E-Commerce Operations and Legal Considerations – Part I: Delivery Operation

E-commerce has overtaken traditional commerce in today’s business environment. In parallel, Turkey has seen a meaningful rise in e-commerce ventures. Founders often perceive e-commerce as a simpler alternative to traditional retail — one in which an online presence can be created quickly through a website design. That perception overlooks the operational and legal complexity that determines whether a business actually works. The success of an e-commerce operation depends on disciplined preparation and attention to a series of unglamorous details.

In this series, we walk through the practical operations of an e-commerce business and the legal dimensions buried in the design of the website itself. This first article focuses on delivery.

Delivery Operations

a. The 30-Day Window

Under the Turkish Regulation on Distance Contracts, orders placed through e-commerce channels — other than products specifically prepared at the customer’s request — must be delivered within 30 days. If delivery is not made within that window, the consumer has the right to terminate the contract and demand a full refund.

Successful e-commerce operations depend on managing the order-to-delivery cycle efficiently. The 30-day cap is a meaningful risk for sellers, particularly for products that are not held in stock: if the consumer cancels for non-delivery, the seller may have already incurred production costs without realising a sale.

Operationally, this makes the following decisions critical: how delivery timelines are communicated on the website, which SKUs are kept in stock, and how stock is monitored throughout the order lifecycle. These choices materially reduce the risk created by the 30-day rule.

b. Carrier Selection (Transport Agreement)

Carrier delivery time. Delays are often caused by the carrier, not by production. Take references on prospective carriers, and confirm whether the Transport Agreement contains specific commitments on delivery timing.

Carrier’s acceptance conditions (packaging). Read the packaging requirements carefully. Carriers often include exclusion clauses tied to packaging methods — these can shift loss-and-damage liability back onto the seller.

Carrier fees. Carrier pricing varies by distance and weight. Get competing quotes, model the cost against the weight profile of your catalog, and decide whether shipping cost will be passed through to the consumer. Many e-commerce businesses offer “free shipping” as a differentiator — if you do, make sure every charge is captured in the carrier agreement to avoid unbudgeted surprises.

c. Delivery Method (Transport Agreements)

For some products, in-house delivery or contracts with local carriers can outperform reliance on national couriers — both on cost and on product safety. The luxury segment in particular may need to control delivery directly to manage product handling and mis-shipment risk. Assembly-required sales also typically demand seller control over the delivery process. Where standard manual delivery is not possible and specialised equipment (lift, crane) is needed, local carriers often offer better economics than national couriers.

Key terms to negotiate into a Transport Agreement:

• Representations and warranties on the carrier’s licences and permits
• Delivery operation management: dates, routes, packaging, handover, pallets/crates, delivery receipts, customer delivery terms
• Transfer of liability for product damage and loss to the carrier
• Procedures applicable to failed-delivery scenarios
• Waybill and record-keeping obligations
• Vehicle and personnel standards, branding and uniforms
• Health and safety, and treatment of the carrier’s personnel as potential sub-contractors (Turkish Supreme Court case law treats carrier personnel exclusively assigned to a seller’s facilities as sub-contractor staff — making the seller directly liable for their employment rights.)
• Compliance with the Law on Protection of Personal Data
• Service fees and revenue commitments
• Letter of guarantee

These terms determine whether a delivery operation runs smoothly — or generates a constant stream of disputes.

In this article, we covered the operational dimensions of delivery that carry legal weight. In the next article in this series, we examine the consumer’s right of withdrawal and the mechanics of returns.