The Shopify retail app, Shopify POS, is just one more reason Shopify hosts more stores (over 4 million) than any other eCommerce platform. Shopify POS comes free with Shopify eCommerce plans and allows you to switch seamlessly between online and brick-and-mortar sales. Here’s what you need to know to take advantage of Shopify for all your retail.
Combine online and retail stores with Shopify POS
Shopify POS allows you to manage your entire Shopify inventory in one place. The Shopify retail option works whether you have a fixed store location or sell at fairs and events. Because there’s no extra cost for the basic Shopify POS plan, it’s an excellent option for online sellers who do just a few in-person events yearly.
Many brick-and-mortar stores choose Shopify POS, too. It provides an omnichannel sales ecosystem that makes it easier to manage online and traditional retail.
Shopify POS allows you to offer customers the same discounts, loyalty programs, and special deals across all sales channels. And it makes it easier to offer preferred returns options:
- buy online and return in-store
- buy in-store and return online
- buy and return online
- buy and return in-store
Omnichannel sales and fulfillment are essential to eCommerce success
An omnichannel approach to eCommerce is no longer optional. To give your customers a consistent experience that will build your brand, you need a single eCommerce fulfillment experience across all sales platforms. And Shopify POS helps bring the omnichannel experience across sales modes by giving you a unified checkout online and in the store.
Red Stag Fulfillment helps retailers create an omnichannel customer experience through:
- Omnichannel fulfillment services
- Seamless Shopify integration
- Kitting and specialty fulfillment services to give your customers the ideal unboxing experience
Shopify retail point-of-sale options
Shopify POS has two pricing levels: POS Lite and POS Pro. Let’s look closer at each.
POS Lite
POS Lite is free with any of the three Shopify eCommerce plan. For these , the Basic Plan costs $29 per month, Shopify is $79, and Advanced is $299 per month. The size of your store and your sales volume will dictate the best plan for you. So, for enterprise-level online retailers, Shopify Plus offers more features and custom pricing.
Shopify POS Lite includes the mobile Shopify POS app and lets you store and access customer profiles across sales channels. You can also manage orders and track inventory for eCommerce and in-person operations. The software enables you to send receipts via email and provide coupons and discount codes that customers can use in either location. Plus, the app has basic reporting capabilities.
POS Pro
Shopify POS Pro costs $89 per month per retail location. You can have as many Shopify checkout stations in each store as you want at no extra charge. If you have a Shopify Plus plan, it includes POS Pro. In addition to the features of Shopify POS Lite, Pro is ideal for managing in-store pickups and exchanges. It has more robust reporting features, including inventory forecasting and sales broken down by employee.
Both plans give you credit card Shopify Payments, with rates ranging between 2.4% and 2.7% per in-person transaction and no per-transaction fee, depending on your Shopify plan. For Basic and Shopify level plans, online credit card processing fees are 2.9% and 2.6%, respectively, plus $0.30 per transaction. For the Advanced plan, the rate is 2.4% online or with Shopify Retail, but online transactions add the $0.30 charge.
You can use a different credit card processor with Shopify POS, but Shopify adds a 2% fee, so that doesn’t make sense unless your processor has a very low rate. That could be a drawback for some businesses.
What you need to operate Shopify retail with the Shopify POS app
Shopify POS offers a point-of-sale device, POS Go, for $399. About the size of a smartphone, POS Go includes a barcode reader and scanner. But you can also use the Shopify POS app for free on iPhone, iPad, and Android phones and tablets. The Shopify POS app will soon allow you to accept tap-to-pay cards on an iPhone — no card reader needed. In the meantime, you can buy a Shopify retail card reader for $39 to $49. If you need printed receipts, you can send them to a printer using the Shopify POS app.
And that’s all you need. Shopify POS and the POS app allow restaurants to provide tableside checkout and retail staff to take sales anywhere in the store. Of course, you can also set up a fixed checkout.
Operating Shopify POS and the Shopify POS app is simple, and you don’t need a lot of expensive equipment to get started.
Who needs Shopify POS?
Most retail shops today have hybrid operations, offering online purchasing and in-store sales. The transition was already well underway, and the pandemic temporarily speeded it up by forcing most retailers to close. The pandemic also accelerated the shift to online shopping, so eCommerce has become vital to every brick-and-mortar establishment.
Shopify lets you reach your customers where they are. When you combine a Shopify eCommerce store with the Shopify POS, you give consumers omnichannel access to your promotions, new product listings, events, and sales.
How Red Stag Fulfillment can help you serve your Shopify customers
Red Stag Fulfillment offers native integration for Shopify stores through a plugin that quickly and seamlessly connects your Shopify retail operations to our warehouse management system. But we offer much more to companies, whether purely eCommerce or hybrid. Our dedicated onboarding team ensures that your fulfillment matches your needs and gives your customers the perfect unboxing experience for your brand. Our fulfillment guarantees include zero shrinkage, putaway within two business days, and accurate order fulfillment, or we pay you $50.
And best of all, our commitment to excellence in fulfillment means that we have accuracy rates unmatched in the industry. Here’s how we did in 2021:
- 99.991% inventory accuracy
- 99.976% order accuracy
- 99.965% of shipments on time
Whether you use Shopify or another eCommerce platform, we offer robust integrations to connect with your operations. And Red Stag Fulfillment provides top-notch 3PL services that will keep customers returning to your online store and retail locations.
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