How to set up an e-commerce site in 2026: a step-by-step roadmap.

Your product is ready and your price is competitive, but the question “how do I start selling online?” still isn’t clear? Setting up an e-commerce site takes much more than a few nice product photos: tax, payment infrastructure, legal texts and delivery all have to be set up correctly as a whole.

In this guide we walk through the steps to open your own online store in Türkiye, in order: company and tax setup, platform choice, virtual POS and payment institutions, ETBİS registration and distance sales regulations, shipping and returns, and finally the product pages and SEO that will bring in your first orders.

At CYF Tech we have also added notes in each section on the mistakes we see most often in e-commerce projects, both on off-the-shelf platforms and on those we build from scratch. The goal is that you never have to say “if only we had known this from the start” after going live.

Company and tax setup before starting e-commerce

If you are going to sell regularly through your own site, you need a commercial identity. Steps such as applying for a virtual POS, signing a shipping agreement and ETBİS registration all require a tax number. So the first step is choosing the company type that suits your business.

Once your tax registration is open, invoicing should also be discussed. Businesses selling online must switch to e-Arşiv and e-Fatura (electronic invoicing) once they exceed certain turnover thresholds; since the Revenue Administration updates these thresholds from time to time, confirm the current situation with your accountant. An e-commerce platform that can talk to an e-invoice integrator removes the burden of issuing invoices manually for each order from day one.

E-commerce platform: off-the-shelf package, open source or custom software?

The most critical technical decision in setting up an e-commerce site is the platform. There are three main routes in Türkiye, and each has a different balance of cost, flexibility and lock-in:

For a brand testing the market with a few products, an off-the-shelf package can be a sensible start. If you need dealer pricing, multi-warehouse stock, custom campaign rules or integration with accounting and production systems, you will hit the package’s limits very quickly. We compare this decision in detail in our article off-the-shelf platform or custom software.

Whichever route you choose, be sure to ask

• Can I export my product, customer and order data? What happens if I switch platforms?
• Whose name is the domain registered in, and who has access to the admin panel?
• Are the virtual POS, shipping company and e-invoice integrator I want to use supported?
• How fast does the site load on mobile? Can I see the PageSpeed result of a sample store?

Choosing a virtual POS and payment institution

To accept card payments you have two options: getting a virtual POS directly from a bank, or collecting payments through a payment institution licensed by the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (TCMB). Payment institutions operate under Law No. 6493, and the current list of authorised institutions is published on the TCMB website.

• Bank virtual POS: Commission rates are usually negotiable, but the bank may require the company to have a certain history and turnover. Working with several banks increases instalment options.
• Payment institution: Application and integration are faster, and instalments for all bank cards come with a single integration. In return, the commission may be slightly higher, and the time it takes for money to reach your account (settlement period) depends on the contract.

When comparing offers, don’t look only at the commission rate. The settlement period, who bears the instalment cost on instalment sales, refund and chargeback processes, saved card (one-click payment) support and annual fixed fees determine the total cost.

Bank transfer, cash on delivery and digital wallets can also increase conversion; however, since cash on delivery raises the risk of returns and fake orders, it should be evaluated together with the shipping company’s fee policy.

ETBİS registration, distance sales contracts and other legal obligations

In Türkiye, e-commerce is regulated by Law No. 6563 on the Regulation of Electronic Commerce and by regulations under Consumer Protection Law No. 6502. If you sell through your own site, the following are mandatory:

• 1. ETBİS registration — You register with the Ministry of Trade’s Electronic Commerce Information System (eticaret.gov.tr) by logging in with e-Devlet before starting business. Any changes must be updated within 30 days. The verification code/QR code issued after registration is displayed in the site footer. According to the Ministry, those who sell only through domestic marketplaces have no separate registration obligation.
• 2. Preliminary information form and distance sales contract — Under the Distance Contracts Regulation, before confirming an order the consumer must be informed about the seller, the product’s main characteristics, the total price including taxes, delivery and the right of withdrawal; this confirmation must be obtained explicitly at the payment step.
• 3. Right of withdrawal and returns — As a rule, consumers can withdraw without giving a reason within 14 days of receiving the goods. The seller must refund all payments collected within 14 days of receiving the withdrawal notice. Exceptions, such as custom-made or perishable products, are listed in the regulation.
• 4. KVKK texts — A privacy notice, an explicit consent text where necessary and a cookie policy. Membership, order and marketing permissions should be handled separately (see KVKK-compliant websites).
• 5. Consent for commercial electronic messages — Recipients’ consent must be obtained before sending campaign emails and SMS, and consents must be registered in the Message Management System (İYS).
• 6. Company details — Trade name, address, tax number, MERSİS number (if any), contact details and channels for consumer complaints must be easy to find on the site.

Plan shipping, stock and returns from the start

Half of the customer experience happens after the order is placed. Fast, transparent delivery is one of the strongest reasons for repeat purchases.

• Shipping agreement: Get volumetric-weight-based prices from several carriers. With integration, shipping labels and tracking numbers should be generated automatically and sent to the customer by SMS/email.
• Free shipping threshold: Setting a threshold slightly above your average basket value is one of the simplest ways to increase basket size.
• Stock sync: If you sell in a store, on your site and on marketplaces, stock should be managed from a single source; otherwise you’ll sell products you don’t have and have to cancel.
• Returns flow: Customers should be able to start a return from their account, and a return shipping code should be generated automatically. Track returns from the panel so you don’t miss the legal 14-day period.

Packaging is part of the brand too: sturdy but modest packaging, an invoice and a short thank-you note reduce return rates and negative reviews.

Product pages that sell and e-commerce SEO

On an e-commerce site, the pages that really bring traffic and sales are product and category pages. Since visitors can’t touch the product, the page has to make up for that.

• Original product descriptions: Instead of copying the manufacturer’s text, describe the use case, dimensions, materials and care instructions in your own words.
• Real, multi-angle photos: Add lifestyle photos and, if possible, a short video alongside white-background product images; compress images in WebP/AVIF format.
• Price, stock and delivery time: Clear delivery information such as “Ships tomorrow” increases add-to-cart rates.
• Structured data: Product, Offer and Review schemas allow price and rating information to appear in search results.
• Speed: Slow product pages, especially on mobile, cost you both rankings and conversions. For measurement and improvement steps, see our article on site speed and Core Web Vitals.

Write a short intro text for category pages too, and use canonical tags to stop filter pages from generating thousands of duplicate pages in search engines. Keep checkout as short as possible: guest checkout, address autocomplete and single-page checkout significantly reduce cart abandonment.

In e-commerce, the best product page answers the customer’s question before they ask it.

After launch: traffic, measurement and the marketplace balance

Sales don’t start pouring in the day your site goes live; you have to bring the traffic. In the first months, this mix usually works well:

• Quick testing with Google Shopping and search ads, while building long-term organic traffic with SEO
• Product-in-use content on social media and email campaigns to existing customers
• Gaining awareness through marketplaces while steering repeat customers to your own site

Marketplaces bring quick sales but take high commissions, and you don’t own the customer relationship. Your own site means brand value, customer data and profit margin. A healthy strategy usually runs both together.

You can’t improve what you don’t measure: set up e-commerce events in Google Analytics 4 (product view, add to cart, begin checkout, purchase), connect Search Console and focus each month on fixing the most abandoned step.

Frequently asked questions

Final word

Setting up an e-commerce site means putting the right company structure, a suitable platform, secure payments, complete legal texts and a smooth delivery chain in place at the same time. If any of these pieces is missing, sales either never start or problems arise with the first return request.

Where off-the-shelf platforms fall short, CYF Tech develops e-commerce and web software tailored to your needs, and sets up payment and shipping integrations end to end. If you would like to discuss your project, write to us and let’s assess your current situation together.