Service · Websites and web applications

Shopify, ikas and other platforms

Platform debates usually generate more heat than light, because people argue about features instead of their own business. Four inputs settle most of it: catalogue size, monthly order count, destination countries and the accounting system behind the store. Consider two hypothetical sellers. One is a Muğla family firm with forty olive oils and handmade soaps, already listed on Trendyol and hoping to open its own shop in time for New Year. The other is a Kayseri furniture manufacturer with 3,000 SKUs, trade price lists and Logo Tiger in the back office. The first is well served by a hosted service like ikas or Shopify and can be trading in weeks. For the second, connectors, variant modelling and direct data access outweigh everything else. We run these numbers alongside you, and only then suggest a platform.

Six candidates
ikas, IdeaSoft, T-Soft, Ticimax, Shopify, WooCommerce
36-month budget
subscriptions, transaction fees, apps and modules
Connector audit
Logo, Mikro, Netsis, Paraşüt, Trendyol, Hepsiburada
No commissions
our advice is not tied to any vendor

What the work covers in practice

You can commission the full journey from evaluation to launch, or stop after the comparison and hand the build to your in-house team or a different agency.

Agree the scope with the engineer who will do the work

Must-haves versus nice-to-haves

Launch-day essentials are listed apart from later ideas: variant logic, vouchers, repeat subscriptions, wholesale tiers, customer segments, extra languages, cross-border delivery.

Real running costs over three years

Subscription tiers, card commissions, paid add-ons, themes, hosting and the hours needed to maintain it all, projected with your order volumes. Demo stores always look cheaper than reality.

Connector due diligence

We check whether a supported bridge exists to Logo, Mikro, Netsis or Paraşüt, how e-Arşiv invoices reach your chosen provider, and how marketplace inventory will stay accurate. Integration gaps sink more projects than design choices.

Configuration on the winner

Theme tailoring, catalogue import, VAT set-up, iyzico or PayTR for cards and instalments, bank transfer, cash on delivery, carrier links to Yurtiçi, Aras or MNG, and correct placement of the distance-selling agreement and pre-contract disclosure.

Straight talk about hosted services

A hosted store gives you little control over servers and source code. Most small businesses benefit from that, since patching is someone else's job. When pricing rules are unusual or integrations are heavy, WooCommerce or custom code can be the better call, and our report states it plainly.

You own everything

The store subscription, payment provider contract, domain and add-on billing are all registered to your business. Before launch we test that catalogue, customer and order data can be downloaded in full.

How we approach the job, from first call to handover

Expect roughly two to three weeks for the evaluation. Build time depends on catalogue complexity and the number of systems to connect.

01

Gather inputs

An online session covers catalogue structure, order volume, markets, payment preferences and current software. Gaps are filled with ranged estimates we agree on together.

02

Written verdict

A short report compares the two or three strongest options on cost, effort and risk, closing with one recommendation and why.

03

Stress test

We load your most awkward products, such as heavily varianted ones, into the chosen platform and complete a real checkout through to label printing.

04

Build and open

Store configuration, full catalogue import, live card test orders, recorded training for your staff and a launch scheduled away from peak trading days.

Add-ons are where hosted store budgets quietly double. Almost anything the base product lacks, from product reviews and smarter filtering to marketplace sync and accounting exports, is sold as its own monthly subscription. A mid-sized shop can easily run eight to ten of these, pushing monthly spend far beyond the headline plan. Turkish platforms include some modules and lock others behind premium tiers. Our cost table uses your real feature list, not the brochure.

Frequently asked questions

For domestic sales, ikas, IdeaSoft, T-Soft and Ticimax already talk to Turkish payment providers, carriers, e-invoice providers and marketplaces. Shopify is strongest for brands selling mainly abroad in multiple languages and currencies. Follow the customer, not the hype.

Manageable but real. Catalogue, customer and order records export cleanly; stored passwords typically do not. Themes, add-ons and custom features must be rebuilt, so it pays to plan for around three years of growth from the start.

On content-rich sites, with non-standard pricing or product rules, and where someone, whether staff or a support contract, takes responsibility for the server. Without that owner, a hosted service is less stressful.

Merchants established in Turkey cannot use either service. Instead we connect iyzico, PayTR, Param or your bank's virtual POS, including 3D Secure and instalments, and our comparison sets out their fees and settlement times.

Find the right store platform

Share an approximate SKU count, typical monthly orders and your accounting system. We come back within one working day with anything else the comparison needs.

Availability
Weekdays 09:00-18:00 Turkey time (GMT+3); an answer follows by the next working day
Calls
By video, over Microsoft Teams or Google Meet

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