The case for an international e-commerce platform in Bern
Bern is a federal city of switzerland, with a population of roughly 137,000, and one of the markets in Switzerland where we build international and multi-region stores.
Key sectors include federal administration and medtech, with business districts such as the city centre.
Logistics are supported by Bern 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 Bern, the opportunity is to own the customer relationship: your own international 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 Bern store feel local
Conversion in Bern depends on small local signals — the right currency, the right words and the right payment and courier names.
Currency and pricing
Everything a Bern shopper sees — price, tax, delivery fee, refund — is in CHF, written the local way.
Language and content
We localise pages, emails and notifications into German, French and Italian where your audience needs it.
Local trust signals
Badges for TWINT and PostFinance Card, Swiss Post delivery and clear return terms reassure first-time buyers in Bern.
Domain, phone and contact
A .ch domain (or your own) builds local trust and search relevance. Contact buttons are pre-set with +41, so a customer in Bern taps once to call or message.
Talent and partners nearby
Bern draws on University of Bern, which means plenty of local staff, interns and technology partners to run the store after launch.
Designed to your requirements, not a template
Your international e-commerce platform is planned, designed and coded for your business model — not adapted from someone else's — and it can ship with a customer or staff mobile app on day one.
In Bern we typically work with exporters, D2C brands expanding abroad, manufacturers selling to distributors overseas and diaspora-focused retailers, and with sellers in categories such as electronics, fashion, watches and luxury and groceries that have strong online demand in Switzerland.
We start with a requirements meeting, show you a working demo within 24 hours, and only then propose scope, milestones and budget.
Core modules we build for Bern clients
Each module below is configured — or custom-developed — to your requirements. You choose what launches first and what follows in later phases.
Regional storefronts
Country or region sites with local language, content, currency, promotions and hreflang SEO. Pages, search filters and wording are tuned to how people in Bern look for products, in German and French if your audience needs it.
Local payments
Market-specific cards, wallets, bank transfers, BNPL and cash methods through suitable providers. Catalogues come in from spreadsheets, ERP exports or supplier feeds, so your Bern team keeps its current way of working.
Tax and duties
VAT, GST and sales-tax rules, tax-inclusive pricing, duties and landed-cost estimates where needed. Payment steps are built around TWINT, PostFinance Card and Visa and Mastercard, the options shoppers here already trust.
Cross-border shipping
International couriers, regional warehouses, shipping zones, customs documents and returns. Delivery can be booked through Swiss Post, DPD Switzerland and Planzer or dispatched by your own riders around Bern.
Compliance pages
Market-appropriate privacy notices, cookie consent, consumer terms and accessibility considerations. Stock can be held in Bern or anywhere in Switzerland, with pickup and local-delivery options where they make sense.
Regional reporting
Sales, margin, conversion and marketing performance by country and currency. Dashboards break sales down by product, customer and neighbourhood of Bern, so you see what to promote.
Getting paid online in Bern
A store that serves Bern should let customers pay the way they do offline: TWINT, PostFinance Card, Visa and Mastercard and invoice payment.
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.
For Bern customers ordering from the city centre, cash-on-delivery and pay-on-pickup rules can be set per delivery zone.
- Apple Pay
- TWINT
- PayPal
- Visa and Mastercard
- Invoice payment
- PostFinance Card
Shipping, couriers and local delivery in Bern
Your international 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 Bern.
We set up shipping zones, cut-off times, free-shipping thresholds, cash-collection rules and returns so the promise on the product page matches what your team can deliver.
Connectivity in the area — Bern Airport — makes regional and national dispatch from Bern practical.
Selling online legally in Switzerland
On tax: Swiss VAT (MWST/TVA) is 8.1% standard with 2.6% and 3.8% reduced rates; foreign sellers above the threshold must register.
On privacy we design around the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP), in force since September 2023; on consumer rights the store reflects 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
Selling in Bern through Digitec Galaxus, Zalando and Brack.ch gets you reach quickly, yet the buyer belongs to the platform, not to you.
Your international e-commerce platform becomes the hub: marketplaces and social shops become extra outlets fed from one catalogue, while repeat customers buy directly from you at better margins.
Industries in Bern we work with
Popular online categories in Switzerland include electronics, fashion, watches and luxury, groceries, home and sports. Local demand in Bern is shaped by federal administration and medtech, so we often design catalogues and B2B ordering around those sectors. In Bern, we most often build international and multi-region stores for:
Exporters
For exporters, we usually start with local payments, then add multi-currency payment providers once orders are flowing.
D2C brands expanding abroad
Catalogue, pricing and fulfilment rules designed for D2C brands expanding abroad in Bern, connected to the systems you already use.
Manufacturers selling to distributors overseas
Manufacturers selling to distributors overseas get tax and duties plus compliance pages workflows tailored to their operations.
Diaspora-focused retailers
We map how diaspora-focused retailers sell today and digitise it end to end — from enquiry and order to payment, dispatch and repeat purchase.
Tourism and gifting businesses
For tourism and gifting businesses, we usually start with regional reporting, then add geo-IP and consent platforms once orders are flowing.
Multi-country retail groups
Catalogue, pricing and fulfilment rules designed for multi-country retail groups in Bern, connected to the systems you already use.
Take your Bern store onto customers' phones
In Bern, shoppers browse on phones first. Region-aware mobile apps can switch language, currency and payment options automatically while sharing one codebase and backend.
Apps are published under your own developer accounts and share the same backend as your international 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 Bern time (UTC+2), in German and French if you want.
- ERP and accounting
- Tax engines
- Regional analytics
- International couriers and 3PLs
- Marketplace feeds by country
- Geo-IP and consent platforms
- Translation management
- Multi-currency payment providers
Integrations above are examples; we connect any system that offers a suitable API, database access or approved import and export process.
From first demo to growth in Bern
Value first, depth later. For an international e-commerce platform serving Bern, the usual sequence looks like this:
| Phase | What goes live |
|---|---|
| First market | One new region with language, currency, payments, tax and shipping. Configured for CHF, TWINT and Swiss Post from the start. |
| Multi-region | Additional countries, local promotions and marketplace feeds. |
| Optimise | Regional apps, warehouses and localisation improvements. Reviewed against how Bern customers actually buy. |
We track conversion by country, international order share, checkout completion by payment method, delivery time by region, return rate abroad and margin after duties and shipping on a live dashboard from day one, so Bern results are visible, not promised.
How Bern clients work with us
Bern runs on UTC+2, which is 3h 30m behind India (IST). With three 8-hour shifts we are available 24×7, so meetings, demos and urgent fixes happen in your working hours.
We work in English and can deliver storefront content in Romansh, Italian and German. NDAs are signed on request, and you get a named project lead plus direct access to the engineers building your international e-commerce platform.
Our head office is in Chhapi, Gujarat, with an office in Hyderabad and representation in Nigeria, South Africa, Ethiopia and Zambia; Bern clients are served remotely with on-site workshops when the project needs them.
