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Shopify POS: run your shop floor and your website off one stock count
Selling in the shop and online at once gets fiddly. Find a local pro to wire it together.
Our own short explainer -- what Shopify POS is built to do, then the process step by step. POS Lite comes with Basic at $39/mo; the Retail plan is $89/mo.
The short version:
- What it is: the point-of-sale (the checkout software) for the Shopify store platform, so your floor and your website are the same catalog.
- The big draw: sell a scarf at the counter and your website's count drops too. No double-entry, no overselling.
- What it costs: POS Lite is free with any plan (Basic $39/mo). POS Pro comes with the Retail plan at $89/mo ($79/mo yearly), plus a card fee on each sale.
- The AI part: Shopify Magic writes product and marketing copy; the Sidekick assistant answers store questions and does small tasks. Handy, mostly back-office.
- Suits: a shop that sells online as well as in person, or plans to. Pure-counter shops may be happier on Square.
Common questions
How much does Shopify POS cost?
POS Lite is free with any Shopify plan, and Basic starts at $39/mo. For a shop's POS Pro features the Retail plan is $89/mo, or $79/mo billed yearly, plus a card fee on each sale. Confirm current pricing at shopify.com/pos.
What is the difference between POS Lite and POS Pro?
Lite is the basics -- payments, mobile checkout, simple product and order management -- good for pop-ups. Pro adds unlimited staff and registers, smarter multi-location inventory, staff roles, and in-store analytics, and it rides on the $89/mo Retail plan.
Do I need a website to use Shopify POS?
You need a Shopify account, which includes an online store, but you don't have to sell online right away. The payoff is that when you do, the floor and the website share one stock count automatically.
Does Shopify POS have AI?
Yes. Shopify Magic writes product and marketing copy, and the Sidekick assistant answers store questions and handles small tasks. It is useful for the writing and lookup grind, mostly in the back office rather than at the register.
See it in action
What does Shopify POS do for a shop?
Start with the problem it solves. If you sell in the shop and online, you are usually running two stock lists that drift apart. Someone buys the last item in person, the website still shows it in stock, and now you are emailing a customer to say sorry.
Shopify fixes that by making the register and the website the same system. One product catalog, one count. A sale on the floor and a sale online both pull from the same shelf, so the number you see is the number you have.
On the counter, POS handles the usual: scan items, take a card, print or text a receipt, do returns and exchanges. Where it pulls ahead is anything that crosses the line between floor and web -- buy online and pick up in store, ship an out-of-stock item to a customer from the counter, or email a receipt that invites them back online.
What does the AI actually do here?
Shopify's AI shows up in two places. Shopify Magic writes for you -- product descriptions, email subject lines, blog blurbs -- so a rack of new stock does not mean a night of typing listings. You still edit what it gives you, but a blank page becomes a quick fix.
Then there is Sidekick, an assistant you can ask plain questions: "how did last weekend compare to the one before?" or "set up a discount for these items." It looks things up and does small setup jobs without you digging through menus. Most of this AI lives in the back office and the online store, not on the checkout screen -- so it helps the owner more than the cashier.
What does Shopify POS cost?
The price is really about two layers: the Shopify plan and the POS tier that rides on it.
- POS Lite -- free with any Shopify plan. The Basic plan starts at $39/mo. Lite covers payments, mobile checkout, and simple product and order handling. Good for pop-ups and markets.
- POS Pro via the Retail plan -- $89/mo ($79/mo billed yearly). This is the one a staffed shop wants: unlimited registers and staff, smarter multi-location inventory, staff roles and permissions, and in-store analytics.
A card fee applies on each sale on top of the plan. So a small shop that wants the real floor tools is looking at $89/mo before card fees. That is more than Square's $49 Plus, and the reason to pay it is the website tie-in, not the counter alone.
Pricing is vendor-published and changes; check the current numbers at shopify.com/pos/pricing (vendor-published, checked 2026-08-14).
Who is it a good fit for?
Shopify is the pick when online is part of the plan, not an afterthought. A boutique with a growing web following, a specialty shop shipping to out-of-town regulars, a store that wants buy-online-pickup-in-store without a bolt-on -- this is where the one-catalog design earns its keep.
It also fits owners who already know Shopify from selling online and just want to add a register. You are not learning a new system; you are extending the one you have.
Where Shopify POS isn't the answer
Strong if…
- You sell both in the shop and online, or you plan to soon.
- You want one stock count so you never oversell the last item.
- You already run a Shopify store and want to add a counter.
- You want buy-online-pickup-in-store and web-plus-floor selling out of the box.
Maybe not if…
- You sell only on the floor and don't want a website -- Square is simpler and its free tier is enough.
- You carry deep, seasonal inventory and want strong demand forecasting -- see Lightspeed Retail.
- You run several bigger stores with heavy buying and vendor work -- Heartland Retail leans that way.
- You want the AI to help the cashier at the register; here it mostly helps the owner in the back office.
Deciding between the two easy options? See Square vs Shopify POS, or the full retail AI software comparison.
Sources
Pricing is vendor-published and changes; confirm it with the vendor before you buy.
Shopify -- shopify.com/pos/pricing (POS Lite included with any Shopify plan; Basic $39/mo; Retail plan $89/mo, or $79/mo billed annually, adds POS Pro). Vendor-published, checked 2026-08-14. Last reviewed: 2026-08-14.
Want your floor and website wired together?
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