platform over a given period of time (including VAT without deducting returns and cancellations), including cargo income (shipping fees related to the products sold through our platform) and excluding other service revenues and transaction fees charged to our merchants.

        GMV is the driver of our revenue, as a majority of our revenue is a function of our GMV. From time to time, the proportion between the sales through our Direct Sales and Marketplace businesses may change, which does not impact our GMV, however, these variations will impact our revenue. In our Direct Sales business we recognize revenue on a gross basis, net of return and cancellation allowances and in our Marketplace business we recognize revenue on a net basis, representing commission fees earned.

        Accordingly, we measure the volume of our operations not on the basis of revenue, but rather on the basis of our GMV, which also includes cargo income (related to the products sold over our platform) and returns and cancellations, which are correlated with the volumes of goods sold on our platform.

Operating Expenses

        Our operating expenses comprise (a) cost of inventory sold, (b) shipping and packaging expenses, (c) payroll and outsource staff expenses, (d) advertising expenses, (e) technology expenses, (f) depreciation and amortization and (e) other operating expenses (net); where:

    (a)
    Cost of inventory sold consists of the purchase price of products, including supplier rebates and subsidies, write-downs and losses of inventories in our Direct Sales business. The cost of inventory sold also comprises inbound shipping costs that are already embedded in the purchase price of products;

84


Table of Contents

    (b)
    Shipping and packaging expenses primarily consist of outbound shipping, logistics and packaging costs;

    (c)
    Payroll and outsource staff expenses primarily consist of all payroll and related expenses in addition to costs related to our outsourced personnel, however, payroll expenses for certain employees in the technology team who are responsible for website development are capitalized in our financial statements. Therefore our payroll and outsource stuff expenses excludes costs related to such employees;

    (d)
    Advertising expenses primarily consist of advertising costs, including digital and performance marketing efforts through search engines and sites in order to attract customers and merchants to our platform;

    (e)
    Technology expenses primarily consist of costs related to our information technology infrastructure, including the costs associated with maintaining our online platform, data centers and other operational expenses pertaining to our technological infrastructure;

    (f)
    Depreciation and amortization primarily consist of depreciation and amortization costs incurred in relation to our property and equipment, intangible assets and right of use assets;

    (g)
    Other operating expenses, net consists of expenses related to utilities, consultancy, rent expenses, credit card processing, insurance, vehicle fuel, credit card chargebacks, internet line, irrecoverable value added tax, maintenance expenses, stationary, travel, provision for doubtful receivables and other expenses, netted off with other operating income.

Financial income

        Financial income consists of foreign currency exchange gains, interest income and other income.

Financial expenses

        Financial expenses consist of commission expenses due to early collection of credit card receivables, foreign currency exchange losses, interest expenses on bank borrowings, interest expenses on purchases, interest expenses on lease liabilities and other expenses.

Taxation on Income

        Taxation on income consists of tax calculated at enacted tax rate, effect of disallowable expenses, deferred income tax assets not recognized. We are subject to Turkish corporate income tax, and set aside tax provisions in our financial statements for the estimated charge based on its results for the period. Corporate tax is applicable to the taxable corporate income, which is calculated based on the statutory accounting profit by adding back the non-deductible expenses, and by deducting the tax-exempt earnings, other exempt income and other deductions (e.g., losses in previous periods, investment incentives utilized, specific allowances). The corporate income tax rate in Turkey was temporarily increased by 200bps to 22.0% to be applicable for the years 2018, 2019 and 2020. As of the date of this prospectus, the corporate income tax rate in Turkey is applied at 25% applicable for taxable corporate income recognized in 2021 and for taxable corporate income recognized in 2022, it will be applied at a rate of 23%.

85


Table of Contents

Results of Operations

        Below are our results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2020, 2019 and 2018 and the three months ended March 31, 2020 and 2021.

 
  Three months ended
March 31,
  Year ended December 31,  
 
  2021   2020   2020   2019   2018  
 
  (unaudited)
  (audited)
 
 
  (Turkish Lira)
 

Revenues

    1,385,835,317     836,638,395     6,375,726,545     2,603,735,368     1,955,312,749  

Cost of inventory sold

    (965,458,212 )   (603,697,730 )   (4,849,148,308 )   (1,847,108,983 )   (1,519,223,520 )

Shipping and packaging expenses

    (160,974,319 )   (71,411,952 )   (540,496,136 )   (195,352,060 )   (132,080,741 )

Payroll and outsource staff expenses

    (227,318,424 )   (58,184,977 )   (325,232,933 )   (180,787,497 )   (129,994,224 )

Advertising expenses

    (96,068,436 )   (68,265,382 )   (646,152,950 )   (151,517,076 )   (92,685,779 )

Technology expenses

    (12,750,709 )   (6,526,280 )   (31,717,181 )   (21,841,556 )   (20,580,102 )

Depreciation and amortization

    (27,146,528 )   (19,493,687 )   (93,182,568 )   (66,286,580 )   (78,272,531 )

Other operating expenses net

    (26,940,566 )   (13,740,659 )   (70,808,148 )   (39,726,919 )   (34,007,357 )

Operating (loss)/profit

    (130,821,877 )   (4,682,272 )   (181,011,679 )   101,114,697     (51,531,505 )

Financial income

    52,999,166     27,669,418     102,912,713     40,517,901     66,616,887  

Financial expenses

    (159,502,321 )   (79,911,871 )   (396,416,767 )   (273,279,582 )   (176,407,785 )

Loss before income taxes

    (237,325,032 )   (56,924,725 )   (474,515,733 )   (131,646,984 )   (161,322,403 )

Taxation on income

                     

Loss for the period

    (237,325,032 )   (56,924,725 )   (474,515,733 )   (131,646,984 )   (161,322,403 )

Items that will not be reclassified to profit or loss:

                               

Actuarial losses arising on remeasurement of employment termination benefits

    (1,375,301 )   (281,588 )   (1,983,772 )   (1,222,438 )   (1,083,478 )

Total comprehensive loss for the period

    (238,700,333 )   (57,206,313 )   (476,499,505 )   (132,869,422 )   (162,405,881 )

Three months Ended March 31, 2021 compared to three months ended March 31, 2020

Revenue

        Below is our revenue, broken down by source, for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 and as a percentage of total revenue:

 
  Period ended March 31,    
   
 
 
  2021   2020    
   
 
 
  Change  
 
   
  % of
Revenues
   
  % of
Revenues
 
 
   
   
  Amount   %  
 
  (Turkish Lira, except percentages)
 

Sales of goods

    1,056,382,445     76.2     656,897,675     78.5     399,484,770     60.8  

Marketplace revenues

    168,371,453     12.1     104,078,156     12.4     64,293,297     61.8  

Delivery services revenue

    155,236,022     11.2     68,565,592     8.2     86,670,430     126.4  

Other

    5,845,397     0.4     7,096,972     0.8     (1,251,575 )   (17.6 )

Revenues

    1,385,835,317     100.0     836,638,395     100.0     549,196,922     65.6  

        Our revenue increased by TRY 549,196,922 or 65.6%, to TRY 1,385,835,317 in the three months ended March 31, 2021, from TRY 836,638,395 in the three months ended March 31, 2020. This increase was primarily attributable to a TRY 399,484,770 or 60.8% increase in our revenues generated from sales of goods, a TRY 86,670,430 or 126.4% increase in our delivery services revenues and TRY 64,293,297 or 61.8% increase in our marketplace revenues.

86


Table of Contents

        The increases in our revenues generated from sales of goods, marketplace revenues and delivery service revenue were primarily attributable to the growth in the number of orders from 6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2020 to 9.2 million in the three months ended March 31, 2021 (representing an increase of 54%). The increase in our delivery services revenue was also attributable to an increase of 239.6% in the revenue generated from our delivery services provided to third parties under our HepsiJet service due to increased expansion of our HepsiJet services.

Operating Expenses

        Below are our operating expenses, broken down by category, for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 and as a percentage of total revenue:

 
  Period ended March 31,    
   
 
 
  2021   2020    
   
 
 
  Change  
 
   
  % of
Revenues
   
  % of
Revenues
 
 
   
   
  Amount   %  
 
  (Turkish Lira, except percentages)
 

Cost of inventory sold

    (965,458,212 )   69.7     (603,697,730 )   72.2     361,760,482     59.9  

Shipping and packaging expenses

    (160,974,319 )   11.6     (71,411,952 )   8.5     89,562,367     125.4  

Payroll and outsource staff expenses

    (227,318,424 )   16.4     (58,184,977 )   7.0     169,133,447     290.7  

Advertising expenses

    (96,068,436 )   6.9     (68,265,382 )   8.2     27,803,054     40.7  

Technology expenses

    (12,750,709 )   0.9     (6,526,280 )   0.8     6,224,429     95.4  

Depreciation and amortization

    (27,146,528 )   2.0     (19,493,687 )   2.3     7,652,841     39.3  

Other operating expenses, net

    (26,940,566 )   1.9     (13,740,659 )   1.6     13,199,907     96.1  

Operating expenses, net

    (1,516,657,194 )   109.4     (841,320,667 )   100.6     675,336,527     80.3  

        Our net operating expenses increased by TRY 675,336,527 or 80.3% to TRY 1,516,657,194 for the three months ended March 31, 2021, from TRY 841,320,667 for the three months ended March 31, 2020.

        This increase was primarily attributable to an increase in our cost of inventory sold, representing an increase of TRY 361,760,482 (or 59.9%). This increase was primarily due to growth in revenues generated from our Direct Sales business.

        The increase in our net operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was also attributable to an increase in our payroll and outsource staff expenses (TRY 169,133,447 or 290.7%). This was primarily due to TRY 123,739,938 in provisions accounted for as part of our Incentive Plan. See "Management—Incentive Plan."

        The increase in our net operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was also attributable to an increase in our shipping and packaging expenses (TRY 89,562,367 or 125.4%). The increase in our shipping and packaging expenses was primarily attributable to an increase in the total number of orders placed through our platform to 9.2 million in three months ended March 31, 2021 from 6 million in the three months ended March 31, 2020.

        The increase in our net operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was also attributable to an increase in our advertising expenses. The increase in our advertising expenses (TRY 27,803,054 or 40.7%) was mainly attributable to an increase in our digital and offline (TV and outdoor) advertising expenses as a result of increased marketing activities, including launch of a set of TV advertisement campaigns. Our marketing activities in three months ended March 31, 2021 were part of a long-term marketing strategy to further strengthen our brand. In addition, the increase in our other operating expenses (TRY 13,199,907 or 96.1%) contributed to the increase in our net operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021. This increase was primarily due to the increase of TRY 10,942,101 in our consultancy expenses, which mainly related to one-off costs for the initial public offering of ADSs.

87


Table of Contents

Financial Income

        Our financial income increased by TRY 25,329,748, or 91.5%, to TRY 52,999,166 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 from TRY 27,669,418 for the three months ended March 31, 2020. This increase was primarily attributable to a TRY 17,556,616 or 75.7% increase in foreign exchange gain for the three months ended March 31, 2021. This was due to the appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the Turkish Lira compared to the three months ended March 31, 2020, which resulted in higher foreign exchange gains from our U.S. dollar denominated bank deposits. The increase in our financial income in three months ended March 31, 2021 was also supported by an increase in our interest income on credit sales from TRY 2,533,823 in the three months ended March 31, 2020 to TRY 7,708,120 in the three months ended March 31, 2021 (representing an increase of 205.5%). This was due to a change in our free of charge installment option policy, enabling us to charge cost of installments to our customers electing to pay with prolonged installments. The increase in interest income on credit sales was also supported by the increase in our GMV.

Financial Expenses

        Our financial expenses increased by TRY 79,590,450, or 99.6%, to TRY 159,502,321 for the three months ended March 31, 2021 from TRY 79,911,871 for the three months ended March 31, 2020. This increase was primarily attributable to a TRY 35,678,769 or 87.4% increase in commission expenses due to early collection of credit receivables which was mainly due to the growth in our GMV as well the increase in annual effective interest rates. The increase was also attributable to a TRY 19,376,209 or 143.8% increase in our foreign currency exchange losses for the three months ended March 31, 2021. This was due to the appreciation of the U.S. dollar against the Turkish Lira compared to the three months ended March 31, 2020, which resulted in higher foreign exchange losses from our U.S. dollar denominated trade payables. The increase in our financial expenses in the three months ended March 31, 2021 was also caused by an increase of TRY 16,902,250 or 299.1% in our interest expenses on bank borrowings the three months ended March 31, 2021. This was due to an increase in annual effective interest rates of bank borrowings, as well as increase in the average amount of bank borrowings held in the three months ended March 31, 2021.

Net Loss for the Period

        As a result of the factors discussed above, net loss for the year increased by TRY 180,400,307 or 316.9%, to TRY 237,325,032 in the three months ended March 31, 2021, from TRY 56,924,725 in the three months ended March 31, 2020.

88


Table of Contents

Year Ended December 31, 2020 compared to year ended December 31, 2019

Revenue

        Below is our revenue, broken down by source, for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 and as a percentage of total revenue:

 
  Year ended December 31,    
   
 
 
  2020   2020   2019   2019    
   
 
 
  Change  
 
  % of
Revenues
   
  % of
Revenues
   
 
 
   
   
  Amount   %  
 
  (Turkish Lira, except percentages)
 

Sales of goods

    83.2     5,301,942,720     78.7     2,048,020,136     3,253,922,584     158.9  

Marketplace revenues

    9.5     603,249,026     13.4     350,030,814     253,218,212     72.3  

Delivery services revenue

    7.0     445,890,930     6.8     176,292,726     269,598,204     152.9  

Other

    0.4     24,643,869     1.1     29,391,692     (4,747,823 )   (16.2 )

Revenues

    100.0     6,375,726,545     100.0     2,603,735,368     3,771,991,177     144.9  

        Our revenue increased by TRY 3,771,991,177 or 144.9%, to TRY 6,375,726,545 in the year ended December 31, 2020, from TRY 2,603,735,368 in the year ended December 31, 2019. This increase was primarily attributable to a TRY 3,253,922,584 or 158.9% increase in our revenues generated from sales of goods and a TRY 253,218,212 or 72.3% increase in our marketplace revenues.

        The increases in our revenues generated from sales of goods and marketplace revenues were primarily attributable to the growth in the number of Active Customers to 9 million as of December 31, 2020 from 6.5 million as of December 31, 2019 (representing an increase of 40%), and the increase in their purchase frequency to 3.9 for the year ended December 31, 2020 from 3.5 for the year ended December 31, 2019 (representing an increase of 12%).

        The increase in our marketplace revenues was also attributable to the growth in the total value of orders processed through our Marketplace, which was mainly driven by an increase in the number of Active Merchants on our Marketplace by more than 2 times (from approximately 21 thousand, to approximately 45 thousand) for the year ended December 31, 2020 compared to the year ended December 31, 2019.

        The increase in our revenues was also attributable to an increase of 152.9% in delivery service revenues from TRY 176,292,726 in 2019 to TRY 445,890,930 in 2020. This increase was due to the increase in the number of orders we received (from 22.3 million in 2019 to 34.8 million in 2020) as well as the increase of 185.7% in the revenue generated from our delivery services provided to third parties under our HepsiJet service.

89


Table of Contents

Operating Expenses

        Below are our operating expenses, broken down by category, for the years ended December 31, 2020 and 2019 and as a percentage of total revenue:

 
  Year ended December 31,    
   
 
 
  2020   2020   2019   2019    
   
 
 
  Change  
 
  % of
Revenues
   
  % of
Revenues
   
 
 
   
   
  Amount   %  
 
  (Turkish Lira, except percentages)
 

Cost of inventory sold

    76.1     4,849,148,308     70.9     1,847,108,983     3,002,039,325     162.5  

Shipping and packaging expenses

    8.5     540,496,136     7.5     195,352,060     345,144,076     176.7  

Payroll and outsource staff expenses

    5.1     325,232,933     6.9     180,787,497     144,445,436     79.9  

Advertising expenses

    10.1     646,152,950     5.8     151,517,076     494,635,874     326.5  

Technology expenses

    0.5     31,717,181     0.8     21,841,556     9,875,625     45.2  

Depreciation and amortization

    1.5     93,182,568     2.5     66,286,580     26,895,988     40.6  

Other operating expenses, net

    1.1     70,808,148     1.5     39,726,919     31,081,229     78.2  

Operating expenses, net

    102.8     6,556,738,224     96.1     2,502,620,671     4,054,117,553     162.0  

        Our net operating expenses increased by TRY 4,054,117,553 or 162.0% to TRY 6,556,738,224 for the year ended December 31, 2020, from TRY 2,502,620,671 for the year ended December 31, 2019.

        This increase was primarily attributable to an increase in our cost of inventory sold, representing an increase of TRY 3,002,039,325 (or 162.5%). This increase was primarily due to growth in revenues generated from our Direct Sales business.

        The increase in our net operating expenses in 2020 was also attributable to an increase in our advertising expenses. The increase in our advertising expenses (TRY 494,635,874 or 326.5%) was mainly attributable to an increase in our digital and offline (TV and outdoor) advertising expenses as a result of increased marketing activities, including launch of a set of TV advertisement campaigns. Our marketing activities in 2020 were part of a long-term marketing strategy to further strengthen our brand. We believe increased marketing activities supported us to expand the number of Active Customers during the period.

        The increase in our net operating expenses in 2020 was also attributable to an increase in our shipping and packaging expenses (TRY 345,114,076 or 176.7%). The increase in our shipping and packaging expenses was primarily attributable to an increase in the total number of orders placed through our platform to 34.8 million in 2020 from 22.3 million in 2019, as well as the increase in average shipping prices as a result of engaging local cargo companies with more expensive fees in order to increase customer satisfaction and service quality.

        In 2020, an increase in our payroll and outsource staff expenses (TRY 144,445,436 or 79.9%) also contributed to the increase in our net operating expenses. This was primarily due to an increase in the number of personnel working in our call center (from 170 as of December 31, 2019 to 451 as of December 31, 2020), an increase in the number of employees in our Hepsiburada and HepsiJet operations (from 330 as of December 31, 2019 to 840 as of December 31, 2020) and salary increases (average 21.8%) above the inflation rate (2019 annual average 15.2%) and an increase in the annual bonus coefficient.

90


Table of Contents

Financial Income

        Our financial income increased by TRY 62,394,812, or 154%, to TRY 102,912,713 for the year ended December 31, 2020 from TRY 40,517,901 for the year ended December 31, 2019. This increase was primarily attributable to a TRY 44,957,054 or 359.3% increase in foreign exchange gain. This was due to the appreciation of the U.S. dollar and the Euro against the Turkish Lira compared to 2019, which resulted in higher foreign exchange gains from our U.S. dollar- and Euro-denominated bank deposits. The increase in our financial income in 2020 was also supported by an increase in our interest income on time deposits from TRY 10,717,336 in 2019 to TRY 21,016,415 in 2020 (representing an increase of 96.1%). This was due to an increase in our TRY-denominated time deposits which was due to increased cash generated from our operations, in particular in the period between March 2020 to June 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Financial Expenses

        Our financial expenses increased by TRY 123,137,185, or 45.1%, to TRY 396,416,767 for the year ended December 31, 2020 from TRY 273,279,582 for the year ended December 31, 2019. This increase was primarily attributable to a TRY 42,170,836 or 172.5% increase in interest expenses on purchases (consisting of interest paid for inventories purchased on deferred settlement terms) which was due to the increase in our Direct Sales compared to 2019. The increase was also attributable to a TRY 40,149,514 or 21.7% increase in commission expenses due to early collection of credit card receivables which was mainly due to the growth in our GMV. The increase in our financial expenses in 2020 was also supported by an increase of TRY 25,446,706 or 131.5% in our foreign currency exchange losses for the year ended December 31, 2020. This was due to higher foreign currency denominated trade payables in 2020 as well as higher foreign currency volatility in 2020 compared to 2019.

Net Loss for the Year

        As a result of the factors discussed above, net loss for the year increased by TRY 342,868,749 or 260.4%, to TRY 474,515,733 in 2020, from TRY 131,646,984 in 2019.

Year Ended December 31, 2019 compared to year ended December 31, 2018

        Unless the context otherwise requires, in the discussion that follows, references to 2019 and 2018 are to the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Revenue

        Below is our revenue, broken down by source, for the years ended December 31, 2019 and 2018 and as a percentage of total revenue:

 
  Year ended December 31,    
   
 
 
  2019   2019   2018   2018    
   
 
 
  Change  
 
  % of
Revenues
   
  % of
Revenues
   
 
 
   
   
  Amount   %  
 
  (Turkish Lira, except percentages)
 

Sales of goods

    78.7     2,048,020,136     85.0     1,661,672,546     386,347,590     23.3  

Marketplace revenues

    13.4     350,030,814     10.3     200,648,885     149,381,929     74.4  

Delivery services revenue

    6.8     176,292,726     4.2     83,156,166     93,136,560     112.0  

Other

    1.1     29,391,692     0.5     9,835,152     19,556,540     198.8  

Revenues

    100.0     2,603,735,368     100.0     1,955,312,749     648,422,619     33.2