How to build an ecommerce website: 8 steps to your first sale

How long does it take to build an ecommerce website, and which tasks are yours?

Building an ecommerce website takes eight steps: defining the product scope, choosing the platform, opening the domain and accounts, applying for payment processing, setting up shipping and returns, completing the legal texts and the ETBİS registration, preparing the product data and placing a test order before launch. In our packages, delivery time depends on the platform and the number of products: 7-11 days for the Starter package and 18-30 days for the Premium package.

Part of that time depends on your business. The virtual POS application, your lawyer's approval of the legal texts, the ETBİS registration and preparing the product information stay on your side. Design, setup, integration and testing are the job of the team building the store. In this article we go through, in order, what needs to be prepared at each step and in what form.

This guide is written for businesses selling from Türkiye, so the payment, registration and legal steps follow Turkish rules. You can find the setup scope, sample work and process steps on our ecommerce website development page. To work out the total budget, the first-year costs article is the companion to this guide.

Your own ecommerce website or a marketplace?

The first decision for a business that wants to open an online store is whether to sell on its own site or on a marketplace. A marketplace has a ready audience, but a commission is taken from every sale, and the look of the product page and contact with the customer follow the platform's rules. On your own site, the brand, the pricing policy and customer data stay with you; in return, you bring in visitors yourself through ads, SEO and social media.

The two paths also differ in legal obligations. According to the e-commerce FAQ page of Türkiye's Ministry of Trade, businesses selling through their own e-commerce channel must register with the Electronic Commerce Information System (ETBİS), while those selling through a marketplace based in Türkiye have no registration or notification obligation.

Many businesses use both channels. If you want stock and orders synced between the marketplace and the site, write this into the scope before setup; in our packages, marketplace syncing is handled with a custom quote.

8 steps to build an ecommerce website

The table below sums up the steps in order and who each step belongs to. The order matters: if work that depends on outside approval, such as the payment application and legal texts, is not started early, the store cannot open for sales even when the design is finished.

1. Decide what you will sell and how many products

The first step is to list the products that will go on sale at launch. The number of products, the category structure and the variants (size, color, dimensions) directly shape the platform choice and the setup time. You do not have to load every product on day one; launching with the products you expect to sell best and expanding the catalog later shortens the preparation time.

Our packages are split by this number: the Starter package includes loading up to 50 products at setup, Standard up to 200 and Premium up to 500. Larger catalogs, or stores that need regular updates from supplier lists, are planned with a custom quote.

At this stage, also write down your pricing policy: the sale price including VAT, who pays for shipping and the free shipping threshold. This information will be used both on the product pages and in the legal texts.

2. Choose a ready-made platform or a custom admin panel

There are two main ways to choose an ecommerce platform. On a ready-made platform, orders, products and payments are managed in the platform's admin panel, and a subscription or license fee is paid regularly. With a custom admin panel, the screens are built around how the store works, and you are not tied to a platform. In our packages, Starter is built on a ready-made platform, while Standard and Premium are built with a custom admin panel.

Your number of products, your design expectations and the integrations you will need later decide the choice. We cover the difference between the two paths in Shopify vs custom ecommerce, and the fee and scope information on the official pages of Ticimax, IdeaSoft, ikas, Shopify and WooCommerce in ecommerce platforms compared.

3. Open the domain and accounts in your own name

The domain, hosting, business email and platform account should be opened in your business's name and under your access. The company doing the setup is given admin access, and the business pays. That way the store, the domain and customer data stay with you even if the team you work with changes.

A .com.tr domain is allocated without documents to whoever applies first, so getting the name you want early protects your launch date. Order notifications and customer emails sent from accounts on your own domain build trust and also make it less likely that the emails land in the spam folder.

4. Apply for payment processing early

To accept card payments, you sign an agreement with a bank's virtual POS (an online card terminal) or a payment provider. The application usually asks for business documents, bank account details and often a site address that is ready to go live, with its legal texts. The documents required and the approval time vary by provider; if approval is delayed, the store cannot take payments even when the design is finished. That is why we recommend starting the application in the first week of setup.

In our packages, integrating and testing payment processing is part of the setup. The application, the approval and the provider's fees and monthly charges are paid by the business. Card details never pass through the site's server; payment is taken through a page or component hosted by the provider.

When you get quotes, ask in writing for the rates on single and installment payments, how long it takes for money to reach your account and how refunds are made. Because these rates vary by provider and agreement, we do not give figures here; check the provider's current rates.

5. Set up shipping and returns

The shipping company, who pays for shipping, packaging and the return address should be settled before launch. With a shipping integration, labels are created from the panel and the tracking number is sent to the customer automatically. Basic shipping integration is included in our packages; non-standard shipping connections are handled with a custom quote.

Delivery and return times follow the legal framework. Under Türkiye's Distance Contracts Regulation, published in the Official Gazette of November 27, 2014, issue 29188, the delivery time for goods can in no case exceed thirty days (Article 16). The consumer can use the right of withdrawal within fourteen days without giving a reason (Article 9), and the seller refunds the amount collected within fourteen days of receiving the withdrawal notice (Article 12).

For some contracts, such as products made to the customer's specifications, the right of withdrawal does not apply (Article 15). If your products fall into this group, it has to be stated clearly on the product page and in the pre-contract information form.

6. Have the legal texts prepared and complete the ETBİS registration

The site of a business that sells online carries a pre-contract information form, a distance sales contract, withdrawal and return terms, a privacy notice under KVKK (Türkiye's personal data protection law) and a cookie policy. These texts should not be copied from another site; your lawyer should prepare them for your products and your delivery and return setup. Our packages set up the privacy and cookie infrastructure; the content of the texts needs your lawyer's approval.

Under the Distance Contracts Regulation, before the contract is made, the consumer must be informed of details such as the main characteristics of the product, the seller's trade name and MERSİS number (the central trade registry number) where there is one, the total price including all taxes, and the delivery and withdrawal terms (Article 5). In online sales, some of this information is shown again just before the payment step (Article 6), and the consumer confirms having received the pre-contract information; otherwise the contract is deemed not to have been made (Article 7).

According to the Ministry of Trade's ETBİS page, service providers selling on their own site register with ETBİS through e-Devlet (the government's online services portal) before they start trading. The Ministry's FAQ page states that registration is free and no documents are required, and that for registration, merchants must be registered in MERSİS and tradesmen and craftsmen in ESBİS (the tradesmen and craftsmen registry). According to the same page, the site's home page shows, under a contact heading, the KEP (registered electronic mail) address, email address and phone number, and for merchants the trade name, MERSİS number and head office address.

On the KVKK side, according to the Personal Data Protection Authority's guide on the duty to inform, the duty to inform under Article 10 of Law No. 6698 is fulfilled at the time personal data is collected. That is why membership, order and contact forms are linked to the privacy notice.

This section is for general information and is not legal advice. Consult your lawyer before you publish the texts, and talk to your accountant about tax registration, invoicing and company type.

7. Prepare product data in one format

The preparation that affects setup time most is the product data. Product information (images, prices, descriptions) comes ready from the business; variants are unlimited, and loading products beyond the number in the package is charged separately. Preparing the data in a spreadsheet, with each product on its own row, speeds up loading and reduces errors.

Shooting images in the same aspect ratio and against the same background gives category pages a tidy look. The description should include material, dimensions, care information and delivery time; this information both reduces customer questions and is part of the pre-contract information duty.

8. Place a test order before launch and add the site to Search Console

Before launch, at least one test order is placed with a real card and then refunded. This test checks the payment step, order emails, stock deduction, the shipping label and the return flow from end to end. It also confirms that the pre-contract information form and the distance sales contract appear at the payment step and that the confirmation checkbox works.

Once the store is live, it is added to Google Search Console and the sitemap is submitted. That way you can track whether product and category pages are indexed and which searches they appear in. All our packages include basic SEO and Search Console setup; the Standard and Premium packages also set up product and category structured data and Analytics sales tracking.

What you need to build an ecommerce website: checklist

Having the documents and information below ready before setup starts keeps the process moving without waiting. Most of them are used again in the payment application, the ETBİS registration and the legal texts.

How long does it take, and how much does it cost?

As of November 2026, our ecommerce setup packages cost $698 to $1,595, excl. VAT. Our prices are set in Turkish lira; the US dollar amounts in this article are converted at today's Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye (CBRT) rate. The time depends on the platform and the number of products loaded at setup. Needs such as catalogs where the product count is 500 and above, dealer pricing, or ERP or marketplace syncing are handled with a custom quote starting at $1,894, excl. VAT.

Besides the setup fee, there are recurring costs such as a platform subscription or a server, the domain, payment fees, shipping and maintenance. As of November 2026, our monthly maintenance costs $70 to $150 for stores on a ready-made platform and $80 to $200 for stores with a custom panel, excl. VAT. We go through every item separately in ecommerce website cost. The full scope of the packages is on our ecommerce service page and our pricing page.

Prices are set in Turkish lira and exclude VAT. USD amounts use the Central Bank of the Republic of Türkiye rate of November 12, 2026 (1 USD = ₺50.17).

Common mistakes

The most common delay is applying for payment processing after the design is finished. While approval is pending, the finished store cannot take sales. The second mistake is supplying product images in different sizes and backgrounds; the images then have to be edited one by one and loading takes longer.

The third mistake is opening the domain or platform account in the name of the company doing the setup. When you want to change companies, handing over the store becomes difficult. The fourth is copying legal texts from another site. Another business's trade name, return period or shipping terms do not fit your sales, and the burden of proving that pre-contract information was given lies with the seller.

Finally, trying to load the whole catalog at launch also delays going live. Opening with the products that are most ready to sell and completing the catalog within weeks lets the store get visitors and feedback early.