Nilgun Dil-Erman, Director, Retail, Jones Lang LaSalle Turkey

1) How long have you been in retail?
I have been dealing in retail industry for 15 years.

2) What changes have you experienced in this time?
Leaving behind the times when only several shopping malls and inadequate number of foreign brands were present, today we are proud of having numerous malls and many exemplary, reputable brands in international class, and again we have a developing and expanding field.

3) What is the most exciting thing about working in retail at the moment?
Learning new things day-by-day, we are experiencing in each project novel retail practices and improving the same. Just like the rest of the world, Turkish consumers’ expectations and demands are also diversified and developing. As the brand awareness rises, vision and living standards of the consumers improve, thus, both brand- and comfort- and service-expectations reach higher points. Of course, the common approach of quality-price balance expectation should not be overlooked.

4) How do you think consumer demands/expectations are changing?
With respect to Turkish retail industry, where supply increases but demand does not increase at the same rate, the brands which pay attention to customer-expectations and accordingly create collections shall grow stronger, and the Malls designed and managed in an innovative and diverse manner shall take the lead. Sustainability will come to the fore. However, it should be noted that Turkey still lacks of certain international brands, thus, in respect of retail industry we have a long way to make. By our assistance, Turkish brands shall maintain their endeavours to become an international name. Neighbourhood regions shall be a successful extension of Turkish retail industry.