What You Need to Launch an Online Store: Legal and Technical Checklist

Company and tax setup

If you will sell regularly, you need a registered business and tax registration. Talk to your accountant about which company type suits you; invoicing, VAT and bookkeeping all depend on this decision.

Payment gateway

To accept card payments you have two options:

• A merchant account directly from your bank: fees are usually lower, but approval can take longer
• A payment institution: a quick start, with instalments and multiple payment methods built in
• Either way, using 3D Secure reduces fraud and chargebacks

ETBİS registration

Businesses selling online in Türkiye must register with the Ministry of Trade’s Electronic Commerce Information System (ETBİS). The verification code you add to your site afterwards also shows customers that your store is registered and trustworthy.

Contracts and the right of withdrawal

Under Turkish distance sales regulations, your site must include:

• A pre-information form: product, price, delivery and seller details before purchase
• A distance sales contract that the customer accepts with the order
• Withdrawal information: as a general rule, consumers can withdraw within 14 days without giving a reason
• A clear page explaining returns and exchanges

Privacy and marketing consent

A customer’s name, address and phone number are personal data. Your site needs a privacy notice under KVKK (Türkiye’s data protection law) and a cookie policy, and must ask for consent for non-essential cookies. If you will send promotional emails or SMS, you need commercial message consent and registration with the Message Management System (İYS).

E-invoicing

Invoices for online sales must be issued electronically. Connecting your store to an e-invoicing provider so invoices are created automatically after each order removes the work of issuing them by hand.

Technical setup

Just as important as the legal side is a store that is actually ready to sell:

• An SSL certificate (https) and a secure checkout
• A checkout that loads fast on phones and takes only a few steps
• Stock, orders and shipping managed from a single panel
• Shipping carrier integration with automatic tracking notifications
• Proper titles, descriptions and structured data on product pages (to appear on Google with price and availability)
• Regular backups and security updates