I have the same issue. This is really problematic and a problem that should be solved.
Topic summary
Main issue: Shopify POS allows selling items with zero inventory, unlike the online store where out‑of‑stock sales can be blocked. This occurs even with “Continue selling when out of stock” disabled and regardless of the “physical product” setting.
Current behavior and impacts: One reply states it’s not currently possible to block POS sales at zero stock. Another notes the POS does display a zero‑inventory warning, but relying on staff to notice is error‑prone and leads to overselling.
Operational pain points: Staff must sift through unavailable items on the POS, slowing checkout and causing confusion (especially for items without barcodes). Users report POS menus showing out‑of‑stock items and difficulty finding the correct item.
Requested improvements:
- Block adding out‑of‑stock items to the POS cart.
- Hide out‑of‑stock items from POS menus.
- Improve barcode handling (auto barcodes mapping to international codes instead of internal SKUs has led to Google Merchant suspensions).
Recent update: An email mentioned new POS improvements adding stronger out‑of‑stock warnings. However, POS still permits the sale and does not hide the item; users want a configurable hard block.
Status: Unresolved/ongoing. No confirmed solution to prevent POS sales at zero inventory; users are seeking workarounds or alternative systems.