With the latest development of the Internet and increasing mobile usage, we are living in the world of eCommerce. Research has forecasted that there will be 2.14 billion people who shop online in 2021, out of nearly 8 billion people in the world.
Among the leading eCommerce platforms, Shopify stands out with more than 1,700,000 users across the globe. Are you planning to open an online store on this site? Then this list of the top 5 Shopify Point-of-Sale apps might be helpful for you.
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We will discuss these top 5 with their corresponding features and pricing plan. However, before going further into this article, it is important to note that this list is not created by the ranking order, and the price stated here can change across time.
I. ConnectPOS - The Best For A Seamless Omnichannel Experience
Being a leading POS provider on Shopify, ConnectPOS has supported more than 200 retailers all over the world, especially SMEs. The app is rated 4.5/5 stars on Shopify thanks to the seamless omnichannel experience. It offers click-and-collect features that allow customers to buy online and choose how to get the products, either by delivery or picking them up in stores.
For better omnichannel retail, ConnectPOS also developed a PWA Consumer App that smartly integrates the digital world into the in-store shopping experience. Customers can scan barcodes to access the full features of a particular item and get personalized recommendations based on purchase history. This app is a must-have feature for retailers in today’s world where most consumers stick to their phones every day.
Another outstanding feature of ConnectPOS is that this app requires no additional fees for every transaction made with a third-party platform. Therefore, you only pay directly to the third-party providers. This is what makes ConnectPOS more advantageous than many other point-of-sale apps on Shopify.
Some other unique selling points of ConnectPOS are:
- 100% real-time synchronization between different stores and warehouses.
- Compatibility with multiple devices, including PCs (Windows/ macOS), or mobile devices (iOS/ Android).
- 24/7 free support (which has been very well-rated by customers on Shopify reviews).
- (New) Stocktake features to save stock numbers after each counting.
- More than 200 auto-generated reports based on sales, registers, etc.
- Flexible payments with cash, debit/credit cards, and split tenders.
ConnectPOS offers 4 pricing plans:
- Basic - $19/ month
- Standard - $49/ month
- Advanced - $79/ month
- Premium - $99/ month
Compared to other apps, these pricing offers are more reasonable in exchange for the above-mentioned smart features. In addition to this, ConnectPOS is also willing to offer a customizable option when merchants can choose their preferred features and get a corresponding price. All you need to do is contact them and get professional support. In addition, there is also a 14-day free trial (no credit card needed).
All in all, with excellent omnichannel retail features, ConnectPOS is a powerful all-around POS at a reasonable price.
For more Shopify App & Tool Reviews, check out:
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- Best Shopify Product Description Generators
II. Shopify POS - A Convenient Built-In App
Shopify POS is the next point-of-sale app on our list. It is a built-in app developed by the platform itself, with 2 options that greatly differ from each other. They are the Lite version and Pro version.
The Shopify Lite Version is included with all Shopify plans, with which users will have:
- Hardware accessories and mobile POS system
- Order and product management
- Customer profiles
- In-person credit card rates, from 2.4%+ 0¢ USD
For the Shopify Pro Version, it requires $89/month in addition to your Shopify plan. With this, you will have all Shopify features, plus:
- Unlimited store staff and registers
- Inventory management
- Omnichannel features
- Staff member roles and permissions
- Business analytics
The Pro version will be included if you are using the Shopify Plus plans.
All in all, Shopify Point-of-Sale is beneficial in the way that it is a built-in app for merchants who are already running their store on the Shopify platform. It supports retailers’ performance with a free additional service. However, the features are quite limited in the Lite Version, especially for businesses that are looking for more advanced features. Meanwhile, the Pro Version has proven to be a good choice for bigger businesses, however, there are still concerns about the high price.
Despite these concerns, Shopify POS is still one of the most recommended point-of-sale apps with excellent features for retail businesses of all sizes. Retailers can definitely benefit from Shopify Point-of-Sale, if they know how to make the most use of the offers within this built-in app.
III. Lightspeed - Suitable For Medium To Large Businesses
Lightspeed is another all-in-one POS app on Shopify. It is used the most by medium to large-sized businesses, which are often chain stores or other companies with more than one location. This is because Lightspeed mostly focuses on management tools. Some of the highlights of this platform are:
- Inventory management: Gain full control over your products and categorize them by variants such as size, colors, etc.
- Customer relationship management: Strengthen the relationship between the merchants and their customers.
- Employee management: Keep a log of staff members’ sales and give permissions to particular parts of the system.
- Reporting: Analyze data on sales, inventory, marketing effectiveness, etc.
- Customer loyalty: Reward customers based on redeemable points.
- ECommerce integrations: Manage your online store from the same POS.
In terms of price, Lightspeed categorizes its plans into retail, golf, and restaurants. Here we focus on the retail part, as this article compares different POS systems for retailers. Within the retail price offer, Lightspeed stands more on the pricey sides with 5 plans. It charges based on annual or monthly billing. As for annual bills, their pricing plans include:
- Basic - $69/month
- Starter - $99/month
- Standard - $119/month
- Advanced - $169/month
- Pro - $229/month
Apart from these plans, Lightspeed also comes with options for larger enterprises to discuss with them and come up with a customized option. All you need to do is contact them and discuss your retail purposes.
From what we have discussed, it seems that Lightspeed might be too expensive considering what it can offer. However, if you could benefit from their multi-store features or tailored features for golf and restaurant, don’t hesitate to experience a free trial.
To get a better understanding of how the tool works, checkout Lightspeed Demo video:
IV. Square - An Industry-Specific POS App
Trusted by many merchants all over the world, Square is well-known for its flexibility in a wide range of industries. They are Square Point-of-Sale (for any business type), Square for Restaurants, Square for Retail, and Square Appointments (for service-based companies).
Across this list of industries, Square offers various POS solutions, and some of the most outstanding features are:
- Email/ text messages/print receipts: Send your e-receipts to customers via email or SMS, or print them out.
- Employee accounts: Grant permissions to employees’ accounts with team management features.
- Refund processing: Applies to full and partial refunds.
- Loyalty programs and gift cards: Set purchase requirements for rewards-earning, and offer gift cards for customers to load money.
- Offline mode: Process and save transactions in an outage until you are connected to the Internet again.
- Tax features: Enable or disable tax on items manually, based on the tax rates in your locations.
- Reporting: Cover the basics and a few more advanced filters for merchants to customize the data.
- Synchronization: View inventory across different online stores which automatically sync.
- Low-stock alerts: Receive notifications for low or out-of-stock items.
Apart from the features listed above, Square also designs solutions for specific industries and offers pricing plans accordingly. Here we focus on the plans that are designed for retailers:
- Square Point of Sale - Free
- Square for Retail
- Free plan
- Plus - $60/ month/ location
- Premium - Custom pricing and processing rate
For the Free and Plus plan, however, there will be a processing rate of 2.6% + 10¢ for in-person & invoice payments, and 2.9% + 30¢ for online payments.
For all the features mentioned previously, Square is a good option to consider if you want a Shopify POS app that specifically caters to your own industry, especially those with unique operations such as restaurants.
V. Vend - The Best For Inventory Rich Retail Businesses
Vend is a cloud-based point-of-sale system that caters to businesses of all sizes on Shopify. In general, Vend has the standard features of a retail POS, plus some advanced functions. Among its features, Vend has been well-known for having rich inventory management tools and user-friendly functions.
Vend’s excellent inventory management is the first thing that we should highlight. Vend has extensive features, ranging from supply information, stock levels, sales records, or product information. Vend is smart in the way that it allows users to use these inventory tools across different selling platforms, ranging from offline to online places.
In addition, products that are low in stock would be notified to the users when they are being processed. If you have a list of products in the form of an Excel file, it is also possible to import it to the system. With these features, Vend’s stock management is, without a doubt, a big plus for its users.
Moreover, its compatibility with multiple devices (PCs, iPad, laptop) makes Vend very easy to use. Although some features are only available in a browser, most admin functions can be accessed in the app.
Some other outstanding features of Vend are:
- No additional transaction fees
- Loyalty features (save consumers’ details and assign sales to them)
- Reports and analytics
- Offline mode (data automatically saved during an outage)
When it comes to pricing, Vend offers its users 3 options and a 14-day-free trial:
- Lite: $99/ month (billed annually), $119 /month (billed monthly)
- Pro: $129/ month (billed annually), $159 (billed monthly)
- Enterprise: Customization
For the functions it offers and the price range, Vend is the most suitable for inventory-rich businesses, such as food and beverage retailers, vape stores, bike stores, fashion boutiques, etc. The excellent inventory and stock management tools can greatly help these businesses to save time and function more accurately. It is thus not recommended for service-based businesses like restaurants or beauty salons. This is because Vend’s features are mostly about inventory management which mostly works for tangible products.
Wrapping up
In the retail world, a well-functioning POS system can greatly enhance a store’s sales performance and retain loyal customers. In this article, we have provided the list of the top 5 point-of-sale apps on Shopify that every retailer should consider. Here is a final note to sum up the apps and their corresponding earning points:
- ConnectPOS - The best for a seamless omnichannel experience
- Shopify POS - A Convenient built-in app
- Lightspeed - Suitable for medium to large businesses
- Square - An industry-specific app
- Vend - The best for inventory-rich retail businesses
The features mentioned in this article, however, are not extensive as we only highlight the most outstanding ones. Therefore, it is recommended that you should consider your specific business type to select the most suitable app. If you are still unsure about their features, don’t hesitate to give it a free trial for the best experience.
Company’s info: ConnectPOS
Trusted by more than 2000 retailers all around the world, ConnecPOS is a leading cloud point-of-sale software for omnichannel retail stores.
