Migration from marketplaces to Shopify means moving your products from a marketplace such as Trendyol, Hepsiburada, Amazon or Etsy to your own Shopify store, so you own the customer data and brand experience. It takes five steps: analysis, Shopify setup, catalog transfer, brand experience and synchronization. For most brands, a marketplace + Shopify hybrid that keeps the marketplace open works best.
In the marketplace-to-Shopify switch projects we run at Nodus Works (some sources also call this a "migration"), we have seen that whichever marketplace you are coming from, the core question is always the same: are you moving your products, or are you building your brand? A store selling on Trendyol, Hepsiburada, Amazon or Etsy stays dependent on that platform's traffic and algorithm; the customer's email address, purchase history and repeat-sales relationship stay with the marketplace, not with you. In this guide, we explain the general logic of moving from a marketplace to Shopify, the migration process from Turkey's major marketplaces (Trendyol, Hepsiburada), and which of our dedicated guides to read depending on the marketplace you are coming from. We have collected all the platform-independent migration steps (choosing a plan, data transfer, protecting SEO, going live) in Migrating to Shopify: Our Complete Guide; this article focuses on how moving from marketplaces such as Trendyol and Hepsiburada to your own store differs when it comes to the catalog and customer data.
What Does Migrating from a Marketplace to Shopify Mean?
Migrating from a marketplace to Shopify is not just copying product listings from one platform to another; it is the move from being a marketplace seller to being a brand owner. When you sell on a marketplace, you are that marketplace's customer; when you sell on Shopify, the customer is yours. This difference is strategic, not operational. In the marketplace model, the customer comes to the platform, finds you there and buys, and your next sale still depends on the platform's algorithm. In the Shopify model, customer data, your email list and the repeat-purchase relationship build up directly in your own system.
Which Marketplace Are You Migrating From?
Although the general logic of the migration process is similar for all marketplaces, each platform has a different data structure, API and set of conventions. The table below shows where to look depending on which marketplace you are coming from.
Migrating from Trendyol to Shopify
Because Trendyol is Turkey's largest marketplace, most sellers coming from this platform see the move not as leaving it completely but as a way to reduce their dependence on it. The product, category and sales data built up on Trendyol can be moved to Shopify; however, for many sellers, Trendyol's commission structure and campaign traffic still make it an important sales channel. The most practical route for sellers coming from Trendyol is to build the product catalog and brand experience on Shopify while keeping Trendyol open as a channel for acquiring new customers. For stock and order synchronization, you can review the marketplace integration options in our Shopify integrations guide.
Migrating from Hepsiburada to Shopify
Sellers coming from Hepsiburada usually operate in electronics, home and living, and fast-moving consumer goods; in these categories, brand trust and the perception of delivery speed directly influence the purchase decision. When moving to Shopify, making these two elements (trust signals and a fast, transparent shipping process) visible in the store design is the quickest way to carry the sense of trust shoppers are used to on Hepsiburada over to the new channel. Product data and stock information can be moved to Shopify with a CSV export or an integration tool; we explain how to set up shipping processes in detail in our Shopify shipping integration guide.
The Marketplace + Shopify Hybrid Model
Whichever marketplace you are coming from, the model we recommend most often is not shutting down the marketplace completely but setting up a marketplace + Shopify hybrid model. In this model, the marketplace stays open for new customer acquisition and ready-made traffic, while Shopify becomes the hub for the brand's main website, customer data, email marketing, SEO and repeat-purchase journeys. We cover this hybrid approach in more detail for Amazon and Etsy in our migrating from Amazon to Shopify and migrating from Etsy to Shopify guides; the same logic applies equally to Trendyol and Hepsiburada.
Important: Do not read the word "migration" as shutting down the marketplace. The goal is to reduce your dependence on the marketplace and grow the brand's own sales channel; for most brands, the healthiest result comes from running both models side by side.
The Marketplace to Shopify Migration Process
Whichever marketplace you are coming from, the migration process has five steps. When the order of these steps is skipped, the result shows: a Shopify store where only the product catalog has been transferred, without building a brand experience, looks like a one-to-one copy of the marketplace listing page and does not give visitors the feeling that it belongs to a brand.
Common Mistakes During Migration
Five mistakes come up again and again: copying marketplace product descriptions to Shopify word for word, creating only a product catalog without building a brand experience, forgetting that the marketplace's traffic was ready-made and not making a separate traffic plan for Shopify, keeping both channels open at the same time without setting up stock synchronization, and suddenly shutting down the marketplace and putting all sales at risk. What these mistakes have in common is treating the migration like a "copy" job, when in fact it is the process of building the brand's own digital hub.
A Risk to Avoid: Do not keep the marketplace and Shopify open at the same time without setting up stock synchronization. A store that takes orders for the same product on both channels but updates stock in only one place will soon run into overselling; this is the mistake in the migration process that causes the most customer complaints.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is switching from a marketplace to Shopify the same as a migration?
Yes, both terms describe the same process; "switching" is the more everyday word, while "migration" is the more technical synonym.
Can I migrate to Shopify without closing my marketplace store?
Yes, and for most brands this is the recommended model. Keeping the marketplace open as a new customer acquisition channel while making Shopify the brand's main hub is a safer route that keeps sales going.
Which marketplace is easiest to migrate from?
The difficulty depends less on the marketplace and more on the size of your product catalog and the complexity of your personalization options and variants. The dedicated guides we prepared for Amazon and Etsy also cover the technical details specific to those platforms.
How do you transfer data from Trendyol and Hepsiburada to Shopify?
Product, category and stock data can be moved to Shopify with a CSV export or through an integration app. Order history is usually pulled separately through the platform's API.
Will my sales drop during the migration?
In the hybrid model, where the marketplace stays open, sales continuity is largely preserved. The risk increases when you suddenly shut down the marketplace and tie all sales to a single channel before your Shopify traffic has settled.
Conclusion
Migrating from a marketplace to Shopify starts with the same strategic question, whichever platform you are coming from: are you moving your products, or are you building your brand? For sellers coming from Trendyol and Hepsiburada, the steps in this guide are a solid starting point; if you are coming from Amazon or Etsy, we recommend reading our platform-specific guides on migrating from Amazon to Shopify and migrating from Etsy to Shopify.
Whichever marketplace you are migrating from, you can contact our team about our Shopify migration service to plan your process end to end.
