Shopify POS – Understanding the Pros and Cons of Shopify Point of Sale

Shopify is one of the largest online sales platforms. Since its inception in 2005, it has grown from strength to strength to become a preferred choice for many. The platform also offers users access to its Point of Sale (POS) system, which can be downloaded as an app on iOS and Android devices and which integrates flawlessly with your online Shopify store.

The system allows business owners to sell products in person anywhere, including physical stores and local markets. But is probably more geared towards single stores or smaller merchants. For larger enterprises there are usually more suitable and better established solutions out there.

The Shopify POS app gives users the tools to create a shopping cart for all buyers, take payment, and give receipts, all from a smartphone or device running Android or iOS.

Let’s talk about the pros and cons of using the Shopify POS:

Pros

Shopify’s point of sale is designed to offer its users convenient ways to do business when they run on Shopify already. Some of its features include:

• Flexible– Shopify POS comes in five different tiers with many features to make the process faster and simpler. No matter what you are looking for, you are bound to find a tier on Shopify POS’s offers that caters to your needs.
• Multiple payment methods– Shopify POS offers users multiple payment methods for the same transaction. Is a customer short? The Shopify POS will take another payment method to complete the transaction.
• Gift cards– Should a business owner decide to sell gift cards to customers, they can easily do so. Shopify POS allows you to email customers a digital gift card that can also be printed by the receipt printer and given as a physical copy.
• Transaction processing offline– Even without internet access, one can still make sales. The next time the network is on, the transactions recorded are synced with your inventory to ensure you can keep track of everything even with less-than-reliable internet connections.
• The Shopify POS ecosystem– When you are on Shopify POS, you get access to more than 2,400 apps to augment the functionality of this POS solution.
• Customization– Shopify POS allows the user to personalize emails, invoices, and even the shop’s URL to fit whatever works for the owner.
• Hardware– Shopify point-of-sale users have the opportunity to save money on hardware since the POS solution comes with a free cash drawer, barcode scanner, and receipt printer. That kind of hardware bought separately costs a significant amount of money.
• Financial monitoring– Shopify’s POS provides users with a way to keep an eye on the daily totals, which is essential for monitoring revenue and gauging performance.

Cons

For all its merits, Shopify’s point of sale system is not without some drawbacks. Let’s talk about those:
• Users have reported that some inventory features aren’t fully developed because the software may be somewhat buggy. Errors arising from these bugs cause the user experience to suffer.
• Users say they would like it if the app notified them about low-stock to avoid the surprise of finding they cannot deliver on something they assumed was available.
• Though one won’t have difficulty accessing the app offline, that mode doesn’t have the same level of usability that the online mode does.
• Users find it difficult to apply a store-wide discount since the process is needlessly complicated. Every deduction must be processed manually, eating into valuable time, especially when many goods are on sale.
• There is an extra $49 payable monthly to access the ‘Retail Package’ without which you won’t have extra features like hardware integrations, tracking, staff accounts, and more.
• There are analytic features, but they could use some upgrades because the standard reports are too shallow and don’t deliver as much information. Even the advanced reports don’t compete with alternatives.
• The default receipt lacks serious customization and causes major headaches for some merchants. We recently had to build a custom app to manage custom receipt printing for users in some countries with specific tax regulations.

If you need a custom app developed for Shopify POS or wish to have support with setup and configuration please contact us.

For any generic questions please contact Shopify Support