Shopify POS: Features, Plans, Hardware & Setup Explained

Shopify POS is Shopify's in-person sales system. It lets retailers take payments, manage inventory, and process orders from a physical location, with all data syncing back to the same Shopify admin that runs their online store. For merchants who sell both online and in-store — or who are starting to sell in person for the first time — it's the most direct way to keep everything in one system rather than running parallel tools.

This page covers what Shopify POS does, how the plans differ, what hardware you need, and how it compares to other POS systems like Square and Lightspeed.

What Is Shopify POS?

Shopify POS is an application that runs on iOS and Android devices (iPads and phones), connecting to payment hardware via Bluetooth. Every sale processed through Shopify POS writes to the same inventory, customer, and order database as Shopify's online store. For a merchant running both, this means one source of truth: inventory depletes in real time regardless of where a sale happens, customer records merge across channels, and reporting rolls everything up into a single view.

The product is available to any Shopify plan. Basic POS features are included at no extra cost; more advanced retail features require the POS Pro add-on.

Shopify POS Lite vs. POS Pro

Shopify POS Lite is included free with every Shopify plan. It covers the core functionality most small retailers need: processing sales, accepting payments, managing inventory across one location, basic customer profiles, email and SMS receipts, discount codes, and gift cards. For single-location stores with straightforward operations, Lite is often enough.

Shopify POS Pro costs $89 per location per month (or $79/month with annual billing) and adds features for growing and multi-location retailers:

• Advanced staff permissions: Role-based access, individual staff PINs, and sales attribution to specific employees.
• Unlimited POS-only staff: Add as many retail staff as you need without affecting your Shopify main plan's staff limit.
• Exchanges and refunds: Process exchanges as a single transaction rather than two separate ones.
• Local pickup and delivery: Fulfill online orders from store inventory.
• Stocky inventory management: Demand forecasting, purchase orders, and stock transfers across locations.
• Advanced reporting: Daily sales reports, retail analytics, and staff performance.

The break-even on POS Pro depends on the features you'd actually use. For a single-location boutique with 1-2 staff, Lite is usually fine. For a multi-location retailer with real staff management needs and exchanges as a routine workflow, Pro pays for itself quickly.

Shopify POS Hardware

Shopify POS works with payment hardware Shopify sells directly through its hardware store. The main options:

Tap & Chip Card Reader ($49): The entry-level reader. Accepts chip cards and contactless payments (tap-to-pay cards, Apple Pay, Google Pay). Connects via Bluetooth to an iPad or phone. This is the right starting point for most merchants.

WisePad 3 ($49): Similar to the Tap & Chip Reader, available in additional markets including the UK and Europe.

POS Go ($399): An all-in-one handheld device with a built-in barcode scanner, card reader, and receipt-printing capability. Good for staff who need mobility around the store.

POS Terminal ($349): A countertop device that combines a customer-facing screen, card reader, and tips/signature capture. Designed for stationary checkout counters.

In addition to the reader, most retailers also want: a receipt printer (Star or Epson models, ~$200-300), a cash drawer (~$100-150), and a barcode scanner (~$100-200). Shopify sells pre-configured hardware kits that bundle these together.

For hardware setup walkthroughs, see our guides on Shopify POS card reader setup and Shopify POS hardware.

Shopify POS vs. Square vs. Lightspeed

Shopify POS is one of several options for retailers. The right choice depends primarily on whether you sell online as well as in-store.

Shopify POS is the strongest choice when you also sell online through Shopify. The integration is genuinely deep — inventory, customers, orders, and reports all live in one system. For a Shopify merchant adding in-person sales, there's effectively no other option that makes sense.

Square is often a better fit for in-person-first businesses. Square's free plan is more generous than Shopify POS Lite for businesses that aren't using Shopify's online store, its hardware pricing is competitive, and its ecosystem of retail-focused add-ons (Square for Restaurants, Square Appointments) is strong for non-ecommerce use cases.

Lightspeed is the choice for complex retail. Multi-location retailers with advanced inventory needs (matrix products, serialized inventory, complex purchase order workflows) often find Lightspeed's retail features deeper than Shopify POS Pro, though the trade-off is less seamless ecommerce integration if you also sell online.

Shopify POS Pricing Summary

The total cost of running Shopify POS has three components:

1. Shopify plan — $39/mo (Basic) up to $2,300+/mo (Plus). Required regardless.
2. POS Pro add-on — $89/mo per location (optional). Only needed for advanced retail features.
3. Payment processing fees — 2.4% to 2.7% for in-person card payments, depending on your Shopify plan tier. See our full Shopify fee breakdown for details.

Hardware is a one-time cost. A typical single-station setup (Tap & Chip Reader + receipt printer + cash drawer) runs $300-500. A full POS Terminal setup is $500-800.

Setting Up Shopify POS

For merchants already on Shopify, adding POS is straightforward:

1. Install the Shopify POS app on your iPad or phone (free from the App Store or Google Play) and sign in with your Shopify admin credentials.
2. Connect your card reader via Bluetooth through the app's hardware setup menu.
3. Enable Shopify Payments in your Shopify admin (required to process card payments through Shopify POS).
4. Configure your locations in the admin so inventory is tracked correctly by store.
5. Train staff on the app — Shopify POS's interface is intentionally simple, but staff should walk through common workflows (sales, refunds, gift cards, customer lookup) before going live.

For merchants migrating from another POS system, the main work is inventory import and product data cleanup — making sure SKUs, prices, and variants come over cleanly and existing customer records are preserved.

Shopify POS Implementation Help

First Pier is a Shopify agency based in Portland, Maine. We implement Shopify POS for merchants adding in-person sales to an online store, migrating from another POS system, or rolling out POS across multiple locations. Our work includes hardware configuration, inventory migration, staff training, and ongoing operations support. If you're evaluating Shopify POS for your business, get in touch.