What Gratis does

Gratis is Turkey's leading specialty beauty and personal care retailer, operating a multi-channel retail platform that combines over 300 physical stores, an e-commerce website (gratis.com), and dedicated iOS/Android mobile applications. The company distributes a broad assortment spanning makeup, skincare, haircare, fragrance, personal hygiene, baby care, supermarket items, and home/lifestyle products from international brands (Maybelline, L'Oréal Paris, Nivea, Pantene, Oral-B, Dove) and exclusive own-brand labels (Beaulis, Eklips, Astra, LYKD, rom&nd, Skin1004). Gratis serves Turkish consumers across all 81 provinces, supported by free store delivery, the Gratis Kart loyalty program, the Gratis Beauty professional services sub-brand, and a B2B Kurumsal Satış corporate sales division.

The core technology stack is built around a physical retail backbone augmented by electronic shelf label (ESL) infrastructure — a partnership with Vusion to deploy approximately 2 million digital shelf labels across the 300-store footprint, expected to be completed by the beginning of H2 2026 — enabling real-time price updates, pricing agility, and a stated foundation for future retail media and connected store services. On the analytics layer, Gratis has deployed Ariadne's AI-driven employee scheduling system, which ingests visitor signals, local events, and weather patterns to optimize staffing, with reported 2-5x sales lifts in specific product categories.

Gratis generates revenue primarily through one-time retail transactions across consumer and B2B channels, with public unit pricing, frequent promotional campaigns offering up to 70% discounts, and member-exclusive pricing through Gratis Kart. The privately-held company was founded in 2009/2011, is headquartered in Istanbul, Turkey, employs 5,001-10,000 people, and is led by Co-Founder and Board Member Paul Brenneke alongside Chief Commercial Officer and Deputy General Manager Tayfun Korucan. There is no disclosed parent company, institutional investor base, public listing, or funding history.

Name

Gratis

Legal name

Gratis

Website

https://gratis.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2011

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

Gratis is Turkey's leading specialty beauty and personal care retailer, operating 300+ stores across all 81 provinces, an e-commerce platform, and mobile apps, serving individual consumers and B2B customers with mass-market and exclusive brands, a loyalty program, and professional beauty services.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Beauty and Personal Care Retail

NAICS

Cosmetics, Beauty Supplies, and Perfume Retailers (456120), Health and Personal Care Retailers (4561)

SIC

Perfumes, Cosmetics & Other Toilet Preparations (2844)

akta.pro primary industry

Luxury Beauty & Fragrance Department Stores (CRAGADAD)

Keywords

• Beauty retail
• Personal care products
• Cosmetics retail
• Skincare store
• Beauty e-commerce

Headquarters

HQ city

Istanbul

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Retail Sales: Gratis generates revenue through physical retail stores and e-commerce sales of beauty and personal care products, including makeup, skincare, haircare, fragrance, personal hygiene, baby care, and supermarket items. The company also operates a corporate sales division for B2B customers.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Gratis operates a multi-channel beauty and personal care retail business in Turkey, selling makeup, skincare, haircare, fragrance, personal hygiene, baby care, and supermarket items through more than 300 physical stores across all 81 Turkish provinces and through its e-commerce site and mobile apps. The company also offers professional beauty treatments under the Gratis Beauty sub-brand and a corporate sales (B2B) service for bulk purchases.

Product overview

Gratis is Turkey's leading beauty and personal care retailer operating as a multi-channel retail platform. The company offers a comprehensive product portfolio through its e-commerce website and mobile application, featuring an extensive range of makeup, skincare, hair care, personal care, sun protection, and baby care products. The business model includes both proprietary offerings like the Gratis Beauty professional services and Gratis Kart loyalty program, alongside third-party branded products from international and local manufacturers. Gratis operates across 81 provinces in Turkey with free store delivery and maintains both online and physical retail presence.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Gratis Beauty: Professional beauty services offered by Gratis, with dedicated website at gratisbeauty.com

Products and services

• Gratis Retail Stores Physical retail stores selling makeup, skincare, haircare, fragrance, personal hygiene, baby care, and supermarket items to Turkish consumers across all 81 provinces, with free delivery from stores.
• Gratis Beauty Professional beauty services offered at Gratis locations, providing professional makeup and skincare treatments to consumers.
• Gratis Kurumsal Satış (Corporate Sales) B2B corporate sales service for businesses purchasing beauty and personal care products in bulk from Gratis.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2-5x higher sales in specific product categories with AI-powered employee scheduling

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• VusioncoreTechnology or Integration · 23 June 2026Gratis selected Vusion to deploy approximately 2 million electronic shelf labels across 300 stores in Turkey. The deployment, expected to be completed by beginning of H2 2026, will improve operational efficiency, pricing agility, and reduce manual tasks while creating a foundation for future innovation including retail media and connected store services.
• AriadnecoreTechnology or IntegrationAriadne, a German retail technology company, deployed its AI-driven employee scheduling system at Gratis. The system analyzes visitor signals, local events, and weather patterns to optimize staffing. Gratis reported two to five times higher sales in specific product categories after implementation.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sephora: Global multi-brand beauty specialty retailer operating 2,700+ stores in 30+ countries, with overlapping product categories in makeup, skincare, fragrance, and haircare. Direct competitor to Gratis in the beauty specialty retail format, though at significantly larger scale and global rather than Turkey-only footprint.
• Watsons: Asia's leading health and beauty retailer with 8,000+ stores across Asia, including Turkey operations. Direct competitor offering comparable cosmetics, skincare, and personal care assortments through physical store, e-commerce, and loyalty-driven formats analogous to Gratis Kart.
• Ulta Beauty: Largest US beauty specialty retailer with 1,400+ stores offering a comprehensive assortment across makeup, skincare, fragrance, haircare, and wellness. Closely comparable to Gratis in product breadth, exclusive-brand strategy, and loyalty program economics, though focused on the US market.
• Douglas: Europe's leading perfumery and beauty retail chain with ~2,000 stores across 20 countries. Direct competitor with overlapping fragrance-led assortment and similar physical-store retail model, comparable in scale and category mix to Gratis.
• Yves Rocher: French-origin beauty brand with global retail network of company-owned stores selling proprietary cosmetic and skincare lines. Comparable vertically integrated beauty retailer combining owned-brand manufacturing with physical-store distribution, similar in proprietary-brand focus to Gratis's 'Sadece Gratis'te' portfolio.

Broad incumbents

• Rossmann: Major European drugstore chain with 4,500+ stores in Germany and beyond, offering beauty and personal care alongside household and health products. Comparable broad-assortment physical retailer with overlapping beauty categories, though operating at much larger and more diversified scale.

Emerging players

• The Body Shop: Global beauty specialty retailer with ~2,000 stores focused on ethical and natural-positioned skincare, body care, and cosmetics. Comparable specialty beauty retailer with overlapping product categories, though at smaller scale and currently undergoing restructuring under new ownership.

Regional players

• Flormar: Turkish cosmetics brand with retail presence across Turkey and international markets. Direct regional peer with overlapping product categories (makeup, nail care, color cosmetics) and shared Turkish market dynamics, though operating primarily as a brand rather than multi-brand specialty retailer.
• Boyner: Leading Turkish department store chain offering beauty alongside fashion, home, and lifestyle categories. Comparable Turkish-market incumbent with overlapping beauty product offerings and similar domestic retail footprint, though operating a broader department-store format rather than beauty-specialty.
• LC Waikiki: Turkish-origin apparel retailer with 1,200+ stores across 50+ countries. Comparable Turkish-headquartered multi-category retailer of similar scale and operational maturity, though focused on apparel rather than beauty — useful benchmark for Turkish retail execution and international expansion potential.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/gratistr
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@gratistr
• Facebookfacebook.com/gratis
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/gratis
• Instagraminstagram.com/gratistr
• TikToktiktok.com/@gratistr

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gratis