Go-to-Market
When European MedTech manufacturers first look at Switzerland, the two options usually on the table are signing with a local distributor, or building direct commercial representation. They're not interchangeable, and the right choice depends heavily on how much control and visibility you need in the early stage of market entry.
The distributor model
A distributor typically buys your product at a discount and resells it under their own commercial relationships, often across multiple product lines from multiple manufacturers at once. This can offer fast access to an existing book of hospital contacts — but it comes with real trade-offs: you have limited visibility into how your product is actually being positioned, your margin is compressed, and your product is one of many the distributor's sales team is representing, competing for their attention.
The commercial representation model
Commercial representation means a local partner acts as your dedicated go-to-market arm — presenting your product under your own name and brand, managing relationships directly on your behalf, without the reseller markup or the divided attention of a multi-brand distributor. You retain visibility into every relationship being built, and the market feedback comes back to you directly rather than being filtered through a third party's commercial priorities.
How to choose
- Choose a distributor if you need broad, immediate national shelf presence across many product categories at once and are comfortable with reduced margin and visibility.
- Choose commercial representation if your product benefits from a focused, relationship-led sales process, and you want direct control over how it's positioned to Swiss clinical and procurement audiences.
Commercial representation is Alpine's core model, specifically because it lets manufacturers test and refine their Swiss go-to-market approach directly — without the commitment of hiring local staff or establishing a Swiss entity before the model is proven.