Migrating from Akinon to Shopify means exporting your catalog, customer data, order history and SEO assets via CSV or API, importing them into Shopify and 301 redirecting every old URL. The seven steps: document the setup, prepare the store, move the catalog, map redirects, rebuild integrations, test, then launch and monitor SEO. Stores under 500 products take 2-4 weeks.
Migrating from Akinon to Shopify means moving from one of Turkey's leading enterprise ecommerce platforms to a platform that scales globally. The migration covers transferring your product catalog, customer data, order history and SEO authority to the new platform without losing them. A poorly planned migration leads to both data loss and a drop in organic traffic. For a platform-independent overview of the migration process, our Guide to Migrating to Shopify is a good starting point; this guide focuses on the technical decisions and architectural differences specific to Akinon.
What Is Akinon and Who Uses It?
Akinon is an enterprise ecommerce platform with a headless architecture, founded in Turkey in 2016. It serves large retailers with its OMS (Order Management System), PIM (Product Information Management) and omnichannel sales management features. Brands such as LC Waikiki, Marks & Spencer Turkey and Boyner are among those that use Akinon.
The platform is designed to centrally manage large-scale operations and multichannel sales (physical stores + online). For brands below a certain volume, however, Akinon's setup and maintenance costs can start to feel heavy, and that is where migrating to a more flexible platform such as Shopify creates value.
Why Migrate from Akinon to Shopify?
The core differences between the two platforms are clear, and the decision to migrate is usually triggered by the following factors:
What triggers the decision to migrate:
- Plans to expand into international markets: Shopify's multi-language, multi-currency and tax infrastructure is far more ready to use than Akinon's.
- The need for a wider range of apps: global SaaS integrations such as Klaviyo, Yotpo, Gorgias and Judge.me can be installed from the Shopify App Store in minutes.
- Cost optimization: for mid-sized brands, Akinon's enterprise license cost can be far higher than Shopify Advanced or Plus.
- Developer independence: Shopify's large global developer ecosystem removes the problem of finding resources.
Important Note: Akinon is still a strong platform for large omnichannel operations. For brands that process 10,000+ orders a day and run many physical stores, a full cost-benefit analysis of the migration is essential before leaving Akinon. On the Shopify side, in-store sales are handled by our physical store integration, which connects Shopify POS to ÖKC-compliant terminals (the fiscal cash registers required in Turkey).
What Gets Moved When Migrating from Akinon to Shopify?
Clearly defining the scope of the migration determines the success of the project. The data to be moved from Akinon to Shopify falls into five main categories:
1. Product Catalog
- Product titles, descriptions, SKUs
- Variants (color, size, material)
- Images (main image + additional images)
- Pricing (list price, sale price)
- Stock quantities
- Meta titles and meta descriptions (critical for SEO)
- Collection/category relationships
2. Customer Data
- First name, last name, email, phone
- Saved addresses
- Account creation dates
- KVKK (Turkey's data protection law) compliance: get legal advice before transferring customer data
3. Order History
- Completed orders (date, amount, products)
- Return records
- Note: Shopify does not natively import historical orders; you need third-party tools or the API
4. Content and Blog Posts
- Blog articles (if any)
- Static pages (About Us, Contact, Policies)
5. SEO Assets
- Current URL structure
- Meta titles and descriptions
- Canonical URLs
- 301 redirect map (the most critical step)
Migrating from Akinon to Shopify: The Step-by-Step Process
Step 1: Document Your Current Akinon Setup
Before you start the migration, fully document your current setup:
- A list of all active URLs (using a site crawler such as Screaming Frog or Sitebulb)
- A list of pages that get organic traffic, from Google Search Console
- Current rankings (SEMrush or Ahrefs export)
- Number of products, categories and customers
- A list of active integrations (payments, shipping, accounting, ERP)
This document forms the basis of your post-migration checklist. If you migrate without documenting, it becomes impossible to see what was lost.
Step 2: Prepare Your Shopify Store
Set up the basic structure of your Shopify store before you start moving data:
- Choose your Shopify plan by comparing options with the Shopify Plan Calculator (Advanced or Plus for mid-sized brands)
- Connect your domain or prepare your DNS settings
- Choose and customize your theme (use Akinon's design logic as a reference)
- Set up your payment integration (iyzico or PayTR)
- Create shipping profiles
If you want to see the delivery steps of a migration project, the timeline and which decisions are made at each stage, our Shopify migration project process presents every phase within a documented framework.
Step 3: Migrate Your Product Catalog
Product data is usually exported from Akinon in one of two ways:
Method A: CSV Export Export your products as a CSV file from the Akinon admin panel. Arrange the columns to match Shopify's product import template. The core columns are: Handle, Title, Body (HTML), Vendor, Type, Tags, Published, Option1 Name, Option1 Value, Variant SKU, Variant Price, Image Src.
Method B: API Integration You can pull product data through Akinon's REST API and write it to the Shopify Admin API. For large catalogs (10,000+ products), this method is more reliable and preserves image links.
Technical Note: With a 2024 update, Shopify raised the variant limit per product from 100 to 2,048. If your Akinon variant structure stays below this limit, you do not need to restructure your products during the transfer.
Step 4: Protect Your SEO with a 301 Redirect Map
The most common mistake when migrating from Akinon to Shopify is a change in URL structure. When the old URLs that Google has indexed start returning 404 errors, organic traffic collapses within weeks.
The URL structure usually changes as follows:
Set up a 301 redirect in Shopify for every old URL. In Shopify, you can do this from Content > Menus > View URL redirects or with a bulk CSV import. For 1,000+ redirects, a CSV import or a third-party app (Easy Redirects) is more practical.
301 redirect checklist:
- All product pages
- All collection/category pages
- Blog posts
- Static pages
- Homepage (if needed)
Step 5: Rebuild Your Integrations
Identify the Shopify equivalents of the integrations running on Akinon:
In the migration projects we run, a significant share of the order disruptions in the first 30 days after a migration comes from integrations that are missing or set up too late. If you want to run every integration, from payments to ERP and accounting software, as a single project, our Shopify integration solutions service delivers this transition through a standard process.
Step 6: Verify in a Test Environment
Before going live, keep your Shopify store password-protected and run the following tests:
- Check at least 10 product pages from each category
- Complete a test order from start to finish
- Test the mobile experience on different devices and browsers
- Use tools to verify that your 301 redirects work (Screaming Frog)
- Measure page load speed with Google PageSpeed Insights
Step 7: Go Live and Monitor Your SEO
The best time to go live is a low-traffic period (02:00-06:00 at night or the off-season). Point your domain to Shopify, submit the new sitemap to Google Search Console and monitor the following metrics daily for the first 30 days:
- Organic traffic (GSC > Performance)
- Crawl errors (GSC > Page indexing)
- 404 pages (GSC > within the Page indexing report)
- Core Web Vitals score
Common Mistakes When Migrating from Akinon to Shopify
Mistake 1: Migrating without 301 redirects This is the most common and most damaging mistake. Without redirects, every old URL returns a 404 error, and Google starts removing those pages from its index.
Mistake 2: Not re-optimizing product images Images exported from Akinon usually have large file sizes. When transferring them to Shopify, convert them to WebP and compress them to a maximum width of 2048px.
Mistake 3: Overlooking how customers sign in Since February 2026, new Shopify stores open only with passwordless customer accounts based on email OTP (one-time passcode). Even if the customer records exported from Akinon include a password field, Shopify does not use it; customers verify their identity on their first sign-in with an OTP code sent to their email. There is no need to send password reset emails.
Mistake 4: Shutting down the old Akinon store immediately after migrating Keep the old store accessible for at least 30 days. It serves as a reference point when you notice missing redirects or lost data.
FAQ
How long does it take to migrate from Akinon to Shopify? It depends on the size of your catalog and the number of integrations. A store with fewer than 500 products can be migrated in 2-4 weeks. Projects with 5,000+ products, an active ERP integration and a large number of 301 redirects can take 2-4 months. To avoid any downtime, we recommend running both in parallel (old store live, new store in testing).
Can customer reviews collected on Akinon be moved to Shopify? Akinon's built-in review system is not directly compatible with Shopify. Reviews can be exported as a CSV and imported into apps such as Judge.me or Yotpo. However, verification of the original source may be lost, so you should consider the impact on trust.
Is it possible to keep your SEO rankings? A well-executed migration preserves most of your organic traffic. Setting up complete 301 redirects, transferring metadata and submitting your sitemap to Google are the critical steps. Even so, small ranking fluctuations are normal for 4-8 weeks after the migration.
Can custom developments on Akinon be moved to Shopify? Custom components built for Akinon do not work directly on Shopify. They need to be redeveloped using Shopify's Liquid templating language and API. List these customizations and prioritize the ones you actually need.
How do you migrate from Akinon to Shopify? A migration from Akinon to Shopify takes seven steps, and the four most critical are documenting the current setup, transferring product and customer data, setting up 301 redirects to protect SEO, and rebuilding integrations. The most critical step is URL redirection; without it, organic traffic drops sharply within weeks.
Akinon or Shopify: which platform is better? Akinon is designed for enterprise brands with a strong omnichannel retail structure and high order volumes. Shopify has the advantage for brands that want to scale globally, need a large app ecosystem and are looking for a more flexible cost structure. The two platforms serve different needs; the right choice depends on the brand's size, growth goals and technical capacity.
Will you lose SEO when migrating from Akinon to Shopify? A well-executed migration does not cause permanent SEO loss. As long as 301 redirects are set up completely, metadata is transferred and the new sitemap is submitted to Search Console, most of your organic traffic is preserved. Small fluctuations for 4-8 weeks after the migration are normal and settle once Google finishes indexing the new structure.
Conclusion: Expert Support for Migrating from Akinon to Shopify
Migrating from Akinon to Shopify is a strategic decision that requires technical expertise. A planned approach is essential to protect data integrity, carry over your SEO authority and keep integration disruptions to a minimum.
At Nodus Works, we manage end-to-end migration projects for brands in Turkey moving to Shopify. If you want to plan your migration from Akinon to Shopify, take a look at our migration service and contact us for a free initial assessment.
