E-Commerce Architect & Shopify Specialist
Oğuz Kaan Çağatay
Kılınç
📍 Ankara, Turkey
Open to freelance projects
Shopify stores don't fail because of bad code. They fail because no one asked the right questions first. I build the architecture — and ask the questions.
Currently
- Head of Technology at Rugette — leading Shopify Plus architecture and technical strategy across UK, US, Canada, Australia, with Europe expansion underway
- Instructor at İhracat Akademisi — teaching Shopify and e-export training modules
- Freelance E-Commerce Architect — building okck.net as a platform for consulting & writing
Experience
OKCK.net
E-Commerce Architect & Shopify Expert
Providing high-level Shopify architecture consulting and strategic e-commerce solutions for global brands and merchants.
- Operating as an E-Commerce Architect to design scalable, high-performance Shopify infrastructures that align technical execution with business growth.
- Delivering strategic consulting and technical audits, focusing on performance optimization, checkout extensibility, and conversion strategy.
- Architecting an intensive Shopify training program aimed at educating merchants and developers on advanced ecosystem standards.
- Producing technical thought leadership and documentation to standardize modern Shopify development workflows and best practices.
- Engaging with the Shopify community through forums, social media, and events to share knowledge and stay connected.
Head of Technology
Leading the technology function for Rugette, a Shopify Plus D2C washable rugs brand, across UK, US, Canada, Australia, with Europe expansion underway.
- Direct storefront architecture, custom backend systems, embedded apps, tracking, and SEO/GEO strategy end-to-end.
- Designed metaobject-driven architecture for product grouping, market-specific shipping policies, and a price synchronization app spanning ~800 products and ~50,000 variants.
- Built a unified custom tracking pixel with Consent Mode v2, per-market GTM routing, and GA4 ecommerce data structure.
- Led technical SEO/GEO strategy, including structured data (JSON-LD) and multi-market localization architecture.
- Leading Europe market expansion: language setup, URL localization, and local compliance requirements.
Shopify Instructor / Mentor
Teaching Shopify and e-commerce architecture to export-focused brand founders and developers, delivered both on-site and remote, and running voluntary 1-1 mentorship sessions.
- Deliver dedicated Shopify infrastructure setup training for merchants and developers.
- Delivered training on Shopify AI capabilities (Shopify Magic, Sidekick, AI Toolkit, GEO) as a supplementary module.
- Volunteer for 45-minute 1-1 mentorship sessions open to the public, offered as community support rather than a paid service.
- Built a live jury scoring web application for program evaluations (weighted scoring, Excel export, role-based access).
DigiFist
Development Team Lead
Built and scaled a development team from the ground up — standardized Shopify architecture across all agency projects.
- Led the development team in defining best practices for Shopify architecture, focusing on performance, accessibility, and clean code.
- Directed technical recruitment — conducting interviews and scaling a high-performing team.
- Reduced project delivery times through standardized components, automation, and sprint optimization.
- Mentored developers on advanced Liquid techniques and modern frontend workflows.
Senior Frontend Developer & Shopify Developer
Developed and optimized dozens of Shopify storefronts — consistently improving Core Web Vitals and conversion metrics.
- Built high-performance Shopify storefronts with Liquid, HTML, CSS, and Vanilla JS — mobile-first throughout.
- Identified and executed frontend optimization opportunities to improve speed, accessibility, and conversion.
- Maintained code consistency across diverse Shopify themes and project timelines.
Nexum Boğaziçi
Senior Frontend Developer
Frontend lead on flypgs.com — one of Turkey's highest-traffic e-commerce platforms, serving millions of users.
- Senior Frontend Developer on the Pegasus Airlines (flypgs.com) project — large-scale, high-traffic platform.
- Executed comprehensive performance and page speed optimizations to improve user engagement.
- Worked in an Agile Scrum framework alongside designers and backend developers.
Webdenal
Full Stack Developer
Six years building and maintaining a full e-commerce platform — integrations, automation, UI, and data analysis.
- End-to-end maintenance and development of UI/Admin interfaces using JSP, HTML5, CSS3, and JavaScript.
- Engineered automated data pipelines with Perl for supplier product data and XML feeds.
- Managed marketplace integrations: Amazon (MWS API), Trendyol, Hepsiburada, N11.
TAHA Giyim / LC Waikiki
Senior Frontend Developer
Designed and built two platforms from scratch — a corporate site and an internal portal — within a single engagement.
- Built tahagiyim.com from the ground up — lightweight corporate architecture.
- Developed tahaportal.com, a responsive internal platform utilizing device and browser data for UX optimization.
- Participated in Agile "Slicing" meetings and supported preliminary analysis of process owner requests.
Earlier Career
- Rent a Depo — Corporate Communications Executive Nov 2014 - Feb 2015 Digital marketing and social media for an early-stage self-storage startup.
- Astaldi — Intern Engineer Aug 2013 - Sep 2013 On-site internship at the Yavuz Sultan Selim Bridge construction project.
- Dinamik Gazete — News Writer Oct 2012 - Jul 2013 University journalism covering student life and social issues at Boğaziçi.
- Joy Grup — Social Media Strategist Jul 2012 - Apr 2013 Website development, brand identity, and social media management.
- BUCampus — Co-Chair & Webmaster Aug 2009 - Mar 2012 Webmaster then Co-Chair of Boğaziçi University's social network platform.
Skills & Tech
Specialization
Shopify Performance
CRO
E-commerce Psychology
Shopify Liquid
Web Components
Accessibility (A11y)
AI-Driven Workflows
Technical
HTML5
CSS3
Vanilla JS (ES6+)
PHP
MySQL
XML / XSD
RESTful APIs
Marketplace Integrations
Methods & Tools
Agile & Scrum
Technical Leadership
UX Design
Jira
ClickUp
Notion
Slack
Git
Photoshop
Environments
macOS
Linux (Ubuntu)
Windows
Languages
Turkish — Native
English — Advanced
Certifications
Completed
- Shopify — Solution Planning Fundamentals Shopify Academy - 2024 Scoping and planning Shopify solutions for merchants
- Shopify — Development Fundamentals Shopify Academy - 2024 Core Shopify development architecture and best practices
- Shopify — Liquid Storefronts for Theme Developers Shopify Academy - 2024 Advanced Liquid templating and theme architecture
- Shopify — Positioning the Value of Shopify Checkout Shopify Academy - 2024 Checkout optimization and conversion strategy
- ES6 Javascript: The Complete Developer's Guide Udemy - 2023 Modern JavaScript patterns and advanced ES6+ features
- Advanced CSS and Sass: Flexbox, Grid, Animations Udemy - 2022 CSS architecture, animations, and responsive design systems
- Mastering Clean Code in JavaScript Udemy - 2022 Code quality, refactoring, and maintainability principles
- Advanced JavaScript Udemy - 2022 Deep dive into JS engine, closures, async patterns
- Shopify Theme Development: Online Store 2.0 Udemy - 2022 OS 2.0 architecture, sections, blocks and JSON templates
- Learn Shopify Liquid Programming Udemy - 2022 Liquid syntax, filters, and dynamic template logic
In Progress
- Google Project Management: Professional Certificate Coursera - 2026 Project lifecycle, Agile, risk management
- Google UX Design: Professional Certificate Coursera - 2026 User research, wireframing, prototyping
- Google AI Essentials Coursera - 2026 AI fundamentals and practical workflows
Volunteering
- Sen De Gel Association — Web Developer Nov 2020 — Present Managing and maintaining the official website for the NGO.
- TEGV — Educator Oct 2019 — Jun 2021 Creative & Algorithmic Thinking workshops. Block-Based & Robotic Coding. (Google.org Algo Digital Project)
- TOG — Board Member, Mentoring Project Jan 2004 — Feb 2009 Designed and published the TOG Mentorship Project website. Five years of community initiatives.
- Joomla! — Area Coordinator Jan 2007 — Dec 2007 Led Turkish translation & localization of Joomla! CMS. Community technical support.
- AHDER — Project Coordinator Jan 2005 — Aug 2005 Earthquake awareness education to 20,000 elementary students across Istanbul.
- Radyo Boğaziçi — Radio Programmer Oct 2003 — Mar 2005 Weekly two-hour specialized radio program for 1.5 years.
Education
Boğaziçi University
Transitioned to a professional career to focus on full-time software development and technical projects.Philosophy
For me, coding is…
- A strategic mind game where technical precision meets creative problem-solving.
- A living organism rather than a static stack — a dynamic system defined by prerequisites, cycles, and meaningful consequences.
- A philosophy of growth that bridges the gap between complex logic and seamless human experience.