The case for a custom e-commerce platform in Zurich
Zurich is a largest city in switzerland, where around 452,000 people live and shop, and one of the markets in Switzerland where we build custom e-commerce platforms.
The local economy is driven by banking, insurance, fintech and big-tech engineering centres, and commercial activity concentrates around Paradeplatz, Zurich West and the Oerlikon area.
Logistics are supported by Zurich Airport, which matters when you promise customers fast delivery.
Switzerland has very high spending per online shopper and expects multilingual stores in German, French and Italian. TWINT and invoice payment are must-haves.
For a business in Zurich, the opportunity is to own the customer relationship: your own custom e-commerce platform keeps your margin, your data and your brand, while marketplaces and social channels become additional sales routes instead of the only one.
What makes a Zurich store feel local
Conversion in Zurich depends on small local signals — the right currency, the right words and the right payment and courier names.
Currency and pricing
The store speaks Swiss franc: CHF amounts from product page to invoice, so Zurich buyers never convert in their heads.
Language and content
Content can be produced in German, French and Italian, so a Zurich customer reads the store in the language they use at home.
Local trust signals
Trust is local: familiar names such as TWINT and PostFinance Card and Swiss Post sit next to the buy button.
Domain, phone and contact
Using .ch where it suits you signals a local business to shoppers and search engines. Contact buttons are pre-set with +41, so a customer in Zurich taps once to call or message.
Talent and partners nearby
With ETH Zurich and University of Zurich close by, finding people to manage catalogues, content and support after launch is realistic in Zurich.
Designed to your requirements, not a template
Every NNT Mart custom e-commerce platform in Zurich is engineered to the client's own brief — the web platform, the admin panel and, when you need one, a mobile application built for your workflow.
Typical clients include multi-brand groups, businesses outgrowing SaaS platforms, companies migrating legacy stores and regulated sectors. Categories that sell especially well online in Switzerland — electronics, fashion, watches and luxury and groceries — get catalogue structures and filters designed for them.
We start with a requirements meeting, show you a working demo within 24 hours, and only then propose scope, milestones and budget.
What your custom e-commerce platform includes
Nothing here is fixed: modules are switched on, reshaped or built from scratch around how your Zurich business sells.
Custom workflows
Product configurators, made-to-order flows, approvals, contracts and industry-specific rules. Storefront language, imagery and navigation are set up for Zurich shoppers and available in German and French.
Headless architecture
API-first commerce with a fast front end, so web, app, kiosk and marketplace channels share one backend. Product data imports from your existing sheets or ERP, so Zurich teams do not re-type thousands of items.
Multi-entity operations
Multiple brands, companies, warehouses, currencies and tax registrations on one platform. Customers in Zurich can pay with TWINT, PostFinance Card and Visa and Mastercard, with receipts and refunds handled in the same admin.
Deep integrations
ERP, PIM, WMS, CRM, POS, accounting and legacy systems with reliable, monitored data sync. Delivery can be booked through Swiss Post, DPD Switzerland and Planzer or dispatched by your own riders around Zurich.
Migration
Move from older platforms with product, customer and order history, SEO-safe redirects and parallel runs. Stock can be held in Zurich or anywhere in Switzerland, with pickup and local-delivery options where they make sense.
Performance and security
Caching, CDN, load testing, security hardening, audit logs and cloud infrastructure as code. Reports show which products, customers and areas of Zurich drive revenue.
How Zurich customers pay online
Checkout is where most online sales are won or lost. In Switzerland, customers expect to pay with TWINT, PostFinance Card and Visa and Mastercard, and many also look for invoice payment, PayPal and Apple Pay.
Provider approval, settlement time and fees differ by business type, so we shortlist gateways with you, then wire up status updates, refunds and reconciliation in CHF — card details stay with the provider.
Zone-based payment rules let you offer different options for Paradeplatz than for outer parts of Zurich.
- TWINT
- PostFinance Card
- PayPal
- Apple Pay
- Visa and Mastercard
- Invoice payment
Fulfilment options for Zurich orders
Your custom e-commerce platform can book shipments and share tracking with Swiss Post, DPD Switzerland, Planzer, DHL Express and Quickpac, or route orders to your own riders and stores across Zurich.
Delivery rules can price by distance, weight, postcode or zone, offer same-day slots in dense areas, and switch on pickup points or click-and-collect where customers prefer them.
Connectivity in the area — Zurich Airport — makes regional and national dispatch from Zurich practical.
Compliance built into your custom e-commerce platform
Swiss VAT (MWST/TVA) is 8.1% standard with 2.6% and 3.8% reduced rates; foreign sellers above the threshold must register.
Two frameworks shape the build: the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP), in force since September 2023, and the Swiss Code of Obligations and the Unfair Competition Act (UWG), which require clear identification and pricing.
We build the technical controls — tax-inclusive pricing, compliant invoices, consent banners, terms and return pages, data-access roles and audit logs. We are not a law firm, so final legal and tax positions should be confirmed with your own adviser in Switzerland.
Your own store alongside Digitec Galaxus and Zalando
For a Zurich business, Digitec Galaxus, Zalando, Brack.ch and Ricardo are useful shop windows — but fees, ranking changes and shared customer data limit how far you can grow on them alone.
With your own custom e-commerce platform you keep the customer data, set the offers and the packaging, and still push stock to marketplaces from a single admin.
Who we build for in Zurich
Popular online categories in Switzerland include electronics, fashion, watches and luxury, groceries, home and sports. Local demand in Zurich is shaped by banking, insurance, fintech and big-tech engineering centres, so we often design catalogues and B2B ordering around those sectors. In Zurich, we most often build custom e-commerce platforms for:
Enterprises with complex catalogues
For enterprises with complex catalogues, we usually start with headless architecture, then add SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and Odoo ERPs once orders are flowing.
Multi-brand groups
Catalogue, pricing and fulfilment rules designed for multi-brand groups in Zurich, connected to the systems you already use.
Businesses outgrowing SaaS platforms
Businesses outgrowing SaaS platforms get multi-entity operations plus migration workflows tailored to their operations.
Companies migrating legacy stores
We map how companies migrating legacy stores sell today and digitise it end to end — from enquiry and order to payment, dispatch and repeat purchase.
Regulated sectors
For regulated sectors, we usually start with performance and security, then add search engines (Elasticsearch, Algolia) once orders are flowing.
High-traffic retailers
Catalogue, pricing and fulfilment rules designed for high-traffic retailers in Zurich, connected to the systems you already use.
Mobile commerce in Zurich
In Zurich, shoppers browse on phones first. Because the platform is API-first, customer, staff and partner mobile apps can be added at any point without rebuilding the backend.
Apps are published under your own developer accounts and share the same backend as your custom e-commerce platform, so offers, stock and orders are always consistent between web and mobile.
Order alerts, offers and abandoned-cart reminders go out on Zurich time (UTC+2), in German and French if you want.
- PIM and DAM
- Search engines (Elasticsearch, Algolia)
- BI and data warehouses
- Cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- POS and store systems
- WMS and 3PL systems
- SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics and Odoo ERPs
- Identity and SSO
Integrations above are examples; we connect any system that offers a suitable API, database access or approved import and export process.
A phased launch plan for Zurich
We launch the journeys that create value first, then add depth. A typical roadmap for a custom e-commerce platform in Zurich:
| Phase | What goes live |
|---|---|
| Foundation | Architecture, core commerce, priority integrations and migration. Configured for CHF, TWINT and Swiss Post from the start. |
| Differentiate | Custom workflows, configurators and automation. |
| Optimise | Performance, new channels, apps and continuous enhancement. Reviewed against how Zurich customers actually buy. |
Success is measured on page load and API response times, uptime, order-sync accuracy, manual-work hours saved, release frequency and total cost of ownership — tracked on a dashboard you can see from launch day.
Working with our team from Zurich
Our team covers UTC+2 — 3h 30m behind India (IST) — through three 8-hour shifts, so a Zurich client always reaches someone during the local working day.
Project communication is in English; storefront content can be produced in Romansh, Italian and German. You get a named lead, direct engineer access and an NDA if you ask.
Our head office is in Chhapi, Gujarat, with an office in Hyderabad and representation in Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Zambia; Zurich clients are served remotely with on-site workshops when the project needs them.
