Considering Shopify POS... Any other Large or Complex Stores Using it?

Lawson_Thalmann
Shopify Partner
76 0 64

We're considering a move to Shopify POS. Have been on the online platform for 4+ years, but have tinkered around with selling on the iPad for the past few months. Many retailers on Shopify POS seem to be a bit smaller and I'm wondering if anyone out there has operated a store with the scale of 15 registers, 30,000 skus, and thousands of orders per day in the peak seasons. We're a garden center that also sells home decor and pet supplies. (chaletnursery.com). Our spring and holiday seasons have lines of peoples throughout the day so we need to ring up barcodes quickly on transactions with many times dozens of products for hundreds of dollars and do that back to back very quickly all day.

 

Then, the reconciliation of that at the end of the day with cash and other payment methods like a House Charge on account, coupons from our supplier partners, etc. makes it fairly complex. Would wonder if anyone has accomplished the accounting side through a store with that type of setup and what that solution is. 

 

Thanks!

Replies 17 (17)

BradleyCoyne
Visitor
3 0 0

Would be Happy to go through this with you and my experience with Shopify POS and the ecosystem. 

feel free to mail me on bradley@retailcowboys.se or i will send you an invite on linkedin and we can go from there. 

best 

Brad 

 

Rivertowninkery
Explorer
63 0 41

Absolutely 100% do NOT switch to Shopify for the POS system. It is barely functional for my small shop when it gets busy. The system is poorly designed and inefficient. We are leaving Shopify as soon was we can get a new system up and running.  Clover is the front runner,  it we have yet to test the software so I can’t recommend them just yet. 

The e-commerce side is still unchanged and great to use.  However we are planning on migrating off of that as well because of the way we were treated as customers with the roll out of the new POS software. 

Lawson_Thalmann
Shopify Partner
76 0 64

@Rivertowninkery Thanks for the feedback. We've been on the online platform for a while, so the allure is the seamless omnichannel capabilities. 

When you say it's barely function when it gets busy, are you referring to the processing speed or is it just the inefficient design makes it hard to navigate fast? I can see your point on the inefficient part. One seemingly small thing is that the SKU isn't shown anywhere into you click in multiple times to get to the product details. We have many products that have the same or similar names but we tell the difference from SKUs so we don't know what's what. 

For Clover, would you just integrate that back to Shopify for eCommerce or would you use Clover's ecommerce platform? 

Rivertowninkery
Explorer
63 0 41

@Lawson_Thalmann 

The functionality and the way the software is designed is the biggest issue here.  Instead of using the classic product grid, where it shows many products on one page in an easy to view and locate layout, they have created this thing called "smart tiles"  So now you've to create these tiles with product groups or collections.  You have to click on that, then scroll through vertically to find the product then find the size and/or variation.  So you are adding like 5 extra steps just to get to the product you want, not to mention the design is hard on the eyes to find things quickly. It's very clear that this thing was never tested by developers in the real world.  Then you have to go through all those same steps for every single item, even if its the same thing just a different size.  I would say that if someone is getting multiple items then it takes 5-10x longer to ring everything in than it used to take on the classic version.  I often apologize to my customers for taking so long and have to explain how terrible our POS is. 

What we end up having to do is clicking the search button and typing in the name of every product we need.  Which is very frustrating when multiple products have similar names, and you are stuck typing in almost the entire name just to narrow it down enough to find. Which is totally mind blowing that a system that boils down to a search bar would cost $89 a month.  

Secondly, the lite version intentionally excludes very basic functions like being able to do an exchange. This was just a dirty trick to try and force store to pay more. 

So far with clover, we are still trying to get things figured out with how reporting will work.  I do know  you will likely have to pay for an app to sync the two.  But honestly at this point I would pay anything to get a POS system that functions like a POS system.  Its a real shame, the old shopify pos was great, and I actually used to be a raving fan of shopify, now I take every opportunity to recommend not using it.  So let me re-iterate, The all new POS is horrible, Shopify as a company doesn't care about you, just your money, and their customer service has been horrendous about listening to any critisism about the All new POS. One rep actually tole me its never going to change so I should just leave.

BradleyCoyne
Visitor
3 0 0
Sitoo?

www.Sitoo.com

Fully integrated with Shopify but enterprise solution for in-store
retail.
Rivertowninkery
Explorer
63 0 41

@BradleyCoyne 

 

The POS design looks amazing!  But no mention of pricing at all on the website how can I get pricing without having to "hop on a quick call"  Those always turn into sales pitches and relentless follow ups.  Already had to block the number from the lightspeed guy because he was so pushy.

Roostcollection
Pathfinder
97 1 91

REASONS NOT TO SWITCH

• Ability to for simple manual returns at retail POS when a customer does not have any type receipt or know the actual name it was purchased under. Just like custom sales only reverse. Return, Select item, How to credit customer, Cash or gift card. This is so that the gift giver isn’t notified that that there gift was returned. Yes this happens!

• Ability to do as many returns or exchanges on the sale as the merchant wants. Not just ONE

• How about a TAP & CHIP reader that is not bluetooth. Or just works. 12 months we've had 5. Constantly looses connection, falls asleep. Can't make a sale when you can't take a card! Purchased a second system to use the swipe reader, because it cost more to manually enter the card. Employee time as well.

• Vendor list under products. Basic info account #, Phone, Rep, Address, email......

• Ability to put an entire collection on sale at one time. Or add the sale price to the initial product listing and be able to activate sale price by collection.

• Print pick ticket with sku#

• A (note) field on the product page so owners can make a simple note on something specific about the product they sell. i.e. where it is stored, shelf, or manufactures true name etc.

• Sell an online gift card and have the gift card go to the recipient with a note field attached on why they're getting the gift card.

• Ability to capture credit card sales when internet/power is down. Square and Clover have this ability.

• On the Home page in the admin, Post what shopify is working on. Updates to system, iPad etc. COMMUNICATION!!!!!!!!

Red_Stick_Spice
Trailblazer
169 0 76

Shopify POS is functional and great to have if you are already on the platform. That being said it has glaring omissions and limitations. I would consider it a beta app with basic functionality missing that is required to run a retail store. Support has been silent for over a year now and we haven’t had a meaningful update since it was released.

 

sadly I’d suggest you don’t switch at this time. Until Shopify comes forward with a solid plan for updates, or at the very least responds to the multiple requests on their own forum, this can’t be considered a professional solution. The lack of very basic needs is glaring and the limitations are frustrating. But worse than these is the fact that Shopify completely ignores customer requests for help.

Spice. Sweet. Savory. Hot.
Greg_Richards1
New Member
10 0 0

I use Shopify for my car cleaning supplies store in the UK, It's ok but very limited in its capabilities, one thing I would say if you're going to use it.  Go for the IOS version and not Android.   Only today I am again learning the issues with Shopify POS and Android, for some reason, Shopify supports IOS so much more than Android, and it's very frustrating. 

So far, I cant print receipts using Android, I cant use Wholesale Gorilla with Android and today found out I cant use my barcode scanner with android. 

 

its making me think about switching from Shopify to another Ecommerce provider and using EPOS now. 

BradleyCoyne
Visitor
3 0 0
Sitoo?

www.Sitoo.com

Fully integrated with Shopify.

Enterprise and global fashion retail favorite.


Lawson_Thalmann
Shopify Partner
76 0 64

@Red_Stick_Spice That analysis totally makes sense. I'm recognizing that it's new and not perfected yet. That said, we've built custom APIs into our Inventory Management system (currently also our POS system) so we're not asking ShopifyPOS to manage inventory (POs, Receiving, transfers). That's what gives me a glimmer of hope that if it just does the front end transactional piece well enough, we can stick out some rough patches at the beginning and realize the "seamless omnichannel experience" that everyone's going for. 

ConnectPOS
Shopify Partner
119 1 12

Hi @Lawson_Thalmann,

You can take a look at ConnectPOS - one of the most leading omnichannel POS system for Shopify. We are working with brands like ASUS (Singapore), SCG (Thailand), Temple Cycle (UK), Comvita (New Zealand), etc.

Some of our features are:

  • Work with both PC and mobile devices
  • 100% auto-sync between POS and Shopify
  • Support multiple payment gateways
  • Manage multiple locations
  • Buy online, pickup/refund/exchange in-store
  • Customize receipts
  • Stocktake and quote management

You can take a look at the app here!

ConnectPOS - Shopify POS app for PC, Android, iOS, omnichannel retail, inventory control.
clonboy
Visitor
2 0 6

We are currently using Connect POS, but despite an excellent customer support we are planning to stop using it, because of the problems with processing Refunds and Exchanges.

If a customer does not have a receipt, it is impossible to locate an original sale to process a refund quickly.

We have to write the refunds + exchanges down on paper and make manual adjustments in book-keeping, which is so inefficient.

Another problem: if the customer buys an item online and wants to exchange it instore, you have to refund online sale first and generate a new instore sale. Some customers are not happy with that at all, they expect a straightforward exchange. Not great if someone is exchanging a gift either. 

I have flagged it with Connect POS asking if they implement "refund without receipt" function, but as far as I know it is not going to happen any time soon. 

It is so difficult for a small business to find a reliable POS solution, which integrates well with Shopify online store, especially the one you can use on Windows. 

ConnectPOS
Shopify Partner
119 1 12

Hi @clonboy , 

Firstly we would like to express the most sincere thanks to you for trying our product. We shall submit this feedback to our Developer team to improve our product as soon as possible. 

Our Customer Service Dept is also very glad to know that you were happy with our After-Sale service. We assure that the features that you are requiring should be available in the near future. ConnectPOS always put ourselves to customer's circumstance in order to achieve the best assistance to every customer. 

And it will be more excellent if we are still your companion in the future as a business partner for both growing.

ConnectPOS - Shopify POS app for PC, Android, iOS, omnichannel retail, inventory control.
Jewelcam
Explorer
48 0 32

@clonboy Any Luck on a NEW POS that works with Shopify?

 

clonboy
Visitor
2 0 6

Connect POS has a "refund without receipt" feature for Magento platform. I really hope they can implement it for Shopify platform in the next few weeks. I have asked about it back in February though and it's still not happening 😞

I was tempted with Shopify POS, but it has really awful reviews, so I am still looking. And we would like a POS  which would work on Windows system, not IOS or Android.

Connect POS would be absolutely amazing solution if they fix this issue and they would pick up so many new customers, especially from gift shops when returns and exchanges need to be discreet.    

 

Madison4
Visitor
1 0 0

"Considering Shopify POS for high-volume transactions and complex accounting in our retail business. Any insights or experiences to share? Also, we've noticed POSLink Solution (https://poslinksolution.com/) in our research. Any thoughts on its compatibility with Shopify POS would be appreciated?"