Regional Support: Selling in Person (UK)

[Victor]

Learn more about selling in person and using the Shopify POS system while running your Shopify store in the UK.

This thread is part of the Regional Support threads offered for merchants in the United Kingdom. To see which other topics are available, you can visit the UK hub here.

The Shopify Point of Sale (POS) system is available for merchants in the United Kingdom to use.

Unifying your online and in-store selling has many advantages. It can help you save time by managing your inventory in a single place, and also create opportunities for more sales and re-engaging your customers, regardless of where they buy.

Shopify offers two POS app subscriptions to fit your business needs, and you will have the flexibility to decide which POS subscription works best for each of your locations. POS Pro offers the unique features you'll need to run a brick-and-mortar store, and is priced at $89 USD per month, per location. POS Lite is built for selling on-the-go at markets and fairs, and is included as standard with all Shopify subscriptions. We offer a features page that breaks down the features and functionalities of both options.

The Tap, Chip & Swipe Reader offered in the hardware store integrates with Shopify Payments, meaning you can use the gateway to process both online and in-person sales simultaneously. You can also use an external reader to process payments via a third-party gateway.

If you have a question or comment to make about selling in person with Shopify in the United Kingdom, please post it below.

[thekeenangler]

how do I create a new post or ask a question? when I was on Shopify before I could have a chat box to talk about issues can't find that now

[Victor]

Hi @thekeenangler,

You can post a new thread on the forums by going to the sub-forum you wish to post in and selecting the "Start a topic" option:

If you're wanting to speak to our support team directly, you can do so via https://help.shopify.com/en/questions. You can log in here, enter in what you need help with, and you'll be presented with different available support options.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[DizLun]

Hi Victor,

Thanks for putting this information together. Hopefully, you can steer me in the correct direction.

I stumbled upon the hardware page a little while back and thought $49 (£36) for a fairly modern reader was a bargain. However, I soon realised the error in my ways and found the UK hardware store, but was instantly taken back by the jump in cost (£59) for what also seems to be a less modern reader.

Are you able to shed any light on this for me at all? I.E when will the newer/cheaper card readers be available to the UK? Or can I just buy the US one and it will work the same way?

Thanks for your time.

[Victor]

Hi @DizLun,

Thank you for reaching out today with your question. Our card readers are region-specific, meaning the UK card reader can only be used by merchants in the UK with a Shopify Payments account, and the same rule applies to the US reader. For this reason you would not be able to use the reader sold on the US hardware store if you're based in and operating your business in the UK.

I do not have specific details as to why the prices are different, but each reader we sell is built and designed with the regional market it is being sold in in mind, as card processing in the US works differently in some ways in comparison to the UK. As you'll likely have noticed, for example, the UK reader includes a PIN pad whereas the US one does not, as I believe in the US it is more common for businesses to use card readers without PIN pads. It's also worth noting that the UK reader offers EMV chip card support whereas the US one does not, as EMV usage is in general far more common in the UK and Europe than it is in North America.

I hope this explains things, and that the UK card reader still represents good value for you and your business. I do not believe we have a new card reader set to be released in the UK in the near future but an announcement will be made if this changes. Please let me know if you have more questions.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[n0kitty]

Now that I am being made to pay over $1000 dollars a year for POS Pro (essential if you want to offer something as simple as customer exchanges, extortionate imo), are there any plans to upgrade the un-Pro looking, janky, terribly card payment machine to something that looks even vaguely 'Pro'-fessional?

It doesn't beep. Elderly customers can't press the buttons, they're too stiff. When they put their card over the machine to do contactless, the green lights that indicate that the payment has been successful is covered up by the card itself. When a customer has to do chip and pin, they can't find the hole for the card to go in to, there is a lip that gets in the way.

It's genuinely terrible.

I'm happy to invest in equipment, if it's good.

[Victor]

Hi @n0kitty,

Thank you for getting in touch and for providing your feedback, although I am sorry to hear that you have been experiencing issues with the card reader we currently offer. If you continue to experience errors and bugs with the reader, please contact our support team so we can investigate further.

My understanding is that in the New Year we are set to introduce new payment hardware for our merchants in the United Kingdom, and we will be sharing more details on this soon.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[Alex291]

Hi,

Thank you for sharing informative details. Looking forward to getting more details about Shopify Apps.

Thanks

[Victor]

Hi @Alex291,

Thanks for the kind words. If you have any questions about Shopify Apps, or anything else about the Shopify platform, please let me know.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[Alex291]

Hi Victor,

Thanks for the quick response, I just want to promote our Shopify apps and want more installation from customers, what should I do for it? Please let me know about running any kind of Shopify Apps ads.

Thank you

[Victor]

Hi @Alex291,

One thing many Partners do is monitor this Community for questions and problems merchants have, and maybe their app can solve. This is a good way to speak directly to merchants and recommend them your app. I'd also recommend checking out this blog post that offers plenty of advice on marketing your app: How to Market an App: 11 Expert Tips.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[Nashsxm]

can someone assist to set up more pos for a sport goods store. Team not that tech savvy 

[Nashsxm]

can someone assist to set up more pos for a sport goods store. Team not that tech savvy 

[Alex291]

Yes, I agree as this a good way to directly connect with the merchants to provide the solutions to their queries. Also, suggest some useful Shopify Apps that can help merchants to increase customer engagement and generate more business on their store. 

Please check Some of the best Shopify apps to increase sales on Shopify stores.
- Product Reviews App
- Quick Stock Notifier App
- My Wishlist App
- Oberlo ‑ Dropshipping App
- AI: Loyalty, Referrals & More AppAll the above apps are the classic Shopify Apps to boost your sales.

Product Reviews: The simplest way to share your customers' experiences.
Shopify Product reviews allow you to add a customer review feature to your products. This provides a way for your customers to engage with you, as well as each other to encourage sales. App URL: https://apps.shopify.com/product-reviews?

Quick stock notifier: Get your customer back 
Alerts your customer through email & SMS when their selected products are back in stock. As an admin, you have complete control over the desired customization (template, storefront pop-up), customer info, and notifications sent. You can easily track all activities and get revenue analytics reports. App URL: https://apps.shopify.com/back-in-stock-notification-1

My Wishlist App: Allow your customers to save favorite Items
This app is most useful when your store has a variety of great items, customers may find it hard to pick up where they left off if they don’t immediately purchase their favorite items. MyWishlist app gives them the option to save their favorite items and get email reminders for them as well.
You can customize your own email template, add to wishlist button color, launcher icon color, etc, and can track all activities. App URL: https://apps.shopify.com/mywishlist

Oberlo ‑ Dropshipping App - Find products to sell on Shopify
Side hustle, passion project, full-time career – whatever your drive, Oberlo is the toolkit to help you start and grow your own thing. For free.
More than 100 million products have been sold using Oberlo’s dropshipping app. Think of it as the keys to a virtual warehouse packed with products from thousands of suppliers. Electronics, fashion, beauty, toys. You name it, you can find it. App URL: https://apps.shopify.com/oberlo

AI: Loyalty, Referrals & Mor: Reward & Get more customers engagement
Allow your customers to earn reward points based on different activities and they then redeem points for discount codes that you control. This app enables you to create a seamless rewards and referrals program that will motivate your customers to continuously shop at your store.
It has an extremely intuitive dashboard to set earn and redeem points. It increases customer engagement & referrals, ultimately results in more sales. App URL: https://apps.shopify.com/hubify-earn-loyalty-rewards.

Thanks

[Alex291]

Hi,

I am sharing a video of how to set-up POS for your store. Please check and share your feedback.

https://www.loom.com/share/171b7f83c111477996624264fdc058bb

Thank you

[chrisgeorge]

Hi,

Can you please tell me if you support 3rd party payment providers with Shopify POS in the UK?

General help documentation on Shopify POS seems to be North American centric and I'm not clear in this from a UK point of view.

Regards

Chris

[n0kitty]

My understanding is that if you choose to use a 3rd party provider, you will be charged 1% by Shopify; which makes their card services cheap by comparison. 

You would think, this being the case, that Shopify would offer better quality card machines for us to use, but sadly we seem to be stuck with this rubbish card machine. The only card machine available in the UK does not beep, elderly people can't depress the buttons, the card slot isn't easy to find and it just feels and looks cheap and nasty. Because it is.

[chrisgeorge]

But are 3rd party payments allowed with Shopify POS in the UK?

An official response from a UK perspective from Shopify would be beneficial (@Victor?).

Regards

Chris

[Victor]

Hi @chrisgeorge,

If you're in the UK and not using Shopify Payments, you would need to accept payments through an external terminal if you're using a third-party gateway instead. No transaction fees would be charged by Shopify if this is the case, as you are not processing the payment via the POS system directly. You can enable this as an option in your POS settings.

Please let me know if you have further questions.

Kind regards,

Victor | Shopify Social Care

[n0kitty]

Hi Victor

According to the Shopify Pricing Structure page - https://www.shopify.co.uk/pricing, if you're NOT using Shopify Payments there are additional fees to pay. It's 2% on the basic plan, 1% on the $79 dollar plan etc. 

Are you saying this is not the case?

Many thanks

Emily