What Is Shopify POS? A Beginner’s Guide for Retailers

You have a physical store and also a website but somehow they never seem to stay in sync.

Every week you find yourself checking two different stock lists, fixing inventory numbers, and trying to match sales from the store with orders from your website.

This is exactly the problem Shopify Point of Sale was built to solve. It connects your in store and online sales so inventory, orders, and customer information stay in one place.

Whether you run a boutique in Bengaluru, a clothing store in Delhi, a home decor shop in Mumbai, or sell at weekend pop up markets, Shopify POS helps bring everything together. 

In this guide, we will walk through what Shopify POS is, how it works, what the plans include, the hardware you need, how pricing works in India, and when it actually makes sense for your business.

Table of content

• What Is Shopify POS?
• How Does Shopify POS Work?
• Shopify POS Lite vs POS Pro: What Is the Difference?
• 8 Key Features of Shopify POS You Should Know About
  • #1 Payment Processing
  • #2 Inventory Management
  • #3 Customer Management
  • #4 Staff Management (POS Pro)
  • #5 Omnichannel Selling
  • #6 Checkout and Register Tools
  • #7 Reporting and Analytics
  • #8 What Shopify POS Version 10 Added
• Shopify Point of Sale Hardware: What Do You Actually Need?
• Shopify POS Pricing in India: The Full Picture
  • Component 1: Your Shopify Subscription Plan
  • Component 2: POS Pro Upgrade
  • Component 3: Payment Gateway Fees
  • Component 4: Hardware (One Time Cost)
• A Guide to Set Up Shopify POS
• Is Shopify POS Right for Your Business?
• What Shopify POS Actually Costs: A Worked Example
• Is Shopify POS Supported on Windows or Mac?
• Final Thoughts
• Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Shopify POS?

The Shopify POS system is a retail software solution that lets you accept in person payments, manage your product catalog, track your inventory, and handle your customers all from a smartphone or tablet. 

It runs as an app on both iOS and Android and connects directly to your Shopify back office.

The key word here is connected. 

Most traditional POS machines at retail counters just process payments and print receipts. 

Shopify POS does that too, but every transaction it records also updates your online store inventory in real time, adds to the customer purchase history, and flows into your sales reports automatically. 

How Does Shopify POS Work?

The system has three parts that work together. Once you understand these three layers, everything else makes sense.

You do not need to be technical to get it running. Most single location setups go live within one to two hours from sign up to first transaction.

Shopify POS Lite vs POS Pro: What Is the Difference?

Shopify POS comes in two versions. Getting this choice right matters because it directly affects your monthly cost.

Shopify Plus subscribers get POS Pro included at no extra cost for all their locations. If your business is already on Plus, you get the full suite at no additional charge.

POS Lite works well if you sell at occasional events or pop ups and do not need advanced inventory and staff tools. Once you have a permanent store with footfall, multiple staff, and a real inventory to manage, POS Pro is where things get genuinely useful.

8 Key Features of Shopify POS You Should Know About 

Let us go through 8 important features of Shopify POS.

#1 Payment Processing 

Note on payment processing fees in India:

Transaction fees on Shopify depend on which gateway you use. When you use Shopify Payments, there are no extra transaction fees on top of your card processing rate. 

If you use a third party gateway like Razorpay, PayU or CCAvenue, Shopify charges an additional fee of 2% on the Basic plan, 1% on the Shopify plan, and 0.5% on the Advanced plan per transaction. 

At any real volume, this adds up quickly, so your gateway choice matters.

#2 Inventory Management

• Every sale made in your physical store updates your online store stock count instantly, zero manual work required

• Search products by name, SKU number or barcode scan at the counter

• No limits on the size of your product catalog, variants or collections

• Receive new stock directly through the app by scanning incoming items

• Create purchase orders to send to suppliers and track fulfillment (POS Pro)

• Transfer stock between your store locations from inside the app (POS Pro)

• Set low stock alerts so you get notified before you run out (POS Pro)

• Run full inventory counts without shutting down your register (POS Pro)

• View demand forecasting reports to plan your reorder quantities (POS Pro)

#3 Customer Management

• Every purchase builds a customer profile with full purchase history across your website and your store in one place

• Save contact details, add personal notes and custom tags to each customer

• Collect marketing opt ins at checkout for email and SMS campaigns

• Capture custom data fields like size preferences, birthdays or loyalty tier

• Segment your customers by location, purchase behavior or tags for targeted outreach

• Connect third party loyalty apps like Smile.io or LoyaltyLion from the Shopify App Store

#4 Staff Management (POS Pro)

• Every staff member gets their own PIN login so you always know who processed each transaction

• Create custom roles with specific permissions, for example a cashier can sell but cannot issue refunds above a set amount

• Set manager approval requirements for voids, large discounts or sensitive actions

• View individual sales performance for each team member to track targets or calculate commissions

• Generate daily staff performance reports broken down by employee

#5 Omnichannel Selling

This is the area where Shopify POS genuinely outperforms standalone billing software. These features turn your store into a proper omnichannel retail operation:

• Buy online, pick up in store: customer orders on your website, your team fulfills from the store location

• Ship from store: place an order in store and ship directly to the customer's home from your nearest stocked location

• Endless aisle: staff can access your full online catalog at the POS counter and order items that are not physically in the store, with home delivery to the customer

• Send cart by email: build a cart in store, email it to the customer so they can complete the purchase from home later

• Accept returns in store for products the customer bought on your website

• Omnichannel gift cards: issue and redeem them across your store and website easily

#6 Checkout and Register Tools 

• Smart grid checkout screen that adapts based on cart contents and surfaces relevant actions for staff

• Save and park a cart, serve another customer and come back to the original transaction without losing anything

• Apply discounts at the overall cart level or on individual line items

• Fully customisable digital and printed receipts with your store branding

• Gift receipts generated in one tap for easy exchanges

• Automatic tax calculation based on your store location in India

• Add order notes and custom attributes to transactions at checkout

#7 Reporting and Analytics

• Daily sales summary with breakdown by payment method, staff member and product

• Cash drawer logs and end of day deposit reports

• Product performance reports showing your bestsellers and dead stock

• Finance reports covering sales, returns, taxes and net revenue

• Combined dashboard showing your online and in store revenue in one view

• Export reports filtered by location, time period, staff member or product category

#8 What Shopify POS Version 10 Added

Shopify released a major POS overhaul starting April 2025. Here are the updates that matter most for Indian retailers:

• Offline payments: accept credit and debit card transactions even when your internet connection goes down

• Brand theming on the customer facing display: add your logo, colours and custom backgrounds to what customers see at checkout

• Unverified returns: process returns without the original receipt while keeping proper refund records and staff controls

• Redesigned navigation: faster access to the register, cart and settings from one vertical menu

• Wider barcode scanner support including USB scanners on both Android and iOS

• Customer metafields: capture custom data points specific to your business right at the point of sale

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Shopify Point of Sale Hardware: What Do You Actually Need?

All Shopify hardware is PCI compliant and EMV certified. Here is a simple breakdown based on how you sell:

Important for Indian retailers: 

Shopify ships hardware internationally and most orders reach India. However, Shopify's dedicated card readers require Shopify Payments to be active in your region. 

Since Shopify Payments is not yet available in India as of 2026, most Indian retailers use compatible third party card readers and payment terminals alongside the Shopify POS app. 

Check the latest availability on Shopify's India hardware page before purchasing.

Tablets are not included in any bundle. An iPad is the most widely supported device for the POS app. Add Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per location for a tablet to your hardware budget.

Shopify POS Pricing in India: The Full Picture

The actual cost of Shopify POS is made up of four things.

Component 1: Your Shopify Subscription Plan

Note: Transaction fees above apply when using a third party payment gateway. Annual billing saves you roughly 25% on the Basic plan compared to monthly billing. The 3 day free trial is available before you commit.

Component 2: POS Pro Upgrade

• Rs 7,000 per month per location (as listed on Shopify India's official pricing page)

• This is on top of your existing Shopify plan subscription

• Running 3 locations on POS Pro adds Rs 21,000 per month to your costs

• Running 5 locations adds Rs 35,000 per month

• Shopify Plus users get POS Pro across all locations at no extra cost

Component 3: Payment Gateway Fees

• Since Shopify Payments is not live in India, you will need a third party gateway

• Popular options: Razorpay, PayU, CCAvenue, PayTM Gateway, Cashfree

• Each gateway charges its own processing rate, typically 1.8% to 2.5% per transaction

• On top of that, Shopify adds its own transaction fee of 0.5% to 2% depending on your plan

• Combined, this means 2.3% to 4.5% per transaction at lower plan tiers

• This is one of the most significant cost considerations for Indian Shopify retailers and worth calculating at your actual sales volume

Component 4: Hardware (One Time Cost)

• Minimal setup for events (card reader only): Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000 approximately

• Mobile seller setup (POS Go): Rs 33,500 approximately

• Fixed counter setup: Rs 18,000 to Rs 40,000 approximately before tablet

• Full counter bundle: Rs 84,000 approximately before tablet

• Tablet (iPad or Android): Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per location

• Third party barcode scanners and receipt printers available locally in India at lower costs

Add 15 to 20% to your hardware estimate to account for accessories, app subscriptions (loyalty, analytics, scheduling) and staff onboarding time.

Read more: 6 Smart Ways to Choose the Best Ecommerce Shipping Solution

A Guide to Set Up Shopify POS

Most single location setups in India are up and running within one to two hours. Multi location rollouts with staff training take roughly one day per location.

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Is Shopify POS Right for Your Business?

What Shopify POS Actually Costs: A Worked Example

Meet Priya. She runs a women's clothing boutique in Pune with one physical store and a Shopify online store. She does roughly ₹5 lakh in monthly in-store sales, has 3 staff members, and uses Razorpay as her payment gateway.

Here is exactly what she pays each month:

Total Monthly - ₹28,499

As a percentage of her in-store revenue, Priya is paying roughly 5.7% of sales to run her retail operation end to end.

Now the same calculation on the Shopify plan:

Total Monthly - ₹27,599

Upgrading from Basic to the Shopify plan costs ₹4,100 more per month in subscription fees but saves ₹5,000 per month in transaction fees. This is a net saving of ₹900/month at this volume. At ₹8 lakh monthly sales, that saving doubles. 

The crossover point where the Shopify plan beats Basic on total cost is around ₹4.1 lakh in monthly transactions.

What this means in practice:

If you are below ₹3 lakh per month in store sales, start on Basic and upgrade later. If you are consistently above ₹4 lakh per month, run the numbers on the Shopify plan because the lower transaction fee likely covers the subscription difference and then some. 

If you are approaching ₹15 to 20 lakh per month across locations, get a quote for Shopify Plus, where POS Pro is bundled across all locations and transaction fees become negotiable.

Read more: Custom Integrations a Shopify Plus Development Agency Can Build

Is Shopify POS Supported on Windows or Mac?

Shopify POS runs as a mobile app on iOS and Android only. There is no desktop version, and it does not work through a browser on your laptop or PC.

Here is what you can use instead:

• iPad — the most recommended device, works smoothly with all Shopify hardware accessories

• Android tablet — a more budget-friendly alternative, especially useful across multiple checkout counters

• Smartphone — practical for pop-ups, markets, or staff moving around the store floor

• Shopify POS Go — Shopify's own handheld device with everything built in

Your computer is not wasted here though. The Shopify admin dashboard runs fully on any browser, so you can manage products, check reports, and configure settings from your desktop while your staff handles billing from the tablet.

Final Thoughts

For Indian retailers, the honest calculation comes down to two numbers: your monthly transaction volume and your average order value. Run those against the gateway fees outlined above and you will quickly see whether the convenience justifies the cost at your current scale. For most stores doing consistent footfall with an existing Shopify online presence, it does.

Start with POS Lite on the Basic plan, get your first month of real transactions through the system, then decide whether POS Pro's inventory and staff tools are worth the upgrade. The free trial costs you nothing to find out. 

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: Is Shopify POS available in India?

Yes. Shopify POS works in India and is widely used by Indian retailers. Note that Shopify Payments is not currently available in India, so you will use a third party gateway like Razorpay or PayU.

Q: How much does Shopify POS cost in India?

POS Lite is free with any Shopify plan starting at Rs 1,994 per month. POS Pro costs Rs 7,000 per month per location on top of your plan subscription.

Q: Can I use Shopify POS without an online store?

Yes. You can use Shopify POS as a standalone in store system. You still need an active Shopify subscription, but you do not need a fully built ecommerce website.

Q: How many store locations can Shopify POS handle?

Up to 1,000 locations on POS Pro. POS Lite has no hard cap on locations but lacks the tools to practically manage multiple stores.

Q: Can Shopify POS handle GST in India?

Shopify has built in tax settings for India including GST. You configure your GST rates in admin and Shopify handles the calculation at checkout. Third party GST invoice apps are available for detailed billing compliance.