As retail businesses continue to grow, it becomes increasingly essential to manage inventory across both online and offline channels seamlessly. Shopify’s Point of Sale (POS) integration offers a solution that allows businesses to connect their POS system to Shopify, keeping inventory synced across all sales channels. In this guide, we’ll cover how to set up Shopify POS, integrate it with your online store, and manage inventory effectively.

For businesses looking to expand their eCommerce website development, Shopify POS integration provides an all-in-one platform that caters to both digital and physical stores. To further enhance your knowledge of Shopify’s capabilities, check out our blog on Shopify Plus Store Development Guide: A Step-by-Step Approach for 2024,

Connecting POS system to Shopify 

In today’s omnichannel retail environment, customers expect better shopping experiences, whether they are purchasing online or in-store. Integrating Shopify POS with the online store offers several key benefits:

Setting Up Shopify POS

Before you can sync your inventory across in-store and online channels, the first step is Setting up Shopify POS. Here’s how you can get started:

1. Choose a Shopify POS Plan: Shopify offers two POS plans: Shopify POS Lite and Shopify POS Pro. While POS Lite comes included with every Shopify subscription, POS Pro unlocks advanced features like unlimited registers, omnichannel selling capabilities, and detailed reporting​. 
2. Download the Shopify POS App: Available for both Android and iOS devices, the Shopify POS app allows users to process in-store transactions, manage inventory, and sync sales across all locations. You can download the app from the Google Play Store or Apple App Store​
3. Connect POS Hardware: Shopify POS works with a range of hardware including barcode scanners, receipt printers, and card readers. By integrating this hardware, you can process payments and manage inventory effortlessly in-store. Shopify also offers its hardware, such as the Shopify Tap & Chip Card Reader​
4. Assign Locations: In your Shopify admin, you can assign inventory to specific locations. This is crucial for businesses with multiple retail locations, as it helps keep inventory data accurate across stores. Shopify allows you to track stock at multiple locations and transfer inventory between them if needed​

Managing Inventory with Shopify POS

Once the Shopify POS is set up, managing the inventory becomes much easier. Shopify’s inventory management system syncs data in real time, ensuring that the stock levels are always accurate regardless of whether the sale happens in-store or online. Here are the key features of inventory management with Shopify POS:

1. Real-Time Inventory Syncing

One of the most important features of Shopify POS is real-time inventory syncing. When a customer purchases an item either in-store or online, Shopify automatically updates the stock levels for all connected locations. This prevents common problems such as overselling or underselling products. Here’s how it works:

• Online Sales: When a product is purchased through the online store, Shopify deducts the quantity from the available stock. This update is immediately reflected in the POS system, ensuring that in-store staff are aware of the latest stock levels.
• In-Store Sales: Similarly, when a product is sold in-store via Shopify POS, the online inventory is updated automatically. This synchronization helps businesses avoid selling out-of-stock items​

By keeping stock levels synced across all sales channels, businesses can provide an uninterrupted customer experience and avoid frustrating stockouts or overselling.

Also Read

Shopify Plus Store Development Guide: A Step-by-Step Approach for 2024

2. Multi-Location Inventory Management

For businesses with multiple physical stores, managing inventory across all locations can be challenging. Shopify POS offers a multi-location inventory management system that allows users to:

• Assign Stock to Specific Locations: The user can assign inventory to different physical stores or warehouses directly from your Shopify admin. This enables you to track stock levels at each location and transfer products between stores as needed.
• View Inventory by Location: Shopify provides detailed reports on stock levels at each location. This helps businesses make data-driven decisions about where to send new stock or which store to pull from when fulfilling online orders​

3. Centralized Order Management

One of the greatest challenges retailers face is managing orders from different sales channels. With Shopify’s centralized order management system, you can:

• Process Orders Across Channels: Shopify allows you to manage both in-store and online orders from a single dashboard. You can process returns, exchanges, and in-store pickups all within the same system.
• Automated Order Routing: If a product is out of stock at one location, Shopify can automatically route the order to a location that has the product in stock. This helps businesses fulfill customer orders without delays​

4. Omnichannel Selling Features

Shopify POS enables retailers to adopt an omnichannel selling approach, giving customers more flexibility in how they shop. Some of the key omnichannel features include:

• Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS): Customers can purchase products online and pick them up in-store. This drives foot traffic to your physical store and encourages additional purchases when customers come to pick up their items​.
• Buy In-Store, Ship to Home: If an item is unavailable in-store, you can offer customers the option to have the product shipped to their home. This ensures you don’t lose a sale due to stock limitations at a specific location​
• Browse In-Store, Buy Online: Some customers prefer to see products in person before making a purchase online. With Shopify POS, you can email a virtual cart to the customer, allowing them to complete the purchase online at their convenience​

5. Product Transfers Between Locations

In a multi-location setup, product transfers are often necessary to keep stock levels balanced across stores. Shopify POS allows you to:

• Transfer Products Easily: From the Shopify admin, you can initiate product transfers between locations to ensure that all stores have the inventory they need.
• Track Transfers: Shopify provides tracking tools so that you can monitor the status of product transfers between your stores. This ensures that stock levels remain accurate and that products are delivered to the right location on time​.

6. Reporting and Analytics

Effective inventory management requires understanding which products are selling well, which ones aren’t, and where inventory shortages may occur. Shopify POS provides detailed reports on:

• Best-Selling Products: See which products are top sellers both online and in-store. This helps businesses make better decisions about which items to stock up on.
• Low-Stock Alerts: Shopify POS can notify you when stock levels are low, ensuring that you never run out of popular products​

Integrating POS with Shopify isn’t just about syncing inventory—it’s also about enhancing the overall customer experience. Here are a few ways that Shopify POS improves customer service:

Also Read

How to Set Up Payments in Shopify? A Step-by-Step Guide for Business Owners

Conclusion

Integrating Shopify POS with your online store provides a powerful solution for managing inventory, processing orders, and enhancing customer experiences across all sales channels. With features like real-time inventory syncing, multi-location management, and omnichannel selling options, Shopify POS enables businesses to operate more efficiently and meet the demands of today’s omnichannel customers.

ColorWhistle is a leading eCommerce website development agency offering a range of services to build and optimize your online store for success. To get expert assistance send a message or give us a call at +1 (919) 234-5140, and we’ll promptly respond to your inquiry.