Most businesses opening an online store spend weeks on product photos, design and payments, and leave shipping for the last day. Then the first orders arrive: shipping codes typed by hand, tracking numbers sent over WhatsApp, and the slow realisation that shipping costs are eating the margin. Shipping looks like the back room of the site, yet much of what the customer remembers happens there.
Agreeing terms with a carrier
Running an online store in Türkiye at retail shipping prices is very hard. The first step is a business agreement with one or two carriers. New businesses with low monthly volumes can also approach carriers; terms vary from carrier to carrier, so visit a branch or contact their corporate sales team for a quote.
When comparing offers, check:
- The price table by desi. Desi is volumetric weight, usually calculated by multiplying length, width and height in cm and dividing by 3000. By that formula a 30x20x15 cm box is 3 desi. Confirm the carrier's own formula in the quote.
- Whether they collect from your address, and the daily pickup time.
- Cash on delivery and its extra fee.
- How return shipments are priced.
- API or ready-made module support for integration.
Your strongest card in price talks is your estimated monthly volume. 50 parcels a month or 500? Give a realistic number; a price won with inflated numbers may be revised a few months later.
Starting with one carrier keeps things simple. If you run into regional delivery problems, you can add a second one later.
What does an integration do?
A shipping integration is the connection that moves data between your site and the carrier's system. Once set up, a shipment record opens automatically when the order is confirmed, the barcode prints from your panel, the tracking number goes to the customer by email and the order status updates itself on delivery.
For a business with five orders a day, that can mean roughly half an hour saved daily, around 15 hours a month. More importantly, errors from hand-typed addresses drop sharply.
Most ready-made e-commerce platforms have modules for common carriers. On custom software, the integration is built against the carrier's API, which takes a few days depending on scope. There are also aggregator services that manage several carriers from one panel; worth a look if you will work with more than one.
Setting a free-shipping threshold
Customers often drop off when they see the shipping fee in the cart. Unexpected extra costs are one of the commonly cited reasons for cart abandonment, which we covered in a separate article. The fix is not to ship everything free, but to set the right threshold.
Let's work through a hypothetical example. Picture a cosmetics store:
- Average basket: 450 TL
- Your average shipping cost: 95 TL
- Average gross margin on products: 40 percent
A 450 TL basket brings 180 TL gross profit. If you cover shipping, 85 TL remains. Profit is cut in half, which isn't sustainable.
Put the threshold a little above the average basket, say 600 TL, and the picture changes. A 600 TL basket brings 240 TL gross profit, 145 TL after shipping. And some customers with a 450 TL basket may add another item to reach the threshold. Setting the threshold a little above the average basket is a common approach; how far above is something you find by testing with your own data.
This calculation needs your own numbers. Look at the real average basket in your first two or three months, set the threshold, then measure whether the average basket changed two months later.
A progress bar or a single line in the cart showing how far the customer is from the threshold also helps: Add 120 TL more for free shipping. Suggesting small, affordable add-on products on the product page supports that message.
Showing shipping costs on the page
Revealing shipping for the first time at checkout is the worst case. Show it clearly in three places:
- In the site's top bar, one line: Free shipping over 600 TL.
- On the product page, right below Add to Cart: estimated dispatch time and fee.
- In the cart, before checkout.
Be realistic about dispatch times. If you promise same-day shipping, state the cut-off time, for example orders placed before 14:00 ship the same day. A promise you can't keep becomes one of the most common reasons for customer service messages.
Returns shipping
In distance sales in Türkiye, consumers have a right of withdrawal, and you need to decide in advance how return shipping works. When agreeing terms with your carrier, ask for a return agreement code. The customer drops the parcel at a branch with this code and the shipment runs through your agreement. Who pays for return shipping, and when, is set by regulation; write your returns policy accordingly.
Our article on returns and the right of withdrawal has more general information on this. Regulations get updated from time to time, so check the current rules or consult a lawyer when writing your policy.
If you don't know where to start, follow this order: get quotes from two carriers, work out a realistic average desi, calculate the free-shipping threshold with your own margin, and test the integration before the site goes live. Send the first order to a real address: your own.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a registered company to get a carrier agreement?
Business agreements are usually made with tax-registered businesses; sole proprietorships can often get one too. Ask the carrier's corporate sales team for the exact conditions.
Can a shipping integration be added to the site later?
Yes. On ready-made platforms it is usually a module install. On custom software it is built against the carrier's API and, depending on scope, takes a few days of work.
Blog posts are for general information only and are not a substitute for legal, financial or technical advice.