Shopify POS: Your Store in the Palm of Your Hands

What is Shopify POS?

The Shopify Point of Sale (POS) lets you accept purchases in person, and is perfect for retail stores, pop-ups, trade fairs or anywhere else someone wants to walk up and buy your gear. It comes in two parts: an app and some credit-card swiping hardware, and is already included in your Shopify membership. 

The best part? Shopify's POS system updates your inventory, orders, and customers in real-time, meaning there's no room for human error and you save a ton of time on consolidating your records. 

Bonus Read: New Shopify POS Features 2018

Make It Happen

Part One: The App

First, download the Shopify POS app, which is what synchs any new transactions with your inventory and opens up a payment gateway on your phone. The app is the actual interface your customers see -- where you'll be able to choose products and they'll be able to sign. 

All Shopify plans include access to the Shopify POS app (iOS and Android).

To install the app log in to Shopify POS within your Shopify admin using your credentials, and the app will load the products in your store.

Part Two: The Hardware

Both the iOS and Android versions of Shopify POS are compatible with the Swipe audio-jack card reader. This wireless attachment is where your customers physically insert or swipe their cards. 

Go Pro with the Retail Package

Shopify offers a retail package add on to your Shopify plan for an additional $49 per month. This allows you to create staff PINs, connect with a cash register or barcode scanner, and integrate with the rest of your retail needs such as summarising daily cash float registers or saving a shopping cart and retrieving it later. For full-on retail stores, this is a great way to get everything you need to run the till while minimising your admin for inventory and order tracking. 

If you want to use the retail package, you'll probably need to step up your hardware to include an iPad or dedicated register. You can purchase hardware piece-by-piece, or get the complete hardware kit for a full out-of-the-box setup.

Hardware availability differs for merchants in the US, Canada, Ireland, UK and Australia. See this page for more info about where to purchase individual components in your region.

Why Use Shopify POS?

By using Shopify POS, merchants can run their stores flexibly, grow how they need to and synch all of their inventory, finances and data in one place. The POS is a useful tool for merchants with a physical storefront, or who ever have the need to sell in person once in a while. 

Find and manage orders from anywhere

The big kicker: Instead of having to keep track of multiple inventories, product catalogs, and payment systems, the Shopify POS integrates all aspects of your retail business into a one-size-fits-all platform. You can see and manage every order from a computer, phone or tablet that's connected, including offering refunds, taking customer details or looking up order history. 

Track card payments and floating cash flows in the same way

Unlike other systems where you can either track card payments or a cash till, Shopify POS lets you do both. You're able to keep track of cash and card payments, so at the end of the day there's no consolidation or surprises. 

Keep track of who's doing what

If you get the retail package, you can create different staff accounts with a PIN login. This lets you check in with your employees if there are any discrepancies, and even track who's making the most sales. 

Get to know your store even better 

Shopify Reports tell you a lot of information about how your store is doing. Overall sales, inventory levels and cashflows are a given. But one of the great things about Shopify is that it lets you see what items are selling best through which sales channels. With the POS, you can learn what sells best in person, compared to through your online store, through social media sales and more. You can also measure exactly how successful a particular product launch or pop-up event you did was. 

Accepting Customer Payments 

Accept Cash, Credit, Cheques and more

One of Shopify's big features is its flexibility in payment methods. Shopify’s POS software makes possible to accept cash, credit cards, cheques, paypal, IOUs, or other forms of external payments and keep track in one place. 

Split it Up 

You can also accept partial payments and split tenders, making life easy on your customers who want to pay with a combination of payment methods. It also allows you to take deposits on big-ticket items. 

Not ready to join Shopify as a merchant, but want to accept payments for your store?

You don't actually need to have your whole inventory set up online to start collecting payments with the Shopify POS software -- though it's included with all normal merchant accounts. You can instead create a Shopify Payments account, which can be set up in less than five minutes. Once you've registered, you'll be able to accept all major credit cards instantly, with transparent and low rates. 

Need Assistance with Setting Up Shopify POS?

Elkfox are experts in all things Shopify. Contact us if you need assistance or advice relating to your Shopify POS setup.