For the seventh time, Zurich University of Applied Sciences (ZHAW), for the first time together with the University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland (FHNW), carried out the annual online retailer survey. The comprehensive study provides important insights into trends and challenges in e-commerce and is therefore considered required reading for interested online retailers.

Anyone who wants to study the Online Retailer Survey 2024 in detail can download it here.

This year, 624 online shops from Switzerland, Austria and other countries were surveyed on various topics – for example, which payment methods they offer, which sales channels they serve or which payment provider they rely on. On the latter question, Payrexx performed very well and, with 18 percent of mentions, remains one of the most popular payment service providers among Swiss SMEs and online retailers.

Asian marketplaces are increasing the pressure

The probably most important part of the survey is the so-called “worry barometer in e-commerce”, in which the merchants talk about their biggest challenges. As in 2023, this year the current market situation is the main concern: competition keeps growing and price pressure keeps increasing.

The worry barometer of this year's online retailer survey shows: The current market situation, including increasing competition, is causing particular concern for Swiss online retailers.

A major event was the removal of industrial tariffs on 1 January 2024: Previously, duties were levied on certain imported goods to protect domestic producers from foreign competition. Now, however, Asian platforms such as Temu or Shein can import their goods into Switzerland without additional costs – and thus offer them even more cheaply.

So how can you, as a merchant, hold your own against increasing competition from Asia? The Online Retailer Survey 2025 also provides important inputs and strategies for this, which we summarise for you below.

1. Promise quality – and deliver it!

The product looked great in the pictures, but soon after arriving at home comes the disappointment: the goods are cheaply made, smaller than promised or look completely different from the pictures. You can use exactly these negative experiences to your advantage. 78 percent of the retailers surveyed also try to differentiate themselves through the quality of the products. You should communicate this accordingly in the product description.

The following points speak for the quality of your goods or service:

2. Be reachable, by email, phone or live chat

A major shortcoming of the Asian giant marketplaces is their impersonal nature. Customers are quickly brushed off, receive AI-generated mass emails and often spend hours struggling with support. At the same time, more and more people have a need for a positive shopping experience. 62 percent of the online retailers surveyed said they stand out through top customer service.

This is how you can improve customer service:

The Online Retailer Survey 2024 lists a variety of possible USPs (Unique Selling Propositions) through which Swiss SMEs can stand out.

3. Deliver quickly and accept returns

A major disadvantage of the Asian competition is their geographical distance: anyone ordering from Temu and the like often has to wait weeks for their products. You, on the other hand, can benefit from short transport and sales routes. 44 percent of all participants in the Online Retailer Survey 2024 stated that they stand out against foreign platforms through fast delivery. With 39 percent of mentions, a generous returns policy also seems important.

To differentiate yourself in these points, the following steps could help:

4. Offer a wide range of payment methods

The ordering process at Temu and the like comes with some hurdles. On the one hand, buyers have to provide a large amount of data – including address and phone number – and on the other hand the selection of payment methods is strongly limited. Besides credit and debit cards, the only choices are TWINT, PayPal, Google Pay or Klarna for purchase on invoice.

All of these are also included in your Payrexx account, as well as much more. Together with Payrexx, you optimise your customers' payment process like this:

Together with Payrexx, you can make your customers' payment process as fast and easy as possible. So that they will also prefer to shop in your online shop in future rather than at one of the Asian major retailers.