Shopify POS Review (2024) — Pros and Cons, Merchant's Take

In this Shopify POS review, we interview Liz Jones of Ziggy's Gifts. Liz is a Shopify merchant and a longtime user of its POS system. She shares all the pros and cons of using Shopify to accept payment at point of sale. 👉 Free trial of Shopify POS: https://shopify.pxf.io/Gm3Qxn (affiliate link)

🚨 Download our free ecommerce kit (containing top ecommerce tips, free tools and extended trials of key apps): https://www.stylefactoryproductions.c...

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES:

👉 Shopify POS Lite vs Pro comparison (video):    • Shopify POS Lite vs Pro (2023) — Pric...  
👉 Shopify POS Pricing guide (blog post): https://www.stylefactoryproductions.c...
👉 Shopify POS vs Square POS: https://www.stylefactoryproductions.c...
👉 Lightspeed POS vs Shopify POS: https://www.stylefactoryproductions.c...
👉 Shopify's $1 per month offer: https://shopify.pxf.io/Gm3Qxn (affiliate link)
👉 Official information about Shopify POS: https://shopify.pxf.io/m5VaL7 (affiliate link)

In the video Liz outlines her experience of using the Shopify POS system, talking about the plus points (ease of use, reliability and reasonable pricing) and the downsides too (software updates, incorrect advice from customer support and the lack of built-in custom pricing features).

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT:

So I'm Liz Jones and I've been asked by style Factory to give a personal review of the Shopify POS system.

I'm based in Hymes park in northeast London and I run a shop called Ziggy's Gift Shop. We sell gifts including baby clothing, jewellery, homewares, books, toiletries, as well as coffee and cake. We've been using Shopify for around five years now. We started out just using its point of sale service, but when the pandemic hit, we used the platform to set up an online store too.

Today we continue to sell using both the POS system and our online store. We use Shopify to track inventory, provide sales reports, process online orders, and receive money from customers. Point of sale hardware is really important to us because most of our customers pay by card. Some still prefer cash, but 90% pay by card.

The best thing about Shopify POS is that it's really easy to use when dealing with customers. I like the tiles on the home screen. These act as handy shortcuts and the search function for finding products is really good.

The inventory is really easy to update too and the way you can link products to Facebook and Instagram is great.

The software is for the most part reliable and we rarely have technical issues to worry about.

Another thing I like about Shopify POS is that unlike some competing systems, it accepts both Google Pay and Apple Pay. This is important to us as the majority of our customers pay for their products via their phone.

The main thing I'd like to see added to Shopify POS is a built in custom-pricing feature. We carry items from local makers and these can involve variable pricing. It would be much better if instead of having to set up a product on Shopify for these types of items, we were simply able to charge a custom price at point of sale. I know there are apps available that provide this functionality, but they add to monthly outgoings and involve setup time too.

There have been occasions where software updates have occurred during our trading hours and left us unable to receive payment, which hasn't been ideal.

This might seem like a minor thing, but I would love it if the card reader that we use beeped. Quite often, adults like to lift their children up to pay by card and I quite often find myself having to go “beep!” just so that the kid thinks it's working.

On the whole, Shopify customer service has been good, but we did receive some inaccurate information from their sales support team, which led us to spending a bit more money at the beginning than we needed to.

In terms of the general cost of using Shopify, now that we're on the appropriate subscription, I find the monthly fees very reasonable. The credit card processing fees aren't too high either.

Would I recommend Shopify POS to other merchants? Yes, I would. It's easy to use, reasonably priced, and reliable.