Shopify POS Review 2022: Pricing, Hardware & Features
Meaghan has provided content and guidance for indie retailers as the editor for a number of retail publications and a speaker at trade shows. She is Fit Small Business’s authority on retail and ecommerce.
Brigitte is a retail specialist and staff writer with brick and mortar management experience. She is versed in retail sales analysis, merchandising, and buying with an emphasis in retail sales and marketing across platforms. She has a BA in writing from Washington University, St. Louis.
This article is part of a larger series on POS Systems.
What We Recommend Shopify POS For
Shopify POS is a great POS software for any small retail business, but we especially recommend it if you need a POS system that will integrate seamlessly with your online store. With its reporting and analytics tools, advanced inventory management, and seamless ecommerce integrations, Shopify has everything you need to make running your business easier, more efficient, and more profitable.
Shopify POS ranked second in our review of the best POS systems for small businesses.
In particular, Shopify POS is best for:
- New ecommerce and retail businesses: If you are thinking of starting a new multichannel business with both in-store and online sales, Shopify has all the tools you need. Shopify is our top ecommerce platform and a top scorer in our retail POS guide. This makes it easy to get everything you need in one place and ensures seamless integration of your two sales channels.
- Multichannel retailers: Shopify tops our list of best multichannel POS systems with a score of 4.80 out of 5. Its POS features are an add-on to help online businesses sell through mobile or brick-and-mortar stores. Shopify lets you sync online and in-person sales, process curbside and pickup orders, start sales in-store and then finish them online, accept custom payment types, manage a business from a centralized back-office tool, sell on social channels including TikTok and Instagram, and more.
- Cross-channel inventory management: Shopify’s POS software includes automated and granular tools to manage multichannel inventory. It has a user-friendly interface and allows you to integrate barcode scanners to receive and perform quick counts, organize, and track inventory movement. We’ve included Shopify POS among the best POS inventory systems.
One thing to note about Shopify POS is that you must have an ecommerce subscription to utilize its features. All Shopify ecommerce subscriptions come with the free version of Shopify POS; however, to access Shopify’s paid POS plan (Pro), you will have to have both Shopify’s ecommerce subscription ($9–$299/month) and a POS subscription ($89/month per location). Learn more about Shopify’s pricing.
When Shopify Would Not Be a Good Fit
- Non-retail businesses: Shopify’s multichannel platform works best for retail businesses looking to manage online and in-person sales. So, for non-retail establishments selling online such as quick-service restaurants, a more industry-specific POS like Toast may be a better fit.
- Businesses that require offline payment processing: One major downside to Shopify POS is its limited offline card payment capabilities. Look into Square if you are in search of reliable mobile POS apps with offline payment processing.
- Sellers needing a free POS: While Shopify has tons of great features, it can be expensive as you need an ecommerce subscription to use the software. Those looking for a completely free POS software would be better suited with an option like Square.
- Food and beverage or hybrid retailers: Though Shopify can be configured for most types of retail, its lack of ingredient-centered inventory tracking and native tools for age-restricted products prevented it from earning a spot on our guides to top cafe POS, liquor store POS, and c-store POS systems. If you need real-time ingredient-level tracking, then check out Toast; if you want age verification included in the ID scan, then consider POS Nation.
Looking for information on Shopify’s ecommerce tools? Read our Shopify review.
Shopify POS Overview
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Outstanding omnichannel management features | Very limited offline payment options |
| User-friendly mobile app interface | Paid subscriptions can become pricey |
| Customizable mobile checkout | Limited inventory features in Lite plan |
| Powerful, well-documented APIs | Charges a fee for using third-party payment processors |
| 14-day free trial | No reporting features in the baseline plan |
| 24-hour customer support | Required to have Shopify ecommerce plan to access Pro features |
Shopify POS Pricing
Shopify POS Lite is free with all Shopify ecommerce plans, and it works great for running temporary stores such as pop-up shops and farmers market locations. However, those who want to use Shopify POS for their brick-and-mortar operations will likely want to upgrade to the POS Pro plan and pay the additional monthly fee of $89 per location. The main difference between these two Shopify POS pricing schemes is access to advanced features such as smart inventory management and in-store analytics.
Shopify POS Lite | Shopify POS Pro |
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If you don’t want to use Shopify as your ecommerce platform, you can sign up for the Shopify Lite plan for $9 per month. This lets you add a Shopify “Buy Button” to third-party sites and comes with Shopify POS for sales and inventory management.
Shopify Transaction Fees
Shopify Payments is Shopify’s card payment solution that comes with each ecommerce plan. Transaction processing fees vary depending on the type of transaction and Shopify ecommerce plan you have. You can also opt to use third-party payment processors for additional fees.
Online Transaction Fees:
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In-person Transaction Fees:
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Add-on Fees for Third-party Payment Processor:
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Shopify POS Hardware
Once you download the POS app, you can start choosing from Shopify’s range of hardware options to support mobile and in-store sales. Each hardware includes free shipping, 30-day returns, 24/7 customer support, and a one-year warranty.
Chip and Swipe Card Reader | Tap and Chip Card Reader | Shopify Retail Kit |
|---|---|---|
 |  |  |
$29 | $49 | $159 (iPad not included) |
Connects via Bluetooth and accepts magstripe (swipe) and EMV (chip) payments. | Connects via Bluetooth. Accepts EMV (chip) or NFC payments (Apple Pay, Android Pay). | Includes iPad stand, chip and swipe card reader, mounting kit. |
If you want to use Shopify POS for pop-up sales or a temporary market or on a seasonal basis, you can rent POS hardware through Shopify’s partnership with Fello.
Shopify POS Features
Shopify POS Lite | Shopify POS Pro |
|---|---|
Best for: On-the-go sales | Best for: In-store sales |
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Shopify POS is designed to simplify payment transactions for online merchants who might also have a pop-up or physical store. The first step in using Shopify’s POS features is to sign up for a Shopify ecommerce account. From there, you can choose between the basic and advanced POS subscription. The basic is designed for on-the-go sales activities and does not require users to have a physical store, while the Pro is designed to handle brick-and-mortar sales.
If you need some time to decide, Shopify has a free 14-day trial where you can try its Pro plan out for yourself and see how everything works. Or you can follow along on the video below where I take you through how to sign up for a Shopify account and some of the top features at your disposal.
Here are some of Shopify POS’ most essential features:
Payments
Simplify transactions and offer different modes of payment so you never miss a sale. Shopify POS lets you split tenders, add discounts, accept partial payments and gift cards, initiate exchanges and returns, and use external card terminals from third-party providers. You can also set custom payment types—such as IOUs, checks, and even gold coins. The app also integrates with Shopify Payments.
Checkout
Shopify POS makes the checkout process seamless for your staff and customers with features such as refunds, exchanges, mobile checkout, global search, discount and promo codes, customized digital and printed receipts, and automatic tax calculations. The Shopify interface is extremely easy to use, and there are tons of built-in training tools to help get you started.
Retailers can customize their POS smart grid and checkout screen homepage, making it easy to put hotkeys for specific products or register functions right at their fingertips.
Shopify lets you customize your POS smart grid for easy checkout.
(Source: Shopify)
Smart Inventory Management
With Shopify POS, you can upload inventory to the built-in inventory library for automated real-time tracking and sales reports. Meanwhile, Pro subscribers can get more advanced inventory reporting and controls by adding the Stocky app to the inventory system.
Stocky will help you make informed inventory decisions using smart recommendations and inventory advanced tracking and analysis. Stocky’s capabilities include
- Demand forecasting
- Detailed inventory reports
- Inventory analysis
- Inventory counts
- Inventory receiving
- Low stock reports
- Purchase orders
- Sale item suggestions
- Stock transfers
- Multiple location syncing
Stocky has rich inventory control features that make having the right products in the right quantities a little easier.
(Source: Shopify)
Staff Management
Each staff member gets a unique log-in to access your POS system. When adding new staff members, they will start with no permissions, then you can add the appropriate allowances based on their role. For each staff member, you can control app access and track their performance from anywhere on your POS dashboard. You can also set staff POS PINs, define retail staff roles and permissions, and attribute sales to staff and reward commissions or kudos.
Omnichannel Selling
Shopify makes omnichannel selling a breeze. On the Shopify POS system, all your sales channels are listed, so you can access their individual details and performance as needed from a single platform. Additionally, Shopify syncs all your sales, inventory levels, and expenses across your different sales platforms for easy management.
The tool also makes it easy to provide your customers with a seamless omnichannel shopping experience.
- Email carts to your customers so they can complete in-store purchases online.
- Generate QR codes that allow customers to complete their purchases online or take them to a product information page.
- Accept returns or exchanges of online purchases in-store.
- Add shipping details or set custom shipping fees for in-store purchases from your ecommerce site.
Customer Management
Transform one-time customers into loyal brand advocates by providing stellar service with Shopify’s customer management features. With its CRM tools, you can create customer profiles and tags, save contact information, view order histories and notes, see a customer’s email opt-in preferences for marketing purposes, and offer rewards with discounts, exclusive content, and access to events. Additionally, every time a shopper places an order, a new customer profile is automatically created—so you don’t have to worry about your online customer base.
Shopify not only makes it easy to track your customers and create profiles but you can foster their loyalty by sending messages, discounts, and offers to specific customers or customer groups. You can also add the free Shopify Loyalty app to your POS for more loyalty building features.
Create customer profiles so that you can provide the best experience for your shoppers.
(Source: Shopify)
Reporting & Analytics
Shopify POS enables you to see how your business is performing by providing consolidated analytics. Some of the key reports that the app provides include
- Cash flow
- Daily sales reports and insights (Pro only)
- Traffic reporting
- Sales by staff member, location, and sales channel
- Tax reports
- Discount reports
- Product and product category reports
Shopify’s Analytics dashboard gives you an overview of your store’s performance and has lots of different report options to explore.
(Source: Shopify)
Integrations
Shopify’s app store provides a list of add-on software to support online, mobile, and in-store sales. You can use filters to list POS-compatible products so it displays all the apps available based on categories such as accounting, loyalty, marketing, and shipping tools. You can also sort the list to show the new, most downloaded apps—even in a curated order.
Explore Shopify’s integrations on the app store. (Source: Shopify)
Add a Buy Button to your blog or ecommerce page.
(Source: GrowthSparks)
Integrate your store with your social channels for even more ways to sell.
(Source: Modern Retail)
Shopify also has a “Buy Button” that you can incorporate into any Squarespace, Wix, and WordPress site. The Buy Button connects transactions on your site back to your Shopify POS system, so you can use the Shopify POS with a non-Shopify ecommerce platform or even incorporate it into a blog or non-commerce site. Shopify also integrates with Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr, so you can sell whatever your customers are looking for.
With Shopify’s Lite plan, you can add a buy button to your site and use the Shopify POS Lite features for only $9.99 per month.
Shopify POS Ease of Use
- Quick account setup with guided assistance
- Easy to use and customizable interface
- Automatic sync with Shopify online store
- Default location-based sales tax
- Active Seller Community Forum
- Extensive Help Center documentation
- 24/7 customer support
Setting up a Shopify POS app on your mobile device only takes minutes, and once you’re done, you can easily customize the interface to match your needs. Using the Smart Grid tool, you can update the home screen to add, remove, and edit tiles so that the most used tasks are quickly accessible. And until you create your own settings, the system can use your location to apply appropriate sales taxes.
Shopify POS can also automatically synchronize with your Shopify online shop, allowing you to manage your entire business from a single dashboard. Product or inventory updates made on the Shopify admin page will instantly take effect on the POS app.
Customer service is available 24/7 through email, chat, and phone. Video tutorials are also available, along with an extensive resource in its help center like sign-up FAQs, shipping tips, and a staff and management training checklist.
Shopify POS Alternatives
Square POS | PayPal Zettle | Lightspeed Retail | Square for Retail |
|---|---|---|---|
Best for: Those requiring an all-around free POS and mobile POS app | Best for: Businesses needing a simple and flexible mobile payment app | Best for: Retailers looking for robust inventory management | Best for: Those wanting a retail POS system |
Software from: $0 (free to use) | Software from: $0 (free to use) | Software from: $69 per month | Software from: $0–$60 per month |
Hardware from: $0 | Hardware from: $29 | Hardware from: Custom | Hardware from: $0 |
Runs on: iOS, Android, and Square hardware | Runs on: iOS and Android | Runs on: iOS, Android, and Clover hardware | Runs on: iOS, Android, and Square hardware |
The best alternatives to Shopify’s POS offer a reliable and value-for-money system that supports key POS, payments, and ecommerce features. Overall, Square is one of the top Shopify competitors, as they both offer in-store, online, mobile, and innovative payment solutions. See how Square compares to Shopify.
For those in search of a cloud-based POS solution that doesn’t require any prior equipment or providers, check out our article on the best cloud POS systems for your business.
What Users Think of Shopify POS
Shopify POS is among the top-rated POS software on the market today. It has collected well above average scores from iOS users who shared their feedback and, at the time of publication, has a 4.4-star rating from over 4,900 reviews on the App Store.
It has also earned the following scores on popular review sites:
- G2: 4.4 out of 5 based on more than 240 reviews.
- Capterra: 4.6 out of 5 based on nearly 90 reviews.
However, Shopify POS is not faring as well with Android users, scoring 2.6 out of 5 from over 1,300 Google Play reviews. Let’s take a look at some of the trending positive and negative feedback that we gathered from reading user reviews and speaking to business owners that use Shopify POS.
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Easy to access and manage inventory and customer data | Hardware compatibility issues |
| Seamless connection to online store | Upgrades can be expensive |
| Syncs inventory automatically | Complicated fee structure |
| Extensive knowledge base | User dissatisfaction on software upgrade |
Bottom Line
Cross-channel sales is crucial to business growth, and, to efficiently manage inventory, you will need a multichannel POS system like Shopify POS. This versatile app can be installed on multiple devices without extra fees, and any store activity made on these devices will be synchronized by your main Shopify dashboard. You can also choose which products you want to showcase online, in your physical store, or both.
Overall, Shopify POS offers the best value for new ecommerce businesses and online-based multichannel retailers. It combines top-of-the-line ecommerce features with in-person sales tools to offer the best omnichannel platform. Its user-friendly interface, smart inventory management features, seamless checkout, and wide range of integration options make Shopify POS among the best POS systems on the market today. Sign up for Shopify POS’ 14-day free trial.
