E-commerce Turkey

E-Commerce Website Guide for Turkey

July 2, 2026Kordevo~9 min read

Turkey's E-Commerce Market in 2024

Turkey is one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in Europe. According to Statista, Turkish online retail revenue exceeded $35 billion in 2023 and continues to grow at double-digit rates. For businesses entering or expanding in the market, the opportunity is significant — but the local requirements are specific.

Choosing the Right Platform

Marketplace vs. Independent Store

Selling on Trendyol or Hepsiburada is fast to set up, but you pay 10–20% commission on every sale and have no customer data ownership. An independent store costs more to build but gives you full control over brand experience, pricing, and customer relationships.

SaaS vs. Custom Development

SaaS platforms (Shopify, Ticimax, Ideasoft):

Fast to launch
Monthly fee + transaction percentage
Limited customisation ceiling
Dependency on third-party roadmap

Custom development (Next.js + headless):

Built exactly to your business logic
One-time development cost
Scales with your traffic without per-transaction fees
Full control over performance and SEO

For stores expecting more than 500 orders/month or requiring B2B functionality, custom development typically becomes cost-competitive within 18 months.

Payment Integration

Turkish consumers expect local payment options. The dominant providers are:

[iyzico](https://iyzico.com/) — most widely used, supports instalment payments (taksit) which are critical for high-value purchases
[PayTR](https://www.paytr.com/) — competitive rates, strong fraud protection
[Stripe](https://stripe.com/) — recommended for international sales

Taksit (instalment) support is not optional for categories like electronics, furniture, or white goods. Customers abandon carts without it.

Legal Requirements

Operating an e-commerce store in Turkey requires compliance with:

KVKK (Turkish GDPR equivalent) — explicit consent for data collection, privacy policy, cookie policy
Distance Sales Regulation — statutory 14-day return right, mandatory pre-purchase information
E-Invoice (e-Fatura) — mandatory for businesses exceeding revenue thresholds; TÜRMOB provides guidance

Non-compliance carries fines and can result in marketplace suspension.

SEO for Turkish E-Commerce

Turkish search behaviour differs from Western markets:

High mobile-first usage — Google's mobile-first indexing is critical
Price sensitivity — include price in title tags for product pages
Local intent — "İstanbul" + product category combinations drive qualified traffic
Google Merchant Center integration enables Shopping ads with high conversion intent

Build your product page URLs as /urun/kategori/urun-adi — avoid numeric IDs. Structured data (Schema.org Product) with price, availability, and reviews unlocks rich snippets in search results.