Worth to upgrade to Shopify POS Pro??

[lun]

Hi all,

Like to discuss about PRO and CON for upgrade to Shopify POS Pro.
Feel free to comment below XD

[Matt37]

I don't know if this helps, but Stocky comes with the POS Pro subscription.
We are going to drop our 3rd party inventory software in favor of stocky.
That will save us a little money in the short term.

We are paying close to $600 a month just for shopify & associated apps.
That being said, it enables us to run a successful online and brick &
mortar. And it has really helped us grow. over the last 3 years.

When you look at how much shopify has enabled us to grow, it's worth the
price.

[Stephen34]

@Matt37  Stocky is part of the issue....its not sufficient as a inventory management solution, very buggy, lacking support after Shopify bought it. Even with Pro, I will still need to maintain a different 3rd party inventory management solution. IF Stocky could get full featured and sync everything needed to QBO (like every other pos/inv management made) then I would GLADLY pay the $90. But as it is, Stocky is not good enough for us to use. Before Shopify bought Stocky, it was a free app lol.  Shopify basically reskinned the pos, added a mediocre free app to it (Stocky), then charged $90 for it and is trying to slowly push everyone into it

The website has helped us to grow as well....however, other ecomm platforms would have as well. I think more than anything, all of us customers is what has allowed Shopify to grow like it has.

[Matt37]

@Stephen34 I hear you. Our inventory needs are on the lighter side. We are paying for a fully featured tool set and only using a 10th of it. So we got lucky this time. I may be singing a different tune once we try to convert to it at the end of the year. 

[Stephen34]

@Matt37  do you yet have plans on how you will handle tracking cogs in your accounting since Stocky doesnt connect to QBO?  If you have come up with a good workflow for tracking everything, I'd like to hear some details about it. I could stand to save some money. I couldnt figure out a good way for Stocky to do the basic necessities.

[Matt37]

@Stephen34 We haven't worked all the bugs out of our process yet. Xero is our accounting software, and we need to verify how and what moves between Shopify / Stocky / and Xero. We can handle COGs in Xero if we have too.   Honestly, it's on our list to work on in November or December because any transition we would do would happen January 1.  We are also a little different then most retail:  We are a custom furniture store, we take payment, and fulfillment happens 12 weeks later. That also means that we take customer deposits and don't book sales for 12 months. 

All that being said, once we map out our plan for stocky, I'll post the process. 

Stay health; Stay sane everyone. 

[Stephen34]

@Matt37  We to a lot of deposit orders as well. You may want to also look at a software named OrderTime, it's not in the app store but has excellent Shopify sync, it's what I will most likely start using at the beginning of the year. I'll still use the free Shopify POS as a cash register, all of our transactions will automatically sync to Ordertime, it has amazing and deep connectivity to both Quickbooks and Xero. It tracks all the unpaid orders and when we recieve in inventory it will tell up what orders are awaiting those products! Tracks cogs, po's, everything else typical and necessary and it has excellent sync with Shopify where we can create our products in Shopify and OT will download them. Lastly it's not much more expensive than the 'Pro' version if you dont need many login's. Especially if you plan on buying some kind of accounting sync in addition to the POS Pro/Stocky. 

I determined I would pretty much just have to make GL entries in QBO with Stocky since it has no accounting connectivity. I THINK they are now pushing the cogs through into Shopify so it may be that some of the other accounting connection apps that connect Shopify and accounting will catch it, but I'm not sure about that. We go through about 10,000 sku's per year so keeping up with detailed inventory and its cogs is out of the question for us. We have to track it all in a inventory management software and only have totals in accounting.

[lun]

@Stephen34  mind sharing which ecomm platforms u plan to switch to? So i can take a look and plan for future as well.......
After the Stocky, now POS PRO and future might have more additional fees coming........so better to get ready

[Steve123]

We haven't received that offer - what Country are you in?

As you say - what happens then?

We are still having issues with stock updates not working properly, as well as some issues with receipts printing as different sizes - I can't believe they made something that works worse than Classic and what want me to pay $89 per month for it.

If they had a full working system - and priced it at a sensible level we may have considered it.

[Roman89]

I also would like to know if they extend the trial period because I'm also not amused with the 90$ extra charge but as many, i've not a lot of choice then paying it unfortunately but I'm not happy at all with it

[lun]

@Steve123  i am from Malaysia
I think mostly country might have this offer as well.
U can try click on the plan subscription, select the Pro plan and click next, then the trial extend shall mention out before u click approve the order. 

[Roman89]

I don't see this unfortunately 😫😫😫

[Steve123]

Neither do I

Divide and rule it seems.

[Randy_Padayao]

I despise Shopify for doing this right now.  Once again, another company has lured in small business owners only to walk right over us to staggering growth, only to leave us in the dust in the end.  Life isn't fair, but this is just disrespect for long time customers especially.  Customer service has become practically nonexistent, and the reps don't even know how Shopify works anymore!  They are just reading scripts, and are not experts whatsoever in helping assessing issues.  I have been loyal for 5 years, with not a single ounce of gratitude for the business we gave them.  Everything has gotten worse.  I am appalled, and will be looking for an alternative just like yourself.

Best of luck to you all.  God bless America and all those looking out for the vibrant small business community (not Shopify!!!)!

[Rivertowninkery]

@Steve123 but the shareholders like the extra $1000 a year from you so they will keep screwing over customers to keep them happy.  Please send updates on what you switch to.  I will be switching also, even if I have to pay more to use another company.

[MichelleF]

I switched (back) to Square. Never should have left. Fees are comparable and it’s very easy to use. I am DONE with Shopify POS and will migrate away from the online store as soon as I am able so I can be done with Shopify as a whole. By the way, I have attempted to gain insight/resolution (anything) from Shopify by calling, emails, messaging, etc and have NEVER gotten a reply other than an auto-generated message telling me how “important” I am and that they will get back to me as soon as possible - that was LAST WEEK.

I hate to rant - but this company has turned out to be a major let-down.  

[James_Reynolds]

Michelle, how is the data syncing with square out of interest?

inventory/customers/orders/gift cards etc etc?

Or do you need an app in the middle to manage this?

thanks! sounds interesting...

[MichelleF]

I have had no issues at all James. I honestly wish I had never switched to Shopify.

[James_Reynolds]

Ok, but is it a direct sync in terms of orders, customers and inventory?

That is my main concern!

Thanks for the comments.

[donnamac]

@MichelleF 

Michelle,

Square has always been something we thought about but our understanding was that Square was mainly geared towards online only, 'market-type' businesses. 

Is your business brick and mortar also, by chance?  if so, would be interested in hearing more about your experiences.

Keep us posted.  Thx

[MichelleF]

I have two physical locations as well as online. I previously used Square for everything (website was via Squarespace) and had no pos issues. Shopify has a better website with more options and “flash”, which is why I made the switch. I invested in Shopify’s POS (readers, bar code scanner, receipt printer, everything - thinking that a whole use footprint would be more beneficial than a cobbled together Frankensystem of multiple components. Shopify showed me how wrong I was. As I mentioned previously, I have now reverted back to using Square as my POS and I (currently) use the Shopify website. I suggest doing a little research into Square to see if it Is a good fit for your business. I am SO grateful that I kept my Square account and equipment.

[lun]

BTW, anyone still using Classic POS until now?
Because i am still able to use the Classic POS and top of the screen mention is the app is expire but so far still able to continue use. 

[Olivia]

Hi, everyone.

My name is Olivia and I'm part of the Shopify Team. I want to take a moment to thank everyone who has shared their feedback in this thread, and more importantly I want you to know we hear you. 

Shopify is powered by a number of small to medium-size businesses, and we absolutely appreciate how this change may impact some of those businesses. This is not a profit-driven decision, rather, it is aimed at long-term growth and future abilities for our in-house POS. The all-new POS is not just a redesign of the POS app, it's also a completely new rebuild on the backend. The reason we did this is to make it faster, support short cuts for common retail workflows and allow us to continue to introduce a ton of new features.

To share some insight into how this decision was made, and what we plan for the future, let's dive in a little deeper.

When we launched all-new Shopify POS earlier this year, we made the Pro subscription available for free to all merchants for six months and also enough time for our existing merchants to transition from the POS Classic app experience. Although we recommend the POS Pro for retail stores and POS Lite for selling on-the go, we encourage you to evaluate the features and make the right choice for your business. Take a look at this comparison page. Remember, you have the freedom to decide which POS subscription works best for each of your locations so you only pay for what you need.

At a glance:

POS PRO	POS LITE
Designed to support brick-and-mortar retailers $89 USD/month per location plus your Shopify plan	Best suited for selling at markets and on the go $0 USD/month with your Shopify plan
Get everything included with POS Lite	Accept popular credit cards and digital payment methods
Create unique staff roles and permissions	Integrates with mobile POS and hardware accessories
Access smart inventory management by Stocky app	Centralize order and product management
Fulfill local pickup and local delivery
Add unlimited store staff and registers
Sell online and offline seamlessly with omnichannel features
Explore in-store analytics and reports
Access dedicated retail support team (coming soon)
Get an extended hardware warrantee (coming soon)

These are some of the top features we include with our subscriptions, but to find a full-feature list check out this page with me. 

Here at Shopify we thrive on change.

Shopify is committed to bringing updates and innovation to POS Pro with new features and services coming soon. Subscribers can look forward to dedicated priority support, extended warranty for Shopify hardware and new features like automatic discounts that will help increase sales and speed up checkouts.

Whether it's pivoting our business model quickly during unprecedented times, or launching new features to make sure you can better support your customers - our merchants are always at the forefront of our decision-making process. We see a future that makes commerce better for everyone with these revolutionary changes.

A special message to all of our merchants.

Change doesn't come easy, but it also isn't permanent. We hear you, and take your feedback very seriously. We often tell our merchants that their success is our success, and that is quite literally the truth. I have personally shared back a lot of this thread's feedback to our product development team, and we will always thrive to provide even better solutions, better products and services, and continue evolving to meet your needs - it's your feedback that helps us do this. 

Our dedicated Support Team is available to help you and answer any questions.

Sincerely,

[Steve123]

This is another disingenuous PR post attempt by Shopify similar to other threads.

You say "so you only pay for what you need." - By which you mean very basic functions that used to be free in the Classic version.

For example - Exchanges - a basic Bricks and Mortar store would need to do exchanges - but the only way to have this functionality now is to take the Pro version.

So in your wonderful world where "you only pay for what you need." - the ability to carry out this very basic retail function will cost me $1068 an annum and more than double my current costs.

You are simply trying to charge me $1068 for the exact same thing that was previously free.

I wouldn't have minded if the other wonderful functions you have added all worked as they should - or you charge a reasonable price - but this is extortionate, no ifs no buts.

[Roman89]

Exactly what I thought too. This means Shopify doesnt know anything about what's going on in a store. And also the local pickup function for pro only... shame on you Shopify 

[hope_mortimer]

Just a note that you can VIEW the local pickup and delivery orders on your POS, but you cannot "fulfill" them. The key word is "fulfill" in that list of features. (Shopify should list under POS Lite that you can "view" local delivery and pickup orders so people don't panic that this is being removed.) Personally just a nice-to-have feature for me because i can still fulfill from the admin. Seems strange that they don't let us have this one simple feature, but I am happy that i can still see them on the POS and print pick lists. 

[Roman89]

Thanks for explaining, I didn't know that. 😃

[James_Reynolds]

Very very disappointed with this downgrade.

Lite is pointless as it doesn't have the basic functions. Pro doubles the running costs. Classic worked fine - why take that away from us in a year like this one?!

Happy to explore any good alternatives now as out of principle we won't be paying $89 for basic features...even if the extra headache in migrating is the last thing we need...

Poor show, won't be forgotten!

[Ben1992]

What are shopify going to do about this? They should be ashamed!! 

[hope_mortimer]

@Olivia Can you PLEASE tell me if they are going to put back the SAVE CART feature? It's one thing to not give us new features, but to remove something critically important to small businesses is just ridiculous! I have emailed Support who are normally really good at getting back to me quickly and I've had no response! really freaking out about losing the SAVE CART! I am a small business with a store packed full of small gift items. We frequently start carts for browsing customers so we can check them out as quickly as possible and avoid lineups especially during COVID. WTF shopify! bring this feature back!

[mariatlhj]

I too am so disappointed that we can no longer SAVE CART or do an EXCHANGE!! I am a small business with only one employee, so we do not need all the other options that the Pro gives us. We just need the basic, but the LITE is not enough for what we pay. The SAVE CART feature is so important especially during busy season. I am thinking that it might be cheaper in the long run to just purchase a whole other check out station (for my 900 square foot store which is ridiculous!). 

[MudandHoneyCF]

I agree with you. Our store is about 400 square feet. So paying an additional $90 a month is so crazy just to have BASIC features. I have been looking I to square and seriously thinking of using my time off after Christmas to switch.

[Rivertowninkery]

I actually had a shopify customer service rep tell me my company was no longer a good fit for shopify because I was not happy with being forced to pay $90 for an exchange function.  Just shows you how they only care about getting money out.

Here is what I was told by this customer "service" agent:  "If cost is all that matters to you Shopify might not be the right fit for your business. I think you can probably go out and find a cheaper e-commerce platform or POS platform, we’re not aiming to be the cheapest, we are aiming to be the best and deliver good value exchange."

They also keep claiming that Classic was totally free.  It was never free to get POS functions in a store.  We had to upgrade our subscription plan and I paid $30-40 extra a month for years.  I never had a problem with that because the value in getting brick and mortar functions was equal to the extra cost.  I would be happy to keep paying $40 a month extra to continue to use classic.  Classic was a great and intuitive product.  He thinks because I am unwilling to spend $90 on a POS software that is horrible and takes 3x longer to ring in products that I am no long a good fit.  If this new product was worth $90 then no one would be complaining.  WAKE THE F UP! 

Every interaction I have with people in this company just make it worse and worse.  

@Aria Would you ever tell a customer of 5 years they are not a good fit because you think they are too cheap to overpay for a product that is terrible and they hate using?  Is that part of the standard shopify training?

[eyeclothingco]

I 100% agree with you. Shopify has shown they are now too big to care now. That they have such a large portion of the market cornered and people will be forced to swallow whatever they want to shove down our throats. The new POS is garbage and the Pro version is not worth me paying an additional $2,136 a year. And if I remember correctly when we first set up the POS classic it was an additional $75 a month to the basic $29 plan. I was ok with that but have no respect for the move they have made now.

Also what a fantastic idea on top of everything to radically change the entire platform we all use to ring up customers in the midst of the busiest time of year!

Really goes to show how poor of quality of leadership this company has. Who is the one that makes these decisions? I would be more than happy to speak with them over the phone to try and understand this.

Every time I have spoken with support they just tell me that they will pass it along to someone else who doesn't care and that there are more features now so you should be fine. 

Today they said it is impossible to bring back the classic version. Another bad decision.

This company is a joke and I would recommend to everyone reading this to start looking at other options and to give up on Shopify as they will not be listening or changing anything anytime soon.

We actually care about every customer of ours and to always provide more value than we take. That's something Shopify should start working on before extorting more money out of their loyal customers for less value.

[Rivertowninkery]

Haha the black hole where all feedback goes has got to be over flowing by now... but rest assured they value your comments. 😂  The lines the customer "service" folks feed us are really a joke. I call a few times a week to complain.  Some of them are decent actors and make it seem like they value you.  Most you can tell dont give a crap. 

This POS was in beta for 6 months before it was rolled out. The issues were known then and they didn't care.  They aren't going to care now.  I wasn't interested in using POS pro when it was free, switched right back to classic.  What makes them think I want to use it for $90 a month without any changes.

[Aria]

Thank you to everyone who provided their store links, I have added all of you as well as your comments to the features request. 

Our developers do pay attention to feature requests. This is how we shape the future of our platform but there's a lot to be taken into account, including the number of merchants who have made the same request.