Shopify

Shopify POS was built with the needs of retail stores in mind. Right out the box, you have access to split tenders, offline payments, and discount codes. When you upgrade to the Shopify plan, you unlock multiple advanced features like professional reports, refunds, cash float, and staff pin.

If you’ve ever used a content management system then you’ll understand the basics as soon as you sign up. The only issue is that reporting features are tied to your plan.

Gift cards

Most POS solutions offer gift cards as a separate add-on via a monthly subscription. With Shopify, it’s part of the Standard plan or higher and enables you to create physical or electronic gift cards. They can be redeemed in-store or through the online portal.

Custom payment types

You can accept any form of payment from IOUs to gold bullion. All you need to do is enter it as a payment type through the POS app interface and you’ll be able to select it as a payment option.

Customer profile management

Whenever there is a new customer the Shopify app prompts merchants to create a profile. As they come back to make repeat purchases, their entire order history, buying patterns, and personal details are available at a glance. With the email marketing integrations, it’s possible to sync contacts and send timely messages to increase foot traffic and online store traffic.

Staff management and Timeline

The staff management features don’t include payroll and scheduling (unless you opt for an extra integration). Instead, it’s possible to set permissions and pins to track transactions per employee. They also have a novel feature called Timeline which helps you check in and collaborate with your team.

POS Software:

• Turn any mobile device into a powerful point of sale. You can download the Shopify Retail POS app on to any Android or iOS smartphone or tablet.

Hardware:

• Accept fully integrated payments with wireless hardware.
• When using Shopify hardware, you get the benefits of Shopify payments:
  • Pay one low rate for all cards, starting from 1.5% + 0¢ AUD
  • Get paid quickly
  • Keep payment information safe
  • Accept popular payment methods

Shopify itself doesn’t have many add-on services for their customers. Instead, they’ve built a world-class integrations ecosystem accessible through the app store. There are thousands of apps which are actively developed and maintained by independent vendors.

A few useful ones are:

• LoyaltyLion: A free loyalty program that helps merchants increase repeat visits and purchases. It works both in-store and online.
• Spently: This free solution lets merchants customize multiple touchpoints to offer complementary products and discounts which increase your average order value.
• ActiveCampaign integration: Capture your customer’s information, purchase history, and other information and send it directly to your ActiveCampaign account. You’re able to send targeted promotional offers to encourage in-store or online purchases. Note: This is also possible with other major email marketing services.

The Shopify POS system has been lauded as easy to use. It’s built like many other CMS systems so you should be able to find your way around within a few minutes to hours.

With the ease of use come tradeoffs. Shopify itself is a basic online solution and to make the most of it beyond collecting payments and tracking inventory, you’ll have to use third party plugins. This is a good thing or a bad thing depending on your perspective and can add complexity to the core software.