Most agencies start with the mockups. We start with your business model: average basket, margin, the conversion rate required. Then we reverse-engineer the store from those figures. That is the difference between an attractive shop window and a selling machine.
Opening an online store is easy. Selling on it is another matter. In Geneva, the specifics of the Swiss market (payment methods, logistics, quality expectations) create obstacles that international “plug-and-play” solutions do not handle. Here are the three most common causes of failure.
TWINT is the dominant mobile payment method in Switzerland with more than 5 million active users. A store that does not offer TWINT loses between 20 and 35% of its potential mobile sales. Add the absence of PostFinance Card and badly configured Swiss Post delivery options, and your basket abandonment rate goes well beyond the 70% average. The problem is not the product. It is the friction at the moment of buying.
Your product pages look good but are invisible. No Product and Offer Schema.org structured data, no optimisation of product titles and meta descriptions, no internal linking between categories. The result: your products do not appear in Google Shopping, your listings capture no organic traffic and you depend entirely on paid advertising to bring in visitors.
You open the store without knowing what conversion rate you need to reach to be profitable. No GA4 e-commerce configured, no abandonment funnel tracking, no baseline for measuring the effect of each improvement. You are flying blind. Without measurement from day one, every optimisation decision is guesswork, and the resources invested do not compound.
The Swiss e-commerce market has its own rules. TWINT dominates mobile payments. Swiss Post has its own APIs and integration formats. Swiss VAT (8.1% standard, 3.8% hospitality, 2.6% food) is structurally different from European VAT. The revised Swiss data protection act of 2023 imposes specific obligations on cookies and forms. And your customers, whether in Geneva, Lausanne or Sion, expect an experience in their own language.
We build these specifics in from the design stage, not as a patch after launch. TWINT, PostFinance, Swiss Post, multi-rate VAT, Swiss data protection and multilingual support are non-negotiable requirements in every store we deliver.
Active TWINT users in Switzerland. Absent from your checkout, you lose these buyers
Of sales lost on average without TWINT on mobile for a Swiss store
Standard Swiss VAT. Structurally different from the EU and poorly handled by generic solutions
Of e-commerce traffic in Switzerland comes from mobile. Mobile checkout is critical
Before writing a line of code, we ask three questions that most agencies have never put to their e-commerce clients. The answers determine everything: the choice of platform, the design priorities, the level of integration, and which features are worth the investment against those that can wait.
This is the fundamental difference between our approach and that of a conventional web studio. We are not building a store. We are building a profitable sales channel. The design follows from that, it is not the starting point.
What average basket makes you profitable?
Sets which cross-sell and upsell features come first, and the level of investment that can be justified.
What minimum conversion rate covers your costs?
Sets the UX performance requirements, the complexity of the checkout and the A/B tests to plan for.
Where will your traffic come from in the first 6 months?
Decides between Shopify (speed) and WooCommerce (content SEO), and which advertising integrations come first.
Geneva cosmetics store, 200 products, Swiss + EU market
This table is built during our first scoping conversation, before any costed proposal.
There is no single best platform. There is the platform suited to your business model, your team and your objectives. Here is our transparent recommendation, with the cases where each option wins and those where it loses.
Choose this if:
Points to watch:
Choose this if:
Points to watch:
Choose this if:
Points to watch:
These ranges cover design, development, full setup of Swiss payments (TWINT, Swiss Post, VAT), training and 30 days of post-launch support. The advertising media budget is separate.
Ideal for validating your e-commerce concept on the Swiss market. Shopify or WooCommerce, catalogue of up to 200 products, bespoke design, TWINT + Swiss Post + Swiss VAT built in, full training on management. You are up and running in 4 to 6 weeks with a professional store ready to sell.
Typical timeline: 4–6 weeks
For stores with ambitious growth objectives. Catalogue of 200–5,000 products, advanced filters and search, multilingual (FR/DE/EN), marketing automation (abandoned basket and post-purchase emails), subscriptions, integrated customer reviews and full GA4 e-commerce setup for funnel tracking.
Typical timeline: 8–12 weeks
Complex projects with specific business logic: customer account management with individual pricing, online quotes, ERP integration (SAP, Odoo, Abacus), a B2B catalogue with 30/60-day payment terms, multi-warehouse stock management. Bespoke or advanced WooCommerce depending on the case.
Typical timeline: 12–20 weeks
We work out the economics together: target average basket, minimum conversion rate, traffic sources, direct competitors in the Swiss market. On that basis we recommend the platform, the level of investment that can be justified and the priority features. You have a clear picture before signing anything.
The catalogue structure (categories, filters, search), wireframes for the strategic pages (home, category, product page, checkout), then the complete graphic design approved page by page. Every design decision is justified by its effect on the conversion rate, not by aesthetics alone.
Development of the store with all the Swiss integrations: TWINT via Datatrans or Stripe, Swiss Post API for real-time shipping cost calculation, multi-rate VAT correctly configured, Swiss data protection compliance (cookie banner, privacy policy). GA4 e-commerce setup and abandonment funnel tracking.
A phased go-live with real payment tests (TWINT, card, PostFinance), GA4 tracking verified, full training for your team on managing the catalogue and orders. After 30 days, an analysis of the first results against the profitability objectives set in step 1, plus an optimisation plan.
Our existing store converted at 0.8%. After the profitability analysis, we understood we needed to reach 2.5% to be profitable. The team rebuilt the checkout, integrated TWINT and reworked the product pages. Within three months we were at 2.9%. The project paid for itself in 6 weeks.
Every store we deliver meets the specifics of the Swiss market from day one. No extra module to buy, no post-launch configuration to plan for.
The Shopify account or the WooCommerce installation is in your name. You have full administrator access from day one. The source files, the theme, the content and the customer data belong entirely to you. No lock-in, no exit fees.
We do not sign a quote without having worked out together whether the project stacks up. If your figures do not justify the investment, we tell you, and we propose a solution suited to your real budget. We would rather have a client who succeeds than a project that fails.
TWINT, Swiss Post, Swiss VAT and Swiss data protection are not options. They are built into every project as standard, whatever the budget. A store that does not comply with the Swiss market is not a store we agree to deliver.
Shopify or WooCommerce store, B2C or B2B: we build the e-commerce solution suited to your market.
A turnkey online store with TWINT, Swiss Post and Swiss VAT, ready to sell within weeks.
Discuss my projectA scalable e-commerce site with optimised sales funnels and automated marketing integrations.
Discuss my projectB2B or multi-store e-commerce platforms with complex catalogue management and a connected ERP.
Discuss my projectAny other questions? Contact us directly for an initial scoping conversation.
Our recommendation depends on your situation. Shopify is ideal if you want to launch quickly, if your catalogue is standard and if you have no technical team in-house. The platform handles hosting, updates and scalability. WooCommerce is preferable if you already have a WordPress site, a strong content SEO strategy or advanced customisation needs. In both cases, TWINT, Swiss Post and Swiss VAT can be integrated. We advise on the solution suited to your business model during the initial conversation.
The price of an online store in Switzerland varies with the complexity of the project. A launch store on Shopify or WooCommerce, with a catalogue of 50 to 200 products, TWINT and Swiss Post integration and training, starts at CHF 4’000.-. A growth store with advanced filters, multilingual support, marketing automation and GA4 e-commerce starts at CHF 8’000.-. B2B e-commerce projects with ERP integration and customer account management start at CHF 15’000.-. These prices include design, development, full configuration and training.
TWINT is integrated through an intermediary payment provider such as Datatrans or Stripe (a TWINT module is available). On Shopify, integration via Datatrans is the most common route in Switzerland. On WooCommerce, several certified plugins allow direct integration. The whole process (creating the TWINT merchant account, technical configuration and testing with real payments) generally takes 3 to 5 working days. TWINT is essential for any store targeting the Swiss market: it is the dominant mobile payment method with more than 5 million active users.
Yes, but selling across borders from Switzerland into the EU involves several points to watch. VAT: below CHF 100,000 of annual turnover in Switzerland you are not liable for Swiss VAT, but the buyer's country VAT may apply under European IOSS rules. Customs: parcels shipped from Switzerland to the EU are subject to customs formalities. Swiss Post offers integrated solutions. We configure your store to handle these complexities automatically.
The average e-commerce conversion rate in Switzerland sits between 1.5% and 3.5% depending on the sector. Fashion and accessory stores are around 1.5 to 2%, food stores reach 3 to 5%, B2B stores often have lower rates (0.5 to 1.5%) but higher average baskets. Before launching your project, we work out together the minimum conversion rate that makes your investment profitable, based on your projected traffic, your average basket and your margins. That is the starting point for all our work.
Every store we deliver includes the essential technical SEO foundations: optimised URL structure, title and meta tags on all product and category pages, Product and Offer Schema.org structured data (for Google Shopping rich snippets), an XML sitemap submitted to Google Search Console, and alt attributes on product images. That is the technical foundation. For a complete SEO strategy (e-commerce keyword research, optimised category content, link building), we offer a separate monthly retainer.
SEO, advertising, social media: we bring the qualified traffic that turns your e-commerce into a selling machine.
Put your product listings at the top of Google.
Exploreads_clickGoogle Shopping and high-performing product campaigns.
ExploreshareRetargeting and acquisition on social media.
ExplorepaletteA strong brand that inspires buyer confidence.
ExploreTell us about your project. We work out together whether the investment stacks up: average basket, minimum conversion rate needed, realistic traffic sources. If the numbers do not hold, we say so. If they do, we send you a costed proposal within 48 hours.
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