What is the minimum cost of an online shop in Switzerland?

A simple shop with WooCommerce or Shopify and a bexio connection starts at around CHF 6,500. That covers the setup, a clean design, the most important payment methods, and the connection to your accounting. Large shops with many products and special logic cost CHF 12,000 to 25,000.

Should I build the shop myself or have it built?

For a test with a few products, Shopify built yourself is enough. As soon as accounting, taxes, inventory, and Swiss payment methods need to work together cleanly, help pays off. A poorly set up shop costs more later than you save on the setup.

How much VAT applies in an online shop?

The standard rate is 8.1 percent. In the shop you have to show VAT correctly and post it cleanly when connecting to your accounting. Different rules apply for sales abroad, which you should clarify early.

What does an online shop cost in Switzerland? · Blog

Q: What running costs does an online shop have?

Per month, there is hosting from CHF 19 and maintenance from CHF 79. On top of that come transaction fees from payment providers, usually 1 to 3 percent per sale plus a small fixed amount. Marketing is optional and, depending on your goal, the largest item.

Q: Which payment methods do I need in Switzerland?

Card, TWINT, and invoice cover most of it. TWINT has been native in Shopify since June 2025. With WooCommerce, TWINT runs through a payment service provider such as Datatrans, Saferpay, Payrexx, or PostFinance. Plan for the fees from the start.

What does an online shop cost in Switzerland?

A simple online shop with WooCommerce or Shopify and a connection to your accounting (bexio) starts at around CHF 6,500. A mid-sized shop runs CHF 7,500 to 12,000. Large shops with many products, variants, and special logic cost CHF 12,000 to 25,000. On top of that come running costs and payment fees.

The wide range has a reason. A shop is never just a website with a shopping cart. Behind the scenes, payment, taxes, shipping, inventory, and accounting all have to work together. That is exactly where the effort sits, not in the design.

What drives the price up?

Three things decide where you land in the range. First, the number of products and variants. Ten products are quickly entered, three hundred with sizes and colors are not. Second, the connections: accounting, inventory, shipping labels, newsletter. Every interface is work. Third, special logic such as quantity discounts, B2B pricing, or subscriptions.

A shop that sells just a few products and is connected to bexio is easy to plan. A shop with inventory synchronization, several languages, and customer groups is a project.

How much does a shop cost by size?

Shop type	One-time setup	Typical for
Simple shop, up to about 30 products, bexio connection	from CHF 6,500	manufacturer, farm shop, small range
Mid-sized shop, variants, several payment methods	CHF 7,500 to 12,000	established retail, brand with a line
Large shop, many products, special logic, B2B	CHF 12,000 to 25,000	broad range, large customers, multilingual

The figures assume that design, technical setup, Swiss payment methods, VAT-compliant output, and the connection to your accounting are included. Photos, product texts, and filling the catalog are a separate item depending on scope.

What running costs does an online shop have?

The setup is only the beginning. A shop needs to be operated, otherwise it ages. These items come on top, monthly or per sale:

Item	Cost	Note
Hosting	from CHF 19 per month	shop must run fast and stable
WooCommerce maintenance	from CHF 79 per month	updates, security, backups
Custom-built maintenance	from CHF 90 per month	for Astro or custom solutions
Payment fees	about 1 to 3 percent per sale	depending on provider and method
Marketing	optional, from CHF 290 per month	only if you actively buy reach

For a shop, maintenance is mandatory, not optional. Outdated shop software is an open barn door. And a shop that is not reachable sells nothing. More on this in the post Does my website need maintenance?.

What do payment methods cost in Switzerland?

Swiss customers expect card, TWINT, and often invoice too. Every method costs a fee, usually a small percentage plus a fixed amount per transaction. Anyone who does not plan for this is surprised by the margin later.

TWINT has been available natively in Shopify since June 2025. With WooCommerce, TWINT runs through a payment service provider, a so-called PSP, which handles the payment. Common ones are Datatrans, Saferpay, Payrexx, and PostFinance. A PSP bundles card, TWINT, and other methods behind a single connection.

Which PSP fits depends on volume and range. Payrexx is often cheap to start with for smaller shops. Datatrans and Saferpay are strong at larger volumes. You negotiate the exact fee with the provider, which is why I deliberately do not give a fixed percentage here: it depends on the contract.

One point on VAT: the standard rate is 8.1 percent. The shop has to show the tax correctly and hand it over cleanly to your accounting. This is exactly where the bexio connection pays off, because orders and invoices are not entered twice. How that works in practice is in the post Connecting WooCommerce with bexio.

Build it yourself or have it built?

You can set up a Shopify shop yourself over a weekend. For a market test with three products, that is a reasonable approach. You pay the monthly fee, click together a theme, and get going.

As soon as it gets serious, the math tips over. Integrating Swiss payment methods cleanly, showing VAT correctly, connecting your accounting, making the design fit the brand, and getting the shop visible on Google: that adds up to many hours in which you are not selling. A poorly set up shop costs more later than you saved on the setup, for example when orders do not land in your accounting or the tax is posted incorrectly.

My honest advice: if you do not yet know whether your products will sell online, test small and do it yourself. If you know the shop will become a load-bearing sales channel, have it set up properly. You cannot tell the difference between a tinkered shop and a clean shop from the storefront, but the accounting certainly can.

WooCommerce or Shopify?

Both work in Switzerland, they just get you there differently. Shopify is rented, quick to launch, and takes the operation off your hands, but you pay every month. WooCommerce runs on your own hosting, is more flexible and cheaper to run, but needs care. Which platform fits you depends on your range, your budget, and how much you want to do yourself. I have compared this in detail: WooCommerce or Shopify in Switzerland.

What about data protection?

The revised Data Protection Act, the revFADP, has been in force since September 1, 2023. Unlike in the EU, it does not require a cookie consent banner, but a clear duty to inform in the privacy policy. Anyone using Google Ads or Analytics has needed Google Consent Mode v2 since March 2024. This applies to a shop just as much as to any other website and belongs in the setup phase, not added later.

What does an online shop really cost, over the first year?

Add the setup plus twelve months of operation, and you have the honest picture. A simple shop lands in the first year at roughly CHF 6,500 setup plus around CHF 1,200 operation, so about CHF 7,700, without marketing and without payment fees. The fees depend on revenue, the marketing on your goal. Anyone who wants to buy reach should run it as a separate pot and not mix it with the setup.

A shop is an investment in a sales channel, not a one-time purchase. If the range and the demand are right, it pays for itself. If not, even an expensive shop does not help. That is exactly why I check beforehand whether the effort pays off for you, instead of simply building.

If you are planning a shop concretely, take a look at the e-commerce services or read how the WooCommerce connection to bexio works in detail. I will get back to you within one working day (Mon to Fri).