The shopping mall turnover index reached 155 points in February 2015, marking an increase of 12.3 percent when compared to the same month last year. The Shopping Malls and Investors Association and Akademetre Research Center have jointly announced the shopping mall turnover index for February 2015. According to the data, which is disclosed on a monthly basis, the shopping mall turnover index reached 155 points in February 2015, marking an increase of 12.3 percent when compared to the same month last year. The turnover of leasable areas on a square-meter basis in shopping malls increased by 17 points in February 2015 when compared to the same month last year, and the efficiency was realized at TL 593 ($229) per square meter. The efficiency was TL 686 and TL 530 in Istanbul and Anatolia, respectively. The shopping mall index showed an increase in all categories with the technology section taking the lead with an upsurge of 26 percent. The turnover of other areas in shopping malls was 22 percent, while the turnovers of common areas rose by 12 percent. The turnovers of clothing, food and shoes-bags-hypermarket categories grew by 9 percent, 8 percent and 1 percent, respectively. The index of the number of visitors also rose by 2.02 percent when compared to February 2014.

Commenting on the shopping mall index for February 2015, Shopping Malls and Investors Association chairman Hulusi Belgü attributed this increase to the fact that consumers preferred shopping malls to meet all kinds of needs because of discount campaigns launched in February. Highlighting that the highest turnover increase, which was seen in the technology category, should not be deceptive, Belgü said that the installment limitation in technology products, particularly in cell phones, caused a significant shrinkage in this category in February 2014, leading to a turnover decline of 14 percent during the period. Since the February 2015 data taken with a comparison to the February 15 data, the increase of 26 percent in the technology category seems to be high, but it showed a downward trend throughout 2014.