Creating an Online Shop – A Guide for Swiss SMEs

Creating an online shop: what Swiss SMEs really need to know

A furniture carpenter in Zurich with three employees has been selling through his workshop for decades. Walk-in customers, recommendations, the odd trade fair. Then he creates an online shop – and after six months 30% of his revenue is digital. This is no isolated case.

Swiss B2C online retail reached a turnover of CHF 13.8 billion in 2024 (source: Handelsverband.swiss / VSV, online retailer survey 2024). And yet: according to a 2023 study by HWZ and localsearch, around 40% of Swiss SMEs still did not have their own web shop. The potential is therefore considerable – especially for smaller businesses that have so far sold exclusively offline.

If you want to create an online shop, you face a series of concrete decisions. Which shop system is right? What should it cost? And which Swiss particularities do you need to consider? This guide gives you orientation – without sales waffle, but with a practical focus.

Why create an online shop right now?

Switzerland is one of the countries with the highest internet penetration in the world. 96 to 97% of the population use the internet regularly (source: FSO, Omnibus ICT survey 2023/2024). Around 80% of people in Switzerland aged 15 and over have made at least one online purchase in the past twelve months.

The demand is there. What many SMEs underestimate: it is not about competing with Amazon. It is about serving your existing customer base better and reaching new groups of buyers that you would never reach through a physical location alone.

99.7% of all businesses in Switzerland are SMEs (source: FSO, business demography STATENT). That means your competitors are in the same situation. Those who act now gain a noticeable head start.

The right platform: which shop system suits your SME?

Choosing the platform is the single most important decision when creating an online shop. It determines costs, flexibility and long-term effort. Here is an honest comparison of the most common options for the Swiss market:

Shopify – quick to launch, but with limitations

Shopify is a hosted solution from around USD 32 per month (Basic plan, as of 2025). The advantage: you don’t need to worry about hosting, and updates run automatically. For Swiss shops, multi-currency capability (CHF and EUR) is relevant and is now well solved. The drawback: you reach limits sooner with custom adaptations, and transaction fees come on top of payment provider costs.

WooCommerce (WordPress) – flexible, but not maintenance-free

WooCommerce is open source and free. Hosting costs in Switzerland are around CHF 10 to 50 per month. A professional set-up by an agency costs between CHF 3’000 and 15’000 for a typical SME project. The big advantage: maximum control over design, functions and data. The drawback: you or your agency have to take care of updates, security and performance.

Swiss solutions such as MyCOMMERCE

MyCOMMERCE (by Swisscom) was developed specifically for the Swiss market. Entry from around CHF 0 to 29 per month, including CHF support, Swiss payment methods and correct VAT handling. For smaller product ranges and a quick start, it is an option worth considering – albeit with limited design options.

Shopware and Magento – for larger projects

Shopware and Magento (Adobe Commerce) are aimed at medium-sized to large shops. Set-up costs start at CHF 15’000 and can clearly exceed CHF 50’000. For an SME with 50 to 200 products, this is oversized in most cases.

A counterintuitive observation here: the most expensive platform does not automatically lead to the best result. We regularly see SMEs with a lean WooCommerce shop and good web hosting achieving better results than companies that have invested five-figure sums in an enterprise system that nobody in-house can subsequently maintain.

Payment methods: TWINT is not a nice-to-have

This is where the Swiss online shop parts ways with the international standard. TWINT is Switzerland’s most widely used mobile payment method, with over 5 million active users (source: TWINT AG, 2024). If you create an online shop for the Swiss market and don’t integrate TWINT, you lose buyers. It’s as simple as that.

You should also offer the following payment methods:

• Credit cards (Visa, Mastercard) – still the standard in e-commerce
• PostFinance – particularly widespread in German-speaking Switzerland and expected by many customers
• Purchase on invoice (e.g. via Klarna or MFGroup/Powerpay) – noticeably increases the conversion rate because the payment hurdle disappears
• PayPal – relevant above all for younger groups of buyers and international orders

The real problem is not the technical integration – most shop systems offer plugins for it. The problem is that many SMEs offer only one or two payment methods for cost reasons and then wonder why the checkout abandonment rate is high.

Creating an online shop: agency, freelancer or in-house?

This question occupies almost every SME. All three routes have their merits – depending on budget, timeframe and in-house know-how.

In-house with a website builder

Suitable for micro-businesses with few products and a budget under CHF 2’000. Tools such as Shopify or MyCOMMERCE make it possible. The limitation: you invest a lot of your own time, and the result often looks “clicked together”. This is rarely enough for a professional market presence.

Freelancer

An experienced web developer will build you a solid shop for CHF 3’000 to 10’000. Advantage: a personal point of contact, often cheaper than an agency. Risk: if the freelancer drops out – illness, workload, career change – you are left without support.

Digital agency

An agency offers the complete package: concept, design, development, SEO, ongoing support. Costs are higher, but you get a team instead of an individual. Particularly worthwhile if you want not only to create the shop but also to market it – for example via SEO or Google Ads.

If you are interested in the agency route, you can have us build your online shop directly – including advice on platform, payment methods and legal requirements.

Legal obligations: what Swiss shop operators must observe

This is where it gets serious. The revised Data Protection Act (revDPA) has applied since 1 September 2023. It directly affects every online shop. In addition, there are further obligations set out by SECO in its e-commerce guide:

• Legal notice requirement: Company name, address, email and UID number must be clearly visible.
• Privacy policy: Must meet the requirements of the revDPA – in particular regarding tracking tools, cookies and the disclosure of data to third parties (e.g. payment providers).
• VAT labelling: Prices must be stated inclusive of value added tax for consumers.
• Right of withdrawal: Although Switzerland has no statutory right of withdrawal for distance contracts (unlike the EU), it is advisable for reasons of trust to offer a voluntary right of return.

Many SMEs underestimate the last point. A 14-day right of return costs you little in practice, but builds considerable trust with first-time buyers.

SEO for your online shop: visibility from the start

A shop without visitors is a warehouse. Search engine optimisation should therefore not begin only after the launch, but should be built into the structure of the shop from the outset.

According to publicly available data (approximate values from Semrush), the keyword “online shop erstellen” has a monthly search volume of approx. 500 to 1’500 in Switzerland. Competition is medium to high. Similar rules apply to your product pages: without targeted keyword research and clean on-page optimisation, you remain invisible.

Three levers that work immediately:

• Unique product descriptions instead of copied manufacturer texts – Google recognises duplicate content and penalises it.
• Technical basics: fast loading times, mobile-first design, clean URL structure.
• Local SEO signals: if you run a physical store in Zurich, Bern or Basel, link your shop to a Google Business Profile.

If you are unsure where your current web presence stands, use our free SEO analysis as a starting point.

What a professional online shop really costs

The greatest uncertainty for Swiss SMEs concerns the budget. Here is a realistic classification – no flat prices, but reliable ranges:

• Entry-level solution (website builder/in-house): CHF 0 to 2’000 one-off, plus CHF 30 to 50 per month ongoing
• Professional SME shop (WooCommerce/Shopify via agency): CHF 5’000 to 15’000 one-off, plus ongoing support
• Enterprise solution (Shopware/Magento): From CHF 15’000 to well over CHF 50’000

Don’t forget the running costs: hosting, SSL certificate, plugin licences, payment provider fees and – often the largest item – your own time for product maintenance, order processing and customer service.

Your next step

Creating an online shop is not a weekend project. But it doesn’t have to be a mammoth undertaking either. Start with a clear stocktake: how many products? Which payment methods? What budget – one-off and ongoing? And how much can you handle in-house?

If you would rather not answer these questions alone, talk to us. As a full-service agency in Zurich, we support Swiss SMEs from choosing a platform through to day-to-day operation. Arrange your free initial analysis now via our contact page – we will get back to you within 24 hours.