Shopify POS explained: what point of sale adds to your online store

One inventory, two counters

Shopify POS is Shopify's system for selling in person, and it runs as an app on an iPad, iPhone, or Android device. The core promise is that every in-person sale automatically syncs with the online store: inventory, customer data, order history, and analytics all live in one place. Sell a product at the retail counter and the website stock updates in real time, with no batch sync and no end-of-day reconciliation. A customer who bought online can return the item in person at the register, and staff log in with their own PIN, so the sale is tied to the person who made it.

The system is cloud-based, not installed locally, which means there is no server to manage and no local database that risks falling out of sync. Products, pricing, inventory levels, and customer profiles are configured once in the Shopify admin and pushed to each POS device over the internet. Reporting rolls online and in-person sales into a single dashboard, so the merchant sees one business, not two. That is the whole pitch: one inventory, one customer database, one set of reports, across every channel.

Lite vs Pro, and the 89 dollar question

Shopify POS comes in two tiers, and the difference matters because the wrong tier creates either avoidable cost or missing features. POS Lite is included free with every paid Shopify plan, including the 5 dollar Starter plan, and it handles casual in-person selling: a market stall, a pop-up, the occasional in-store transaction. It covers basic checkout, payments, products, and receipts, and it works with a 49 dollar Tap and Chip Reader and an existing iPad.

POS Pro costs 89 dollars per location per month and adds what a permanent retail location needs: omnichannel fulfillment, advanced inventory with purchase orders and demand forecasting, staff management with custom roles, and exchanges. Shopify Plus covers the first 20 POS Pro locations at no additional subscription cost. The decision is simple: if the location is permanent and staffed, Pro pays for itself in the inventory and staff tools; if the selling is occasional, Lite is enough and the 89 dollars stays in the merchant's pocket.

The hardware, and what it actually costs

The hardware is separate from the subscription, and the minimum setup is cheap: a Tap and Chip Reader at 49 dollars for a pop-up, or a Shopify POS Terminal at 349 dollars for a proper counter, with a customer-facing display that pairs with the iPad over Wi-Fi. POS Go, a handheld that combines a scanner, card reader, and display in one device, costs 399 dollars and is available in the US and Canada. A full retail counter runs roughly 1,225 dollars once the printer, scanner, and cash drawer are added.

Payment processing is the ongoing cost, and it depends on the plan. In-person card rates start at 2.6 percent plus 10 cents on Basic and drop to 2.4 percent plus 10 cents on Advanced, and the merchant must use Shopify Payments to get those rates. Third-party gateways add extra fees, which is why most POS merchants run Shopify Payments. The total cost of POS is the ecommerce plan plus the Pro subscription per location plus the processing, and the honest page prints all three, not just the headline.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shopify POS?

Shopify POS is Shopify's point-of-sale system for selling in person. It runs as an app on iPad, iPhone, or Android, and it shares one inventory, one customer database, and one reporting layer with the online store, so a sale at the register updates the website stock in real time.

What is the difference between POS Lite and POS Pro?

Lite is included free with every Shopify plan and covers basic in-person selling: checkout, payments, products, and receipts. Pro costs 89 dollars per location per month and adds omnichannel fulfillment, advanced inventory, staff management, and exchanges, which a permanent retail location needs.

How much does Shopify POS hardware cost?

A Tap and Chip Reader is 49 dollars, a POS Terminal is 349 dollars, and POS Go is 399 dollars. A full retail counter with printer, scanner, and cash drawer runs roughly 1,225 dollars. The subscription and the processing fees are separate.

What are the in-person card rates on Shopify POS?

From 2.6 percent plus 10 cents on Basic to 2.4 percent plus 10 cents on Advanced, using Shopify Payments. Third-party gateways add extra fees, so most POS merchants run Shopify Payments to get the published rates.