Shopify agency for brands in Switzerland

Why Switzerland needs its own Shopify setup

Switzerland is not in the EU or the EU VAT area, prices are in Swiss francs, and the country has three main shopping languages. A Swiss Shopify store, or a Swiss market on an EU store, needs its own currency, tax, shipping and legal configuration rather than a copy of your EU settings.

There are two very different situations, and we plan them differently:

How do Swiss shoppers pay online?

Cards, TWINT and invoice. TWINT is the Swiss mobile payment app, and invoice payment remains a trust signal: in the 2026 Swiss Payment Monitor, 48.5% of respondents said they would choose payment on account for a €1,000 purchase from an unknown foreign online shop, ahead of credit card at 31.8%.

• TWINT through Shopify Payments: customers must be in Switzerland and choose CHF. Your store cannot be in private mode, your legal notice and terms must meet TWINT's requirements, and subscriptions are excluded.
• Klarna: available to customers in Switzerland paying in CHF, including pay in 30 days, which covers much of the invoice habit.
• Our take: for a Swiss market, TWINT plus an invoice-style option is worth more than any homepage redesign.

What does Swiss law require from an online store?

Less than the EU on withdrawal, more than you might expect on transparency.

• Impressum: the Unfair Competition Act (UWG/LCD art. 3(1)(s)) requires clear and complete identity and contact details, including an email address. A contact form alone is not enough.
• Price display: consumer prices must be shown in CHF including VAT, clearly visible next to the product. Shipping can be listed separately but must be equally visible.
• Returns: Swiss law gives no general right to withdraw from an online purchase. Many shops offer 14 or 30 days voluntarily, and we recommend stating your policy plainly.
• Warranty: buyers have two years to raise defect claims under the Code of Obligations.
• Data protection: the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP) has applied since September 1, 2023. Stores already aligned with GDPR usually need only minor changes.

We build the pages; a Swiss lawyer should confirm the wording.

VAT, duties and the CHF 100,000 rule

Parcels whose import tax would be CHF 5 or less are exempt from import VAT, which at the 8.1% standard rate means roughly CHF 62 of goods. That sounds generous, but the value of those small parcels counts toward the mail-order rule: once a foreign seller reaches CHF 100,000 a year from them, it must register with the Swiss Federal Tax Administration, and from then on every shipment to Switzerland is taxed as a domestic sale.

In Shopify this means a dedicated Swiss market with CHF pricing, Swiss VAT, and a clear answer to the question "will I pay anything at the door?" Shopify can collect duties and import taxes at checkout on eligible setups; we check what your plan and country support before promising Delivered Duty Paid.

Shipping into and within Switzerland

Swiss Post handles most domestic parcels, and many EU brands use carriers or fulfillment partners that consolidate shipments and clear customs in bulk. Show delivery times that include customs, and plan returns from Switzerland carefully, since a returned parcel crosses the border again.

Your competition is Swiss: Galaxus, Digitec and Ricardo set expectations for speed and transparency.

German, French and Italian storefronts

A national Swiss store usually needs German and French, and Italian if you sell in Ticino. Shopify gives each language its own URLs (for example /de/ and /fr/ subfolders), and Basic, Grow and Advanced plans can publish up to 20 languages. Swiss German spelling uses "ss" rather than "ß", which is one reason not to reuse German copy unchecked.

How we work with Swiss brands

We work remotely with brands in Zurich, Geneva, Basel, Lausanne, Bern and Lugano. We communicate asynchronously in English by email and Basecamp and schedule calls within your working hours; localized copy comes from your team or translators.

Our process: discovery call, written proposal, design questionnaire, first design in under a week, up to three revision rounds, development, launch. Everything runs in your own Shopify and app accounts.

Shopify services for Switzerland

• Shopify store design for multilingual Swiss storefronts.
• Shopify development: CHF markets, TWINT and tax setup.
• Shopify migration from WooCommerce, Magento or Shopware.
• Shopify B2B and wholesale for Swiss suppliers and distributors.
• Shopify Plus for high-volume and expansion stores.
• Shopify SEO and CRO for google.ch in several languages.
• web design for simple company sites.

Planning a Swiss launch? Contact us.