How to open an online store in Israel: the complete guide

A registered business. To take payments and issue documents you need to be registered as an exempt dealer (עוסק פטור), a licensed dealer (עוסק מורשה) or a company (בע״מ). You open a file with VAT, income tax and National Insurance.

• Exempt dealer (osek patur) suits a small business whose yearly turnover is under the ceiling the Israel Tax Authority updates every year. You don’t charge VAT, and you issue a receipt for every payment (not a tax invoice).
• Licensed dealer (osek murshe) charges 18% VAT on every sale, reports it, and issues a tax invoice or tax invoice-receipt.
• A company is registered for VAT like a licensed dealer.

Which fits depends on your expected turnover and type of business. Ask an accountant before you open a file.

A payment provider. A processing company that takes card and Bit payments for you and pays them into your bank account. It reviews your business before it opens an account.

An invoicing service. Every paid order needs a document: a receipt for an exempt dealer, a tax invoice-receipt for a licensed dealer. Services like Morning (formerly Green Invoice), EZcount, iCount and Rivhit issue them automatically.

A domain (optional at first), such as shop.co.il, and good product photos.

1. Choose a platform. Check that it works in Hebrew, right to left, connects an Israeli payment provider with Bit, and issues invoices. The comparison below helps.
2. Build the store. In Modulus you write one sentence about your business, such as “handmade jewelry store”, and AI builds a designed store in Hebrew with prices in shekels. Change text, photos and design in the editor, or ask the assistant.
3. Add products. Name, price, photos, stock and variants such as size and color. You can also create a product from a photo. Show consumers prices that include VAT.
4. Connect payments. Connect your payment provider (Cardcom, Grow, PayPlus, Hyp or Pelecard), and checkout offers cards and Bit.
5. Connect invoicing. Connect Morning, EZcount, iCount or Rivhit, and every paid order gets its document automatically. In settings, fill in your business details: name, dealer or company number, phone, email and address.
6. Set up shipping. Zones, rates, and free shipping over an amount.
7. Add the legal pages. Terms, a cancellation and returns policy, a privacy policy and an accessibility statement.
8. Go live. Upgrade to Starter, connect your own domain and start taking orders.

In Israel an online store takes payments through a payment provider. In Modulus you connect an existing account with Cardcom, Grow, PayPlus, Hyp or Pelecard, and checkout shows cards and a separate Bit option. Depending on what your provider offers, you can add Apple Pay, Google Pay and installments (תשלומים).

• Bit works in shekels only, up to your provider’s limit. With Cardcom the limit is ₪5,000 per payment, and above it checkout hides Bit.
• Bank transfer or manual Bit: the customer pays outside the site and presses “I’ve paid”, and you confirm the order when the money arrives. Good for the start, before you have a payment provider.

The payment provider charges a fee on every transaction under your agreement with it. Get offers from a few providers before you choose.

VAT in Israel is 18%. A licensed dealer includes it in the price and reports it, and an exempt dealer doesn’t charge VAT.

Modulus connects to four invoicing services: Morning (formerly Green Invoice), EZcount, iCount and Rivhit. Connect one, and every paid order gets a document automatically: a tax invoice-receipt for a licensed dealer, and a receipt for an exempt dealer (Modulus switches the document type by itself, based on the dealer type in your settings). The document carries your business details, so fill them in before you connect.

Refunds. When you mark an order refunded, a credit invoice is issued against the original invoice, for the part not yet credited. An exempt dealer’s receipt isn’t credited.

Issue invoices in other software? Turn on “I issue invoices another way” and issue them by hand.

On Modulus:

• Free: build your store and see it in preview, with 40 AI credits for the build. No time limit, but you can’t take orders.
• Starter: ₪99 a month before VAT (₪116.82 with VAT), or ₪990 a year. Go live, your own domain, unlimited products and orders, 100 AI credits a month.
• Growth: ₪299 a month before VAT (₪352.82 with VAT), or ₪2,990 a year. 300 AI credits a month, up to 3 stores and 10 team members.

Outside the platform you also pay the payment provider (a fee per transaction), the invoicing service and the domain. Full details on the pricing page.

When to choose which. Shopify is strong for selling abroad and has the largest app store. Wix is established, with a Hebrew editor and connections to Israeli payment providers. WooCommerce gives full control, if you’re ready to manage hosting, updates and plugins.

Modulus is newer and has fewer add-ons, but it was built for an Israeli business: Hebrew, shekels, payments with Bit and invoices built in, with no apps to connect. And you start from one sentence.