Beginning my day early as a shopkeeper with several areas includes making sure all preparations remain in place for a successful operation. It is crucial to streamline processes and collect details that help in making educated decisions as part of our daily routine.
and help you work out which version of’s point of sale system is ideal for you. Let’s dive in. OK, so there are two main reasons to use Lite. One– it lets you cost point of sale rapidly, and cheaply. The crucial thing to understand about Lite is that it is bundled with every Shopify strategy– there are no additional charges for utilizing it. This suggests that you can offer with Lite for just $5 monthly. It’s likewise extremely fast to establish. By contrast, is an add-on that costs $89 per
month, per place– meaning that if you wish to offer in more than one locationthan area simultaneously, things can get pricey pretty rapidly. Two– it’s actually easy to use. If all you wish to do is accept easy payments in one location, Shopify POS Lite lets you do that actually quickly– all you’ll need truly is your phone and a card reader. By contrast, which is tailored more towards retail outlets and multi-location selling,
might be overkill for merchants with standard POS needsneed. It will normally include more configuration and more hardware. However ultimately, you might find yourself outgrowing Lite rather rapidly– particularly if you plan to sell in more than one area at the same time. And that’s where the “plan can be found in. I’ll discuss the contexts in which can be the ideal fit for merchants in just a moment, however before I do,
What is the difference between Shopify and Square POS?
In the early morning, I log into to examine inventory levels throughout all locations. With its central dashboard, I can rapidly see which items are running low and require restocking. This saves me valuable time that I can designate to other aspects of managing the organization.
Shopify is a household name in the e-commerce market, enjoying extensive recognition as the leading software application vendor internationally. Founded in 2006 by business owner Tobias Lütke, the company was born out of an individual battle to create an online shop for snowboarding gear. Figured out to streamline the procedure, Lütke shifted his focus from constructing an online shop to supplying first-class tools for merchants aiming to establish their own e-commerce platforms.
‘s e-commerce software has enjoyed paralleled growth and garnered millions of consumers around the world. By 2016, the company had almost $400 million in yearly income, which figure blew up to $4.6 billion by 2021 after the Covid pandemic spurred an online retail boom.
forayed into point-of-sale systems in 2017 by releasing a Bluetooth-enabled debit and credit card reader for brick-and-mortar shops. Ever since, it has built more items and turned them into a significant source of revenue. The business is based in Ottawa, Canada.
Throughout the day, helps me manage deals effectively. Its intuitive interface enables my staff to process orders promptly, whether it’s at the checkout counter or on the shop flooring utilizing mobile gadgets. The built-in payment processing ensures seamless deals, keeping our clients delighted.
Among the standout functions of is its robust analytics tools. I routinely examine sales reports and customer insights to determine patterns and tailor our marketing efforts accordingly. The capability to produce customized reports offers me a much deeper understanding of our service efficiency, enabling me to make data-driven decisions.
Comparing to Square POS, the switch was driven by a number of aspects. While Square used basic performance, offered a more thorough option customized to the needs of multi-location companies like ours. The capability to handle inventory centrally, together with innovative analytics and reporting capabilities, were essential selling points.
Additionally,’s community used smooth integration with our online store, enabling us to manage stock and sales throughout all channels from one platform. This omnichannel method has actually helped us offer a merged shopping experience to our consumers, whether they’re shopping in-store or online.
In basic, the shift to has actually played an essential function in improving our activities, enhancing performance, and promoting growth at our different websites.
Pros:
Advanced stock management: Centralized inventory tracking across several locations, making it simple to manage stock levels and restocking.
Robust analytics: Offers thorough sales reports and client insights to assist make notified service choices.
Smooth combination: Integrates efficiently with’s ecommerce platform, permitting for a combined online and offline retail experience.
Personalized: Deals flexibility to produce custom-made reports and tailor the system to specific company needs.
Cons: Not ideal for small services or single-location operations, lacks features that deal with restricted scale or scope.
Cost: includes a monthly subscription fee, which might be higher compared to some other POS systems.
Learning curve: While easy to use, mastering all the functions of may take a while for brand-new users.
Hardware compatibility: Some third-party hardware may not be completely compatible with POS Pro, requiring particular devices purchases.
e-commerce plans:
$ 29 for Fundamental when billed yearly (or $39 when paid monthly).
$ 79 for regular when billed annually (or $105 when paid monthly).
$ 299 for Advanced when billed annually (or $399 when paid monthly).
Customized pricing for Shopify Plus.
All e-commerce prepares included POS Lite for selling in-person. Upgrading to Pro for brick-and-mortar services costs an extra $89 per place.
‘s alternative services for primarily selling in-person:
$ 5 for Beginner plan, that includes one Lite area.
$ 79 (when billed every year) for Retail plan, or $89 when paid monthly; consists of one Pro area.
How Much Does a POS System Cost?
Hardware cost
$ 49 for Tap & Chip card reader.
$ 219 for Tap & Chip countertop kit (iPad not included).
$ 299 for Go mobile device.
$ 349 for terminal.
$ 459 and up for terminal countertop sets.
Contract length
Our flexible strategies are developed to suit your requirements, with the alternative to pay month-to-month or commit to a longer-term agreement for additional savings. Pick from yearly, two-year, or three-year strategies, and delight in the flexibility to change your mind with no commitments.
Pros:
Free standard version: Square provides a free variation of its system, making it available for small companies with minimal budget plans.
Easy setup: Square is known for its easy setup procedure, permitting organizations to start processing deals quickly.
All-in-one option: Square uses additional services like payment processing, appointment scheduling, and payroll, all integrated into one platform.
Compatibility: Works with a wide variety of third-party hardware, supplying more flexibility in picking devices.
Client assistance: Square supplies responsive customer assistance via phone, e-mail, and chat, helping services troubleshoot issues efficiently.
Cons:
Restricted inventory management: While sufficient for basic needs, Square’s stock management functions might not be sufficient for services with complicated requirements.
Standard analytics: Square’s reporting capabilities are not as extensive as’s, doing not have some innovative analytics features.
Less scalable: Square might not be as well-suited for organizations with several areas or those planning significant expansion, as it lacks some functions required for intricate operations.
The Pro version uses higher flexibility in terms of offering locations, as there is no limitation to the variety of places you can add, unlike the Lite variation. Nevertheless, each additional location added to a membership will incur an extra monthly fee of $89. While this may appear like a downside, it is necessary to keep in mind that this charge represents only a small portion of the overall expenses of a successful retail operation. The “per location, monthly” rates method permits greater personalization and flexibility, making the Pro prepare a scalable choice for organizations of all sizes. Additionally, the Pro strategy uses boosted control over staff usage, allowing you to reward employee for their efficiency and performance.
provide different access rights to your system, or appoint different roles to them, then is a much better alternative than the ‘Lite’ variation. It gives you an actually large range of tools for managing your team’s relationship with your system. Three– it provides you a lot more customer-focused features. Lite lets you accept payments from your consumers inexpensively and simply, however that’s about it. By contrast, lets you do far more for your customers. Unlike the ‘Lite’ variation, it.
lets you help with exchanges; provide custom invoices; apply discount rates; and use local pick up choices. So, to summarize, Lite is appropriate for merchants who want an easy and economical method to offer face to face in one area. Pro is much better for merchants who require to offer in numerous locations, desire more control over how personnel usage and would like to use their clients more purchase and delivery choices.
The Go is an all-in-one terminal that consists of a card reader and barcode scanner. You can use the scanner to immediately find the cost of an item and the card reader to receive the cash from the customer. This gadget accepts tap, chip, and swipe payments. It has a 5.5-inch high-definition screen and a long battery life to ensure you can use it for an entire service day after a full charge.
The smaller sized card reader lets you accept tap and chip payments from consumers but not swipe. It links wirelessly to a tablet or via Bluetooth to a cellphone. It is compact and easy to handle, meaning it appropriates for services that run on the go, e.g., farmer’s markets.
Shopify Payments
offers a payments processing option that lets you charge money to all significant debit and credit cards. Your customers can place their cards, tap them, or swipe them depending on the kind of hardware you selected. There’s also Tap to Pay, which lets you accept payments on your iPhone with no extra hardware. The rates is transparent– in between 2.4% and 2.7% on each successful transaction– with no concealed costs or setup costs.
Inventory Management
One of the major discomfort points that merchants face is managing their stock; knowing which products are offered at a given time and the prices for each of them. The excellent thing is that offers features to help.
You can take stock of each product and appoint items to various locations and channels using’s software application. You can also carry out accurate stock counts with your barcode scanner after receiving products. You can set the system to notify you if a product is running out of stock or to offer sale item ideas. Also, you can get in-depth reports to track your sales; what items are selling quicker, what products aren’t selling, which items must be restocked, etc syncs among the industry’s best point-of-sale systems with the e-commerce platform. With the app, you can sell your products or services personally and online. Take orders from customers,
Once you have a strategy, you can download the app– available for iOS and Android gadgets. Utilizing the app, you’ll be able to log in and start customizing your system. If you’re offering face to face, you can either utilize Tap to Pay on iPhone or purchase hardware, and you’ll be all set to begin taking client orders.
is finest for companies that:
Wish to take advantage of’s e-commerce features. While does provide 2 easy strategies for company’s that mostly offer personally or on social media, the bulk of its offerings are for omnichannel sellers who wish to develop a custom-made online store utilizing.
Sell online and in individual. is optimized for selling across online shops, social media channels and brick-and-mortar shops. The impressive lineup of features is ideal for omnichannel merchants.
Prefer to utilize a single provider for and payment processing. Payments is included with all regular monthly plans to process online transactions in addition to in-person payments. You can use a third-party provider, such as Amazon Pay, Authorize.net or Braintree, to process payments. Your rates will likely vary from what Shopify Payments charges if you deal with a third-party processor, nevertheless, and Shopify will charge you an extra transaction cost for not utilizing its in-house product.
Deciding factors
Clover uses options for e-commerce services and in-person stores to let companies choose the mix they require. functions differ by month-to-month plan. More costly monthly plans include advanced stock and reporting capabilities.