Quality that obliges

The Swiss eShop bears the "e" as a symbol of modern e-commerce. The online shop is operated by Protaris AG. The company name is derived from the Latin terms pro bum —which stands for honesty, integrity, and rectitude—and lici tari , the term for trade.

The name Protaris sums up our claim: We stand for fair, responsible trade.

How it all began: Commitment from the parental home

What is now considered an innovative online shop with nationwide recognition began with a great deal of idealism and family cooperation in the basement of a residential building. Thomas Brodbeck and his family founded Brodbeck Handelsunternehmen, which later became Swiss eShop. While Thomas focused on strategy and marketing, his father handled purchasing and accounting. His mother ensured reliable order processing and shipping.

It became clear early on that the shop struck a chord. Customers were looking for high-quality souvenirs and gifts with a Swiss identity – and they found exactly what they were looking for. To keep pace with the growing success, the company was converted into a public limited company, new specialists joined the team, and the parents handed over their responsibilities to the next generation. Thus, a small family business evolved into a sustainable company with professional structures.

The growth phase: innovation, scaling and new responsibility

With the arrival of Richard Lins, an experienced marketing strategist with his own consulting firm, a period of dynamic growth began. The product range was expanded, new proprietary products were developed, and creative gift ideas were added. At the same time, the company became increasingly important to business customers seeking high-quality gifts for clients, employees, or international guests.

The strong demand from the corporate world confirmed the course: quality, innovative and sustainable products, reliability, and customer-oriented solutions made the Swiss eShop the first address in Switzerland.

Social commitment: Business with responsibility

But economic success was never an end in itself. Rather, the management team's central concern was to make the company socially sustainable. Since 2016, the company has been specifically integrating people with limited access to the labor market – such as DN, a highly motivated refugee who would have been denied this opportunity elsewhere. He began with simple tasks in the warehouse, gradually taking on more and more responsibility, completed a part-time commercial training program, and built a new life for himself.

In 2021, he founded his own online shop and opened an additional brick-and-mortar store in Zurich's Niederdorf district in 2022. An impressive integration story that the company looks back on with pride.

Cooperation with social partners: Inclusion in everyday working life

In addition to individual success stories, the Swiss eShop also relies on institutional collaborations with social partners such as the WTL in the Linth region. People with mental disabilities are given the opportunity to test their work ability through stress training. Swiss eShop offers real-life tasks and products from its online store – meaningful work instead of occupational therapy.

In addition, selected in-house products are manufactured by people from the secondary labor market, which not only has a social impact but also strengthens the appreciation for handmade Swiss products.

Conclusion: Economically strong – humanly valuable

The story of the Swiss eShop impressively demonstrates that economic success and social responsibility don't have to be mutually exclusive. Quite the opposite: Those who act with a sense of purpose create added value – for customers, for society, and for the people who work in the company.