Key takeaways
- A website presents. A shop sells, which means payment, shipping, tax, stock and returns, every day, whether you feel like it or not.
- A shop costs two to three times more to build and three to four times more to run than a website of the same size.
- Many Swiss businesses need the middle ground: a website with a catalogue and a request form, not a checkout.
The real difference
The word "shop" hides how different the two projects are. A website is a set of pages that describe what you do. Once it is live, the main job is keeping it updated. A shop is a website with a till, a warehouse and a tax office attached. Each product needs a price, a stock level, a tax class, a shipping class and photos. Each order needs a confirmation, a packing slip, an invoice and someone to send the parcel. Each return needs a refund.
None of that is hard. But all of it has to happen, and it has to happen whether you are busy or not. The question is less "can we have a shop" and more "do we want to run one".
What each one costs
The build price is the obvious difference. My Start website (five pages, one language) is CHF 3'100; my Shop package (WooCommerce, up to 100 products) starts at CHF 7'900. The ratio is similar across the market: a shop is roughly two to three times the price of a website of comparable size, because of the payment, shipping and tax setup and the testing that comes with it.
The running cost is the difference people underestimate. Swiss care plans for websites sit around CHF 45 to 150 a month. For shops they start at CHF 250 and go well past 350, because a shop has more moving parts, needs updates tested on a staging copy and a test order after each one, and a broken checkout costs money by the hour.
| Website | Online shop | |
|---|---|---|
| Build | from CHF 3'100 | from CHF 7'900 |
| Running | CHF 45 to 150 / month | CHF 250 to 350+ / month |
| Your time | an hour a month | several hours a week |
| Breaks when | a plugin update goes wrong | the payment provider changes something, a shipping rule is off, stock is wrong |
Four questions that decide it
- Do your customers expect to buy online, or to talk first? A bakery with a few products people pick up: shop. A joinery that makes everything to measure: not a shop, however nice the products look in a grid.
- How many products, and how often do they change? Below about twenty products that rarely change, a catalogue page with a request form does the job. Above that, with prices and stock moving, you need a shop's admin.
- Who sends the parcels? If the answer is "I suppose I will", budget the time. If you already ship daily, a shop just connects to what you do.
- Is the margin there? Payment fees, packaging, shipping and returns come out of every order. A product that nets CHF 8 after that is a volume business, and volume needs marketing money on top of the shop.
The middle ground most people miss
A lot of Swiss businesses land in between: products worth showing, customers who want to see prices, but orders that involve a conversation. For them, the right answer is a website with a product catalogue and a request-a-quote or order-enquiry form. Customers pick what they want, you reply with a confirmed price and delivery date, and the sale happens as it did before, by email or phone.
That is a website project, not a shop project: no payment provider, no live stock, no tax engine. It can be upgraded to a shop later, and the product data is reusable when you do.
If you are not sure, start with the catalogue. Nobody has ever regretted building the smaller thing first and growing it. The reverse happens often.
If it is a shop: what to get right from day one
- Swiss payments. TWINT and invoice are expected; cards are a given. Set them up before launch, not after the first complaint.
- MWST and shipping rules configured and tested with real test orders, including a return.
- Order emails that look like your business, with a proper invoice attached.
- A staging copy of the shop, so updates are tested before they touch the live checkout.
- A plan for Monday morning: who answers order questions, who ships, who checks stock.
FAQ
Can I add a shop to my existing website later?
Usually yes, if the site is on WordPress. WooCommerce installs alongside the existing pages. The design work is in making the product and checkout pages match the rest of the site.
Is Shopify cheaper than WooCommerce?
To start, often. Over time, usually not: Shopify charges a monthly fee plus transaction fees, and Swiss specifics such as TWINT and invoice payment need apps. WooCommerce has no platform fee, but needs maintenance. The right one depends on volume and on who runs the shop.
How many products can a WooCommerce shop handle?
Thousands, with the right hosting. My Shop package covers up to 100 products because that is where most small Swiss shops start; larger catalogues are a quote.
Do I need a shop for services?
No. Services with fixed prices (a course, a consultation) can be sold with a booking tool or a simple payment link. A full shop is for physical or digital products.
Twenty minutes on the phone, a written quote within two working days.
Sources: Care plan prices from 16 Swiss providers, researched November 2026. Package prices from the Modify Digital pricing page, excl. MWST.