Sweden has one of the highest rates of online shopping in Europe. According to EU figures, 90.5% of internet users in Sweden purchased goods or services online in 2023. Tapping into that market demands a well-thought-out strategy that accounts for local payment preferences, tax rules, return laws, and customer expectations. Fortunately, the infrastructure is strong, customers are digitally fluent, and there are more ways to sell than ever before. Below, we’ll discuss how to start selling online in Sweden and how to scale across webshops, social platforms, and payment links.
What’s in this article?
- How can businesses get started selling online in Sweden?
- What are the main ways to sell online in Sweden?
- How can you sell through a webshop in Sweden?
- How do Swedish businesses sell via social media?
- When does it make sense to sell using payment links or invoices?
- What should Swedish businesses know about selling across borders?
How can businesses get started selling online in Sweden?
Successfully starting an online business in Sweden will depend on how well you can match the local environment: legal, financial, logistical, and cultural.
Here’s how to ensure you have a solid foundation.
Register your business
You’ll need to choose a legal structure for your business. The most common options are enskild firma (sole proprietorship) and aktiebolag (limited company). Next, sign up for taxes through verksamt.se, Sweden’s official business registration portal.
Other compliance requirements include:
Applying for an F-tax certificate (FA-skatt or F-skatt)
Opening a business bank account (some platforms require this for payouts)
Keeping accounting records in compliance with Bokföringslagen (the Swedish Bookkeeping Act)
Understand your value-added tax (VAT) obligations
If you expect to earn more than 120,000 Swedish kronor (SEK) per year, you’ll need to register for VAT in Sweden, also known as Mervärdesskatt (moms). You can also register if you’re under this threshold, but you’re not required to. Once you register, you’ll need to file VAT returns regularly, even if you had no sales in a given period.
The VAT rate is 25% for most goods and services, although reduced rates apply to specific categories such as food (12%) and books (6%). If you’re selling to customers outside Sweden, you might need to apply different VAT rules (especially within the EU).
If you’re using Stripe, you can automate VAT collection and invoicing rather than handle it manually.
Plan your cost structure
Ecommerce expenses can add up quickly. Common early-stage costs include:
Web hosting or ecommerce platform fees
Transaction fees from your payment processor
Packaging and shipping (including returns)
Marketing and advertising
Professional services (e.g., bookkeeping, legal setup)
Outline your fixed and variable costs, then work backward from your pricing to understand your margins. A well-priced product with poor margin discipline doesn’t stay profitable for long.
Establish consumer protections
Swedish consumer protections are strong. If you’re selling to customers, you’ll need to:
Offer a minimum 14-day return period for online purchases
Display your terms and company contact information
These are EU legal requirements that customers expect you to follow.
Choose your sales channels
You don’t have to launch a full ecommerce site on Day 1. Many businesses start small, selling through:
A simple webshop
Social media (e.g., Instagram, Facebook Shops)
Payment links or email invoices
Start where your customers already are and grow from there.
Set up payments
Sweden is largely cashless and mobile-first. Most shoppers expect to pay with:
Card
Swish (a popular mobile payment app)
Invoice or direct bank transfer (particularly in B2B transactions)
Use a payment provider that can support these preferences, and assure that checkout works just as well on mobile as on desktop.
Plan for fulfillment
Swedish customers expect fast, predictable delivery, ideally with tracking and easy return options. If you’re shipping domestically, partner with reliable logistics providers like PostNord, Bring, and DHL. Make your delivery timelines visible at checkout, be explicit about return policies, and provide support in Swedish—or at least have help content available in the language.
Build your visibility early
Before you launch, think about how people will find you.
Take the following steps to get started:
Secure your handles on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok.
Post consistently to build visibility, even if your store isn’t live yet.
Consider running targeted ads to Swedish audiences or collaborating with local creators to get early traction.
Use early traffic to test what messaging works and refine your product positioning.
Swedish buyers are discerning. If you’re selling a commodity, price and shipping speed matter. If you’re selling something niche, your story needs to land with your audience.
What are the main ways to sell online in Sweden?
Most businesses in Sweden use a mix of channels based on what they sell, how they operate, and where their customers spend time.
Here are the main models.
Your own webshop
This is your own ecommerce site where you manage everything: product listings, branding, checkout, and customer service. It gives you the most control, but it also requires more setup and maintenance.
This model works best for:
Businesses with growing product catalogs
Brands that want to own the full customer experience
Anyone who needs flexible pricing, promotions, or loyalty programs
Online marketplaces
Platforms like CDON, Tradera, and Amazon come with existing audiences and logistics support. But they take a percentage of your sales and set the rules.
This model works best for:
Businesses that want exposure without building a website
Sellers with high-volume, price-sensitive products
Companies that want to test product-market fit before they launch stand-alone stores
Social media
Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook are major sales channels in Sweden, especially for lifestyle, fashion, and handmade products. You can drive traffic to your site or sell directly via product tags, stories, or direct messages (DMs).
This model works best for:
Businesses with visually driven products
Brands that rely on storytelling or community engagement
Sellers who are comfortable with managing orders via chat or social tools
Payment links and digital invoices
This is a simple, flexible way to take payments, with no webshop required. Send a secure link or invoice by email, chat, or text, and your customers pay online.
This model works best for:
Freelancers and service providers
B2B transactions
Businesses with small product lines or one-off orders
Most sellers don’t pick just one channel. A boutique might run its own webshop, list popular items on CDON, promote on Instagram, and send Swish-enabled payment links via DM.
How can you sell through a webshop in Sweden?
Owning your own webshop gives you the most control over your brand, margins, and customer relationships. Swedish customers are digitally fluent and quick to judge. So if your site feels off—for example, if it’s hard to navigate, unclear about returns, or missing Swish—they’ll abandon their carts without hesitation.
Here’s what matters when you build a webshop for Swedish customers.
Speak their language
Build your site in Swedish or, at the very least, offer Swedish as the default. Use plain pricing in SEK and list specifications using the metric system.
Prioritize transparency
Ensure that return and shipping policies are easy to find and understand. A return policy that feels hidden comes across as a warning sign. Swedes expect transparency, and they’ll scan your site for signs of legitimacy before they buy.
Always include:
A clear product description
Transparent pricing with tax included
Full business details (company name, organization number, and contact info)
A 14-day return window (required by law for online purchases)
Delivery timelines and return instructions
Customers want to know exactly what they’re getting and what happens if they change their minds.
Don’t overlook mobile
Sweden is one of the most mobile-native ecommerce markets in Europe. Whether they’re browsing during their commutes or buying from the sofa, most of your customers will interact with your site on a phone.
Your mobile checkout should:
Load quickly
Autofill shipping and payment details
Let shoppers use biometric authentication or Swish
Avoid pop-ups, broken buttons, or multipage forms
Include local payment methods
Swedes are comfortable with digital payments, but they’re used to having options. The right payment stack will reflect how your customers already pay for things in daily life.
That usually means including:
Card payments (e.g., Visa, Mastercard)
Swish
Klarna or an invoice-based checkout for higher-ticket items or pay-later preferences
Ensure your checkout supports these options natively. If it feels clunky or unfamiliar, you risk drop-off, particularly on mobile.
Demonstrate credibility
Swedish shoppers don’t need a lot of design gimmicks, but they do need to feel confident you’re a legitimate business. You should have:
Accessible customer service, ideally with a Swedish-language option
Clear terms and conditions and privacy policies
Official email addresses (not @gmail.com)
Predictable delivery and returns
Make everything in your webshop easy, traceable, and fair. Credibility sells in the Swedish market.
How do Swedish businesses sell via social media?
In Sweden, social media is a fully active sales channel. Shoppers are buying products directly from Instagram and TikTok. That makes these platforms especially powerful for small businesses, creators, and brands that rely on direct connection over scale.
Here’s how businesses in Sweden are making social commerce work.
Selling through Instagram and Facebook Shops
Both Instagram and Facebook Shops have native shopping tools. You can upload a product catalog and tag items directly in posts, Stories, or Reels. Users tap to see details, then purchase, usually through a link to your site. To use these tools, you need a business account, a connected product catalog, and an approved domain.
This works well for visually compelling products such as apparel, beauty, home goods, and wellness products, and helps shorten the gap between browsing and buying. Product tags need to be clear and compelling—no one wants to guess what’s actually for sale. Checkout often redirects to your webshop so assure that your mobile site works well.
Selling via social media doesn’t exempt you from basic rules. You still need to:
Provide receipts or confirmations
Communicate return policies and delivery timelines
Respect consumer protection laws (including the 14-day return window)
Transparency applies everywhere, whether you’re selling through a custom storefront or closing deals over chat.
Conversational selling through DMs
A lot of Swedish businesses skip formal storefronts altogether. They preview new products in Stories or posts and invite customers to order by DM. It’s quicker and easier and provides a personal touch.
Once a customer expresses interest, you send a secure payment link, through Stripe or another known source, and the transaction happens in the same channel as the conversation.
This is common for:
Handmade or limited-run products
Service-based businesses (e.g., photographers, stylists, coaches)
Freelancers and microbusinesses that work on a project-by-project basis
In these cases, the sale often feels more like a conversation than a transaction. But you’ll still need to ensure your business is operating legally, securely, and reliably.
Social-first marketing, with checkout elsewhere
Even if you’re not selling directly on platforms, social media is where a lot of discovery happens. That makes it an important part of your sales funnel, especially for new businesses without established web presences.
Use social media to:
Build visibility and brand reputation before you ask for a sale
Run ads targeted at Swedish customers by interest, location, or behavior
Promote new launches, discount codes, or restocks
Drive traffic to your webshop or landing page
The trick is to keep the experience consistent. If your Instagram is polished but your checkout flow feels unprofessional, you’ll lose people.
When does it make sense to sell using payment links or invoices?
Not every business needs a full ecommerce site to start selling. In Sweden, a lot of smaller sellers, freelancers, and early-stage businesses rely on payment links or digital invoices to get paid. These are flexible, lightweight options that work especially well when your product catalog is small or the sale starts with a conversation.
Here’s when this approach makes sense.
You’re selling through email, chat, or social media
If most of your sales happen through DMs, email threads, or phone calls, payment links let you turn interest into payment instantly. You send a secure link, your customer clicks it and pays online, and you both get a confirmation.
It’s fast and direct and doesn’t require a storefront. This works well for:
One-off sales or limited drops
Custom orders or commissions
Small events, workshops, or service bookings
Social-first businesses that aren’t ready for a webshop
In Sweden, where mobile payments are the norm, this flow feels natural, particularly if the link supports Swish or card payments.
You’re a service provider or freelancer
If you’re billing after work is delivered or working on a project-by-project basis, digital invoicing lets you itemize the work, apply VAT if needed, and offer clients a payment method they’re used to.
In B2B contexts, digital invoices are often expected. But even in B2C transactions, customers appreciate getting a proper invoice, especially if they’re using a wellness stipend (friskvårdsbidrag) or expense reimbursement.
You want to test a product before you invest in ecommerce
If you’re validating a new product or trying out a sales concept, payment links let you start selling right away. You don’t have to build a site, integrate shipping, or manage a product catalog.
This is how a lot of early-stage sellers get started. Someone DMs you about a product they saw on Instagram, and you reply with a payment link to close the sale.
Remember that customers expect consistent formatting and branding, even in a simple payment link. Assure that your payment page clearly describes what they’re paying for and includes your business name and contact information. Swedes are cautious with unknown links so use a well-known provider and avoid anything that could resemble spam.
What should Swedish businesses know about selling across borders?
Sweden has a small population but a big digital reach. Selling beyond national borders, particularly to the rest of the EU, is often where growth happens. If you’re planning to sell across borders, here’s what you should know from Day 1.
Currency
Swedish shoppers are used to seeing prices in SEK, but international customers expect their own currencies and often hesitate if they can’t pay in them.
Make it easier for them to pay by:
Pricing in the customer’s local currency when possible
Using a payment provider that handles currency conversion transparently
Being up front about any additional fees that might apply
Even a small conversion fee (often 1%–3%) can make or break a sale, depending on how it’s presented.
Shipping and logistics
Within the EU, shipping is relatively straightforward. But if you’re sending goods to countries outside the EU (e.g., Norway, the UK, the US), plan for:
Customs declarations
Import taxes or duties at delivery
Longer, less predictable delivery times
Make these costs and time frames visible before checkout. For an easier setup, choose logistics partners that handle cross-border documentation automatically or look for ecommerce tools that let you customize shipping rules by country.
VAT and regulatory compliance
Once your cross-border sales within the EU exceed a certain threshold, you’ll need to either register for the EU’s One Stop Shop (OSS) scheme or register in each relevant EU country of destination. The OSS scheme lets you charge and remit the correct VAT for each country through a single Swedish filing.
You’ll also need to:
Show VAT-inclusive pricing where required
Follow each country’s consumer protection laws (although EU-wide rules are fairly harmonized)
Offer local-language support when you sell to new markets
Even within Europe, the details matter. An easy domestic checkout doesn’t always work internationally.
Customer expectations
Not every product will perform the same way outside Sweden. What feels niche in Stockholm might be saturated in Berlin.
Before you go global, you should:
Research demand in your target market
Localize product descriptions and marketing copy
Check for competition and price expectations
Sometimes, you don’t need to fully localize a site to start testing demand. Start small: offer international shipping, run a few ads in a target market, and measure engagement.
If you’re using Stripe, international expansion becomes easier. You can accept more than 135 currencies, handle dynamic currency conversion, and automate VAT collection in multiple countries. Built-in compliance tools also help you manage the EU’s cross-border tax rules, without needing a dozen country-specific setups.
The content in this article is for general information and education purposes only and should not be construed as legal or tax advice. Stripe does not warrant or guarantee the accurateness, completeness, adequacy, or currency of the information in the article. You should seek the advice of a competent attorney or accountant licensed to practice in your jurisdiction for advice on your particular situation.