In the last two weeks, we have talked about Square and PayPal Here, two leading choices for simple Point of Sale systems. Both are great options, but the next service we review might be perfect for you if you operate both an e-commerce website and a brick-and-mortar store. Both Square and PayPal Here can be used to process payments on an e-commerce site built in WordPress, but if you’re using Shopify, they offer a POS system that slots right in! Any product or inventory updates that you make in your Shopify admin panel will instantly take effect in Shopify POS.
As a reminder, these are Square’s features that we’re using as a baseline for comparison:
- Digital or printed receipts
- Tip suggestions
- Tabs
- Inventory management
- Edit items
- Analytics
Shopify Hardware
Shopify offers a free chip and swipe reader that lets you accept Visa, Mastercard, American Express, and Discover. For $89, you can purchase a tap, chip, and swipe reader that allows you to accept all of those credit cards, plus Apple Pay and Android Pay. If you already own a credit or debit terminal, you can use it with Shopify POS.
Shopify POS: A Head-to-Head Comparison with Square
Digital or Printed Receipts: Yes, Shopify POS lets you email or text a receipt to a customer, and with a compatible receipt printer ($399, a bit on the high side), you can offer a printed receipt too.
Tip Suggestions: Here you’ll really see that Shopify is best for a retail situation rather than a restaurant. Users have been asking for a tipping feature since 2014, and it still doesn’t exist. You can use a third-party app to handle tipping if you really want to pursue this direction.
Tabs: With Shopify POS, you can split payments into multiple payment methods, as well as offer partial payments if you’d like your customer to complete their payment at a later time. Shopify POS may require you to do more mental math than Square does, since it’s not really intended for people to split tabs. And one very weird note: Although you can accept partial payments with Shopify POS for Android, you can’t collect the remaining balance. You can collect the remaining balance only with Shopify POS for iPad and iPhone.
Inventory Management: Here Shopify has Square and PayPal here beaten by a country mile. There’s a plugin or app for nearly every scenario, allowing you to keep track of your inventory across all sales channels.
Edit Items: Square and PayPal Here let you add customization to a product on the fly fairly easily. “Add avocado” for an extra dollar, for example. But Shopify may make it a little more difficult because you have to set up variations for each product and assign them a price. If you use WooCommerce or Shopify, you’re used to this—but it is a lot of work.
Analytics: Shopify POS’s dashboard lets you view, analyze, and export sales by staff members, location, time period, or customers. Easily see which products are selling and which aren’t.
Shopify Fees
Shopify POS lets you accept Apple Pay, Android Pay, and credit card payments with the Shopify card reader. The credit card processing fee changes slightly based on which Shopify plan you have:
Basic Shopify ($29 per month):
In person: 2.7% + 0¢
Online: 2.9% + 30¢
Shopify ($79 per month):
In person: 2.5% + 0¢
Online: 2.6% + 30¢
Advanced Shopify ($299 per month):
In person: 2.4% + 0¢
Online: 2.4% + 30¢
You can also use your own external payment gateway, but the fees per plan range from an additional 2% for the Basic Shopify plan to 0.5% for the Advanced Shopify plan.
Shopify charges $15 for chargebacks, but this fee will be refunded if the chargeback is resolved in your favor.
Shopify POS Customer Service
Shopify is well known for its customer service, and every time we have interacted with them, it’s been good. They also have an active forum for users to post questions, and a chat capability that our other POS platforms don’t have.
In conclusion: The credit card processing fees are quite competitive, and the hardware offerings are solid. If you’re selling items other than food and drink, and especially if you are selling online, Shopify POS is a great choice.
