The case for a shopping app 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 mobile commerce apps.
Businesses here work in federal administration and medtech; many are based around 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.
That is why more companies in Bern are moving from phone, WhatsApp and spreadsheet orders to a proper shopping app — one place where products, prices, payments, orders and customers are managed together.
Localised for Bern, not translated into it
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
Content can be produced in German, French and Italian, so a Bern customer reads the store in the language they use at home.
Local trust signals
We add the payment logos, courier names and policy pages shoppers in Bern recognise: TWINT and PostFinance Card and delivery through Swiss Post.
Domain, phone and contact
A .ch domain (or your own) builds local trust and search relevance. Click-to-call and WhatsApp buttons use the +41 calling code so customers reach you without dialling errors.
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 shopping app 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 retail brands, grocery and pharmacy chains, restaurants and cloud kitchens and distributors with dealer networks, 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
Nothing here is fixed: modules are switched on, reshaped or built from scratch around how your Bern business sells.
Customer shopping app
Browse, search, wish-lists, cart, wallet and UPI or card checkout, order tracking and push offers. Inventory can sit in Bern, in a partner warehouse or across Switzerland, with click-and-collect where customers want it.
Dealer and B2B app
Account pricing, quick re-order, statements, schemes and barcode scanning for trade buyers. Dashboards break sales down by product, customer and neighbourhood of Bern, so you see what to promote.
Delivery partner app
Assigned orders, route navigation, proof of delivery, COD collection and status updates. Storefront language, imagery and navigation are set up for Bern shoppers and available in German and French.
Store and admin app
Order alerts, stock updates, price changes and sales snapshots for owners and managers. Bulk import and sync tools mean the Bern team never re-keys stock, prices or descriptions by hand.
Engagement
Segmented push notifications, deep links, in-app banners, loyalty and referral programmes. Checkout is configured for TWINT, PostFinance Card and Visa and Mastercard.
Performance and offline
Fast native-feel UI, image caching, offline cart and graceful handling of poor networks. Delivery can be booked through Swiss Post, DPD Switzerland and Planzer or dispatched by your own riders around Bern.
Getting paid online in Bern
Shoppers in Bern rarely abandon a cart over price alone — they leave when their usual method is missing. Here that means TWINT, PostFinance Card and Visa and Mastercard, then invoice payment, PayPal and Apple Pay.
Gateway selection depends on your category and merchant approval; we connect the provider, reconcile payments, automate retries and refunds, and never store raw card data. Prices, taxes and refunds appear in Swiss franc (CHF).
Zone-based payment rules let you offer different options for the city centre than for outer parts of Bern.
- Visa and Mastercard
- PayPal
- TWINT
- PostFinance Card
- Apple Pay
- Invoice payment
Shipping, couriers and local delivery in Bern
Your shopping app 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.
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 — 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.
Customer data is handled with the revised Federal Act on Data Protection (nFADP), in force since September 2023 in mind, and the storefront follows the Swiss Code of Obligations and the Unfair Competition Act (UWG), which require clear identification and pricing.
Controls we implement include compliant invoices, consent capture, policy pages, restricted staff access and audit trails. Please confirm the final legal and tax position with a local adviser in Bern.
Owning your channel in Switzerland
Many Bern sellers already list on Digitec Galaxus, Zalando, Brack.ch, Ricardo, Migros Online and Coop. Those channels bring traffic, but they also take commission, control the customer relationship and change rules without notice.
With your own shopping app you keep the customer data, set the offers and the packaging, and still push stock to marketplaces from a single admin.
Businesses that use NNT Mart in Bern
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 mobile commerce apps for:
Retail brands
For retail brands, we usually start with dealer and B2B app, then add commerce APIs and headless backends once orders are flowing.
Grocery and pharmacy chains
Catalogue, pricing and fulfilment rules designed for grocery and pharmacy chains in Bern, connected to the systems you already use.
Restaurants and cloud kitchens
Restaurants and cloud kitchens get delivery partner app plus engagement workflows tailored to their operations.
Distributors with dealer networks
We map how distributors with dealer networks sell today and digitise it end to end — from enquiry and order to payment, dispatch and repeat purchase.
D2C start-ups
For D2C start-ups, we usually start with performance and offline, then add analytics and crash reporting once orders are flowing.
Marketplace operators
Catalogue, pricing and fulfilment rules designed for marketplace operators in Bern, connected to the systems you already use.
Take your Bern store onto customers' phones
Phones carry most traffic in Switzerland. Every app is published under your own Google Play and Apple developer accounts, with crash reporting, analytics and release management included.
Apps are published under your own developer accounts and share the same backend as your shopping app, so offers, stock and orders are always consistent between web and mobile.
Push notifications can be timed to UTC+2 so offers reach Bern customers when they are awake, and the interface can run in German and French.
- Social login
- Analytics and crash reporting
- Payment SDKs and wallets
- Barcode and QR scanning
- Customer support chat
- Firebase and push messaging
- Commerce APIs and headless backends
- Maps and location services
Integrations above are examples; we connect any system that offers a suitable API, database access or approved import and export process.
Launch roadmap and success metrics
We launch the journeys that create value first, then add depth. A typical roadmap for a shopping app in Bern:
| Phase | What goes live |
|---|---|
| MVP app | Core shopping, checkout, order tracking and push notifications. Configured for CHF, TWINT and Swiss Post from the start. |
| Engage | Loyalty, referrals, personalised offers and deep links. |
| Extend | Dealer, delivery and admin apps on the same backend. Reviewed against how Bern customers actually buy. |
We track app installs and active users, app conversion rate, push-notification click rate, crash-free sessions, store rating and share of revenue from app on a live dashboard from day one, so Bern results are visible, not promised.
How Bern clients work with us
Our team covers UTC+2 — 3h 30m behind India (IST) — through three 8-hour shifts, so a Bern client always reaches someone during the local working day.
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 shopping app.
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.
