Shopify POS Review 2024: Features, Pros & Cons

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Updated: Mar 12, 2024, 3:40am

Aaron Broverman
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Shopify POS is a popular point-of-sale (POS) systems for small businesses for good reason. It’s easy to use, comes with a powerful suite of features and integrates with all your other systems, making it ideal for retailers of all sizes. But what really sets it apart is its seamless integration with Shopify’s online store platform, giving you the power to manage your sales, inventory and customer data from one central location. Whether you’re a brick-and-mortar retailer or an online merchant, Shopify POS makes it easy to make in-person sales and keep your customers engaged and coming back.

Pros

  • Syncs with your online Shopify store for an omnichannel experience
  • Comes with Shopify online store plan
  • Off-line mode for cash transactions
  • Integrates with tons of other apps

Cons

  • Not available for free without a paid Shopify website plan
  • Advanced features are expensive
  • Free trial is only three days, down from its previous 14-day free trial
Shopify POS
Learn More
On Shopify's Website
3.9
Our ratings take into account the card’s rewards, fees, rates along with the card’s category. All ratings are determined solely by our editorial team.
Pricing starts at
$7 per month for casual sellers $51 per month ($38 per year) for retail sellers
Mobile payments
Yes
Key features
Syncs with Shopify online store, smart inventory management

What Is Shopify POS?

  • Manages online and off-line transactions from one dashboard
  • Accepts credit cards, debit cards, mobile payments and cash
  • Lite version is free with a Basic Shopify plan or higher (which starts at $105 per month for retailers, billed annually)
  • Number six on our list of the best POS systems for small businesses

Pros

Shopify POS is ideal for omnichannel commerce thanks to its seamless integration with its online platform. Customers can shop in-store and online, and you can even send customers an email with their cart if they abandoned it in-store. When a customer buys online, inventory is automatically updated for all channels, so you never have to worry about selling out of stock. Plus, you can get low stock reports and make sure that you’re always well-stocked.

Depending on your plan, you can manage staff with features such as staff roles and permissions, so you can limit what employees have access to, as well as track their time, sales and productivity.

Another feature setting Shopify POS apart is its marketing tools. These include product reviews, email marketing, social media integration and the Google Merchant Center, which helps your products show up on Google Shopping.

Cons

One potentially negative aspect of Shopify POS is that it does not come with a free option, meaning users have to pay for a plan to access the service. Users must have a Basic plan or higher to use Shopify POS, which may not be feasible for small businesses with limited budgets. Additionally, the free trial period has been reduced to three days, down from its previous 14-day free trial, which may not be enough time for some users to fully test the platform.

Accept payments at a low cost with a market leader


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On Shopify’s Website

How Shopify POS Works

Shopify POS is a complete point-of-sale system that simplifies the process of managing sales, inventory and customer data for retailers. It comes equipped with an array of features such as payment acceptance, staff performance tracking and detailed reporting and analytics.

Shopify POS also provides fully integrated hardware and a customizable POS app to suit individual business needs. With Shopify POS, businesses can streamline their sales processes and inventory management while providing a seamless shopping experience for their customers across all channels. With the Shopify POS Pro plan, when a customer makes a purchase online, inventory syncs across all sales channels, so there’s no risk of selling a product that’s sold out.

What Sets Shopify POS Apart

One of Shopify POS’ most valuable features is its seamless integration with Shopify’s online store platform. This allows businesses to manage their sales, inventory and customer data from a central dashboard, providing an omnichannel experience for customers. This is valuable for businesses with both brick-and-mortar and online stores, as it allows them to make syncing their inventory easy and avoid overselling. And when a customer makes an online purchase, they can make a return in-store, provided you’ve got its Shopify POS Pro plan.

Shopify POS Core Features

With Shopify POS, you can sell to customers both in-store and online while keeping everything organized in one centralized dashboard. You can manage local pickup and delivery orders, easily exchange items across different locations and attach QR codes to products for online purchasing.

Additional features include:

  • Smart inventory management: Offers personalized recommendations based on your sales data, helping you stay on top of your inventory. You can create purchase orders, receive alerts for low stock levels and track inventory across all your locations.
  • Staff management: Enables you to control and monitor staff access and performance. You can specify permissions, add and manage staff accounts, assign custom roles and attribute sales to staff members.
  • Checkout: Streamlines the purchase process for both customers and staff. You can exchange items from any location, manage shopping carts and customize printed receipts with your store information.
  • Products: Makes it easy to add, organize and track your inventory. You can categorize your products, add multiple variations and allocate inventory to different sales channels and locations.
  • Customers: Allows you to create customer profiles, track purchase history and build relationships with your customers through personalized outreach and rewards.
  • Reporting and analytics: Gives you actionable insights into your business performance. You can view and analyze sales data, track orders and manage chargebacks.

Shopify POS Pricing and Plans

In order to use Shopify POS, you must have a Shopify plan, which starts at $105 per month for retailers when billed annually.


Starter Retail
Cost $7 per month for casual sellers (billed annually) $38 per month for retailers (billed annually)
In-Person Processing Rates 5% + $0.00 in person 2.7% + $0.00 in person
Online Processing Rates 5% + $0.30 online 2.9% + $0.30 online
Order management
Product management
Omnichannel features
Staff roles and permissions
Unlimited registers
Smart inventory management
In-store analytics

Starter

Shopify POS Lite is available for free with Shopify’s entry-level website plan, which costs $7 per month for casual sellers (with annual billing). In addition to access to its complete website builder, users get one POS login, one POS account and a simple online store.

Retail

Users that need more advanced features than order management and product management will find the Shopify plan to be a better fit. This plan costs $105 per month (with annual billing) and includes a number of additional features, such as two admin accounts, unlimited POS logins and a simple online store.

Basic

Geared toward small retailers, this one costs $38 (with annual billing) and gives you two admin accounts, unlimited POS logins and a custom online store. You also get basic reports and up to 1,000 inventory locations.

Shopify

This plan costs $99 (when billed annually) and gives you professional reports, up to 1,000 inventory locations, up to a 50% shipping discount and five staff accounts. It’s meant for small businesses looking to level up and grow towards medium size.

Shopify POS Setup

Setting up Shopify POS is straightforward thanks to its step-by-step walk-through. Just download the app, create an account and start selling. To get started, you’ll need to input your business and inventory information into the app. This can include your store name, logo, product descriptions, prices and photos. You can also connect your payment processors and choose your preferred method of accepting payments.

If you’re switching to Shopify POS from another system, you may want to take advantage of Shopify’s migration tools to transfer your data over seamlessly. This can save you time and effort in the setup process, though you’ll need to train your employees on the new system. Before switching, check to see if your previous POS system has an early termination fee or if you’re locked into a contract.

Shopify POS Ease of Use

Shopify POS is a popular choice for retailers of all sizes due to its user-friendly interface, making it easy to use and navigate. However, there are limited customization options available beyond the basics. But, if you don’t need a unique e-commerce store, you’ll appreciate the simple setup and streamlined checkout process.

Additionally, it has an integrated payment processing system that lets you accept credit cards from all major providers without having to set up a separate merchant account. This eliminates the need for third-party involvement or complications when setting up a payment system, and it also provides better rates.

Shopify POS Security

Security is a top priority for Shopify POS, and the product has various measures in place to protect sensitive information. It offers industry-standard SSL encryption to ensure that data transmitted between devices and servers is secure. In addition, it has built-in fraud prevention tools to help detect and prevent fraudulent activity.

One area of concern for some users is PCI compliance, which refers to adherence to the global Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. Shopify POS is PCI compliant and undergoes regular audits to ensure ongoing compliance. However, it’s important for users to understand their own obligations under the standard and to take steps to maintain compliance.

Shopify POS Customer Service and Support

Shopify has a customer support bot that will pre-qualify whether you can be put directly in touch with a live human for any answers to your questions. It’ll ask which country you’re in, how many locations you have and your retail sales.

When selecting $5,000 to $50,000 for annual revenue, the bot only mentioned self-help resources and its free 14-day trial, although it no longer offers this 14-day trial. Instead, it’s only three days. Even when signing in to a Shopify account, we could not connect to a live human, although it’s possible this higher level of service may be offered to larger accounts we don’t have access to.

There are, however, a few self-serve options, including an FAQ, the Shopify Help Centre and the Shopify Community.

Shopify POS Alternatives and How They Compare


Shopify POS Square POS eHopper Clover
Rating
Best for Retailers Businesses on a budget Omnichannel businesses Integrations
Pricing starts at $38 per month for retailers, billed annually No monthly fee, only pay per transaction Free; $29.99 per month $14.95 per month
Free plan No Yes Yes No
Transaction fee 2.7% + $0.00 in person
2.9% + $0.30 online
2.65%
For all major credit cards
0.75% + $0.07
per INTERAC chip and PIN or tap
0% 3.5% plus $0.10

Shopify POS vs. Square POS

Shopify POS and Square POS are two of the most popular point-of-sale systems on the market. While both offer similar features, they differ in several ways. Shopify POS is best suited for retailers who need a comprehensive and easy-to-use POS system. Its monthly pricing is more expensive than Square, which offers a completely free plan, whereas you have a monthly fee plus a per-transaction fee when using Shopify POS.

In contrast, Square POS is ideal for businesses on a budget that need basic features such as credit card processing and inventory management. While Square POS offers its POS system for free, you’ll pay a higher transaction fee.

Shopify POS vs. eHopper

Shopify POS and eHopper are both popular POS systems, but they differ in several key ways. Shopify POS is an omnichannel retail platform, while eHopper is primarily designed for small businesses such as cafes, bars and restaurants.

Shopify POS has a higher monthly cost, but it offers more features, such as advanced inventory management, omnichannel selling and staff management tools. In contrast, eHopper is a more affordable option with a free plan, but it has more limited features and is not designed for large retail operations.

Shopify POS vs. Clover

Shopify POS and Clover are both comprehensive POS systems that offer a wide range of features, including inventory management, staff management and payment processing. Shopify POS is an omnichannel platform that is best suited for retailers of all sizes, while Clover is designed primarily for small to midsize businesses.

Shopify POS offers more customization options and has a higher monthly cost, but it is also more flexible and scalable. Clover is a more affordable option with lower monthly costs, but its features are more limited, and it lacks the advanced omnichannel capabilities of Shopify POS.

Who Is Shopify POS Best For?

Based on its features, ease of use and pricing, Shopify POS is best suited for retailers of all sizes who are looking for a simple yet robust point-of-sale system.

Retailers who are looking for an all-in-one solution that can help them manage inventory, staff and customer relationships will find Shopify POS to be a powerful tool. Its smart inventory management feature helps reduce errors and increase profits, while staff management allows business owners to control permissions and track employee performance. The checkout feature makes it easy to complete sales quickly and efficiently, and the products feature enables easy organization and tracking of inventory.

Small businesses that want to build strong customer relationships and reward their loyal shoppers will appreciate the loyalty feature of Shopify POS. It allows retailers to create customer profiles, track purchase history and reach out to customers with personalized emails or SMS messages. In addition, Shopify POS offers detailed reporting and analytics to help business owners make informed decisions based on sales data and staff performance.

Canadian specific research and editing conducted by Anna Rey.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

How much does Shopify POS cost?

Shopify POS pricing starts at $38 per month for a retail basic plan, billed annually. This includes access to the POS app, payment processing and inventory management features. There are also additional costs for hardware and accessories if you need them.

Can I use Shopify POS if I already have an online store on another platform?

Yes, you can use Shopify POS as a stand-alone point-of-sale system or integrate it with your existing online store on another platform. This allows you to offer a seamless omnichannel shopping experience for your customers.

Is Shopify POS secure and PCI compliant?

Yes, Shopify POS is a secure and PCI-compliant platform that uses the latest encryption technologies to protect sensitive customer data. Shopify also has a dedicated team that monitors security threats and implements security updates and patches as needed.

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