What external hardware can you use with Shopify POS?

While many Shopify merchants have a big focus on online sales, almost any business needs the capability to make sales in person. Whether you’re just pitching to someone new, testing your hand at tupperware parties, offering your wares at a pop-up or market, or have a whole retail setup, the Shopify Point-of-Sale (POS) app lets you run your store on and offline.

Learn more about what POS does and how to use it here.

To get started with processing payments in person, you need:

1. Products to sell (yes, it’s pretty obvious)
2. The POS app downloaded onto a mobile device, like a phone or tablet (it’s free!)
3. Some hardware to read credit cards

If you want to up your game and get a full-on retail setup going, you’ll also need extra hardware such as iPad stands, a cash box, barcode scanners, receipt printers, etc.

In other words...

This post goes over the types of hardware you can get from Shopify, what hardware you can get elsewhere, and what you’ll need to do from different countries and devices.

Here’s the hardware Shopify can hook you up with, ready to use with POS

All of these are available through Shopify. They offer their hardware that’s ready to use with POS. However, note that not all of it is available in every country. See our note on locations below.

Quick Tip: Get it all in one go with the Shopify Retail Package, which gives you an out-of-the-box setup. When you use Shopify POS, you don’t pay any extra for additional staff logins and have unlimited registers you can set up. The retail package is a monthly subscription, for $49 per month.

If you already have some retail hardware, and are switching over to Shopify POS...

You can re-use some of your existing hardware, including a cash drawer, iPad stand, and barcode label printer. Shopify has their own versions, but you can get them anywhere.

You cannot use a card reader, barcode scanner, or receipt printer that’s not on the approved list with Shopify POS.

The finer print

Apple vs. Android

Shopify’s also made their hardware work, well, more easily on Apple than on Android. Here are a few notes on the differences between using an iPhone/iPad vs. an Android phone or tablet with Shopify POS:

The Fruit

With Apple products, you can use multiple payment methods on a single transaction or accept partial payments. For example, if someone wants to pay a deposit in cash and the balance on a card, or split a transaction across cards, or give you an invoice for half and pay upfront now, that’s all doable from an iPad using POS. You can also refund directly from the Shopify POS app.

The Bot

Merchants using Shopify POS on their Android devices have to use the Swipe (audio-jack) card reader that plugs in directly. It works fine, but is a bit more limiting as far as choice of card readers go. You can also make refunds, but you’ll have to do it from the Shopify app or from a computer instead of the POS app.

A few notes on location

Shopify’s got hardware ready to go for stores based in the USA, UK, Canada and Ireland. Unfortunately, they’ve not expanded their hardware outside of those countries, but there are plenty of ways to get around that.

• If you’re in the USA, UK and Ireland, you can use the Shopify brand Tap, Chip, and Swipe card reader
• If you’re in the USA or Canada you can also use the Shopify brand swipe credit card reader that attaches to your phone
• Aussies can go to pos99.com.au for approved resellers
• If you’re anywhere else you'll have to buy the supported hardware through an external retailer. Double check that the serial models are exactly the same, otherwise it won’t work with Shopify POS.
• If your store is based in the USA, UK, Canada or Ireland, you can use your hardware and POS app anywhere in the world.

Check these serial numbers before buying from an external vendor

If you’re not buying directly from Shopify, ie you’re not in the USA, UK, Canada or Ireland, double check that you’re buying the right model. You can also find this table on the Shopify hardware manual.

Learn more about using Shopify POS with your nifty new hardware

Here are a few things to help you get started with Shopify POS:

• What new features are available with POS
• Bank-operated merchant facilities vs. Shopify (and other) card readers
• How to run your entire store from your phone (basically)
• Shopify POS FAQ
• The Shopify manual on hardware

We can also help! If you’re looking to expand your online store into the wild world of in-person sales (or vice versa), talk to us about it.