What Is Shopify POS, a POS System for Retail, and How Does It Work in Your Shop?

Shopify POS is Shopify's point of sale system: an app for iOS and Android that connects your shop, pop-up or market stall to your Shopify store, with one inventory and one customer list. The basics are included in every paid Shopify plan, and POS Pro costs €79 a month per location, billed yearly. In the shop, in the Netherlands, you pay from 0.75% + €0.10 per card payment on Basic, with a card reader from €59 or just your phone through Tap to Pay.

In short

• Every paid Shopify plan includes the basics for selling in a shop. You add POS Pro per location when you need staff, exchanges between locations or extended inventory management.

• The biggest advantage is one inventory: what you sell in the shop also comes off your online stock, and the other way round.

• You pay your plan, POS Pro if you need it, a fee per card payment and your hardware once. Tap to Pay on your phone also works without a card reader.

Do you have a shop and an online store? Tell us in a free intro call how you sell now, in the shop and online, and we'll look together at what your online store needs.

If you have a shop and an online store, you actually have two tills: the counter and the checkout. As long as those two don't know about each other, you count stock by hand, you search two systems for every return and you never know exactly who your regular customers are. That's really what the question about Shopify POS is about: can the till in your shop be the same system as your online store?

I worked in product design at Uber, where I helped shape payment experiences for drivers. One thing I learned there: the tool is the easy part. What really makes the difference is who you're building for and what those people need at the moment they pay. A till is no different. In this article you'll read how Shopify POS works, what it costs in the Netherlands, which hardware you can buy and how to set it up.

What is a retail POS system like Shopify POS, and how does it work?

POS stands for point of sale: the place where a customer pays. Shopify POS is a retail POS system and point of sale system from Shopify itself. It's a POS system for retail, with POS software you install on an iPhone, iPad or Android device. Because it's part of your Shopify store, it shares everything with your online store: the same products and prices, the same inventory, the same customer profiles, the same discount codes and gift cards, and one overview in your Shopify admin, so the POS manages customer data and inventory in one place.

A sale in the shop goes like this:

1. You look up the product in the app, or scan the barcode with a scanner or your phone's camera.

2. You choose the customer or create a new customer profile, so this purchase is added to the rest of that customer's history.

3. The customer pays with a debit card, credit card, Apple Pay or Google Pay, or cash.

4. The inventory is updated, in the shop and online at the same time.

5. The customer gets a receipt by email or text message, or a printed receipt.

If you're already on Shopify, you don't need to rebuild anything. You add the Point of Sale sales channel, log in to the app and you can sell. Because it's part of your Shopify store, a retail POS system is more than a digital till and it syncs online and offline sales. A pop-up, a market or a trade fair works the same way: you bring your phone and sell from the same inventory as your online store. That's also the difference with a standalone till, which only knows what happens in the shop.

Shopify POS Lite or POS Pro: what's the difference?

Online you often read about POS Lite and POS Pro. Shopify itself no longer calls the free version Lite. The Dutch pricing page lists the in-person selling features included with every plan, and POS Pro as a paid add-on per shop location.

If you sell now and then at a market, in a pop-up or from your studio, what comes with your plan is often enough, but as a POS solution for retailers with returning customers, POS Pro becomes relevant sooner. With CRM features for customer data and loyalty programs, POS Pro can be interesting. POS Pro becomes interesting once you have a permanent shop with staff, when customers want to exchange products bought online in the shop, or when you move stock between locations. You can try POS Pro first. If you don't choose Pro yourself after the trial, the location falls back to the features that come with your plan.

What does Shopify POS cost in the Netherlands?

You pay three things: your Shopify plan, POS Pro per shop if you need it, and a transaction fee per payment. You buy hardware once; I'll get to that shortly. When you choose the right POS system for your shop, you don't only look at price: a system for retail also has to be easy to use and grow with you, especially for small teams.

Mind the word "from". The in-person rate depends on the card your customer pays with, so some payments cost more. You can see exactly what you pay per payment in your Shopify admin.

A worked example, not a quote. Say you ring up an average purchase of €45 in your shop 300 times a month, paid by debit card. That's €13,500 in revenue. On Basic you then pay at least 0.75% of €13,500 (€101.25) plus 300 times €0.10 (€30), together about €131 a month. On Grow that's at least €111, on Advanced at least €97.50. The difference between Basic and Grow is about €20 a month, while Grow costs €38 a month more than Basic when billed yearly. So choose your plan based on your business needs and budget, not just the card rate. How the plans differ further, you can read in Shopify pricing.

Which Shopify POS hardware can you buy in the Netherlands?

Start with the question of where you sell. At a market you want to carry as little as possible; at a fixed counter you want speed and a receipt. Shopify sells hardware in its own Hardware Store per country, and this is what's in the Dutch store:

Two example setups. A pop-up or market: your phone with Tap to Pay, or with a WisePad 3 if you also want to take chip and PIN. That's €0 to €59 in hardware. A fixed counter: an iPad on a stand, the POS Terminal, a receipt printer, a cash drawer and a barcode scanner. That's a single setup with card reader, receipt printer and scanner. With the prices above, that's about €900, plus the iPad you buy yourself.

Shopify currently offers free hardware and more with a year of POS Pro, worth €2,100 according to Shopify. Offers like this change, so check the pricing page for what applies when you start. The Tap & Chip reader you see in American articles is, according to the Help Center, only available in the United States. In other markets you sometimes come across third-party hardware or payment terminals too, but for the Netherlands you'll mainly look at compatible Shopify hardware.

Card payments, contactless and your own payment terminal

Shopify's card readers and Tap to Pay work in the Netherlands through Shopify Payments, the same system that processes your online payments. As a result, your shop and online payments, for sales and payouts, end up in one overview and one payout.

If you already have a payment terminal through your bank or a payment provider, according to Shopify you can use it as an external card terminal. You can connect your POS system to such a separate terminal, but the payment then runs through that provider, at their rates, and you keep two payment overviews. That can be handy if you're still tied to a contract.

iDEAL is an online payment method. In the shop, customers pay with their debit card or contactless with their phone. How iDEAL works in your online store, and what changes now that it's becoming Wero, you can read in iDEAL and Wero in your Shopify store.

And if the internet drops? According to the Help Center you can keep selling offline. Cash and custom payment methods always work. You need to switch on offline card payments in your admin first, your staff need a separate permission for it, and there's a limit per device. As soon as you're connected again, the sales are synced, so technical issues or connection problems are less likely to bring your sales to a halt.

One cloud-based inventory for your shop and your online store

This is where a point of sale system that belongs to your online store makes the most difference, especially for inventory management. In Shopify every shop, warehouse and pop-up is a location with its own inventory and automatically synced stock, so you follow your stock levels with real-time tracking. On Basic, Grow and Advanced you have up to 10 inventory locations. When you sell a product in the shop, the stock at that location drops, and your online store knows immediately.

• No double sales. The last item can't be sold at the counter and online at the same time, because it's the same inventory and stock levels are updated automatically after every transaction.

• In-store pickup. A customer orders online and picks up in your shop. In the app you see which orders are ready.

• Shipping from the shop. If a size is sold out in the shop, you order it for the customer with POS Pro and have it delivered to their home.

• One customer profile. Whether someone buys online or in the shop, everything goes into the same profile. That helps you later with emails that are really about that customer.

That way you can manage inventory more smartly, track inventory across locations and connect your inventory automatically to your channels. Automated inventory management helps prevent stockouts and overstock.

That's why a good till really starts in your online store. If your products are messy there, with a separate product per size or without barcodes, you take that mess to the counter and lose your grip on sales, reporting, bestsellers and sales insights. How to prevent that is in the step-by-step plan below.

Good to know in the Netherlands

Keep your till data. The Belastingdienst (the Dutch tax authority) asks you to keep your records for seven years, and for a till that includes the transaction data: who sold what, when, and what was changed. So find out in advance how to get that data out of Shopify and your bookkeeping, so you can also show it if you ever switch.

VAT in two channels. Set up your VAT (BTW) rates properly once, because your shop and online store use the same products and prices. A mistake in your settings then shows up in two places at once.

Debit card in the shop, iDEAL online. In the shop, Dutch people pay with their debit card or phone; online with iDEAL. With Shopify Payments both end up in the same overview.

In Belgium: since 1 July 2022, every business that sells to consumers there must offer at least one electronic payment option, according to Febelfin. Shopify lists the same three card readers for Belgium as for the Netherlands. Many Belgians pay with Bancontact, so check in the Belgian Hardware Store and the Help Center which cards your reader accepts there before you buy hardware.

Setting up Shopify POS: how to start

If your store is already on Shopify, the till is technically added in no time. Shopify POS is a cloud-based system, so you aren't tied to one device or location. The work is mostly in the preparation, and that decides whether your first Saturday in the shop goes smoothly.

1. Clean up your product data. One product per item, variants for size and colour, and a barcode or SKU per variant. Otherwise a mistake in your online store becomes a mistake at the till.

2. Add your shop as a location. That way your store gets its own inventory, separate from your warehouse or studio, with the ability to run your shop and online store from the same system.

3. Add the Point of Sale sales channel and install the app on your iPhone, iPad or Android device.

4. Choose your hardware. Start with Tap to Pay if you sell now and then, and pair a card reader if you have a fixed counter.

5. Add your staff. Decide who can give discounts, process returns and change prices. On Basic the number of staff with POS access is limited; roles per staff member come with POS Pro.

6. Count the stock in your shop properly once, so you start with correct numbers. A good retail POS system has the ability to sync inventory and sales data in real time once everything is correctly set up.

7. Decide about offline payments. If you also want to take card payments when the internet goes down, switch that on in advance.

8. Do a test sale with your trickiest product. Sell it, give a discount, exchange it and pay with a gift card. If that goes smoothly, the rest will go well too. Before you go live, also check that customer data comes through correctly in real time between the till and your online store.

When is Shopify POS a weaker fit?

We build every store on Shopify, so you know where we stand. That's exactly why I want to be honest: Shopify POS isn't the best choice for every shop.

• Your shop is your main channel, the online store is a side line. Then a POS system built around the shop may fit better. Compare it side by side with Shopify POS, using your own products and your own revenue. Also look at the integrations you need with bookkeeping and online stores.

• You have hospitality alongside your shop. A coffee bar or lunchroom in your shop calls for tables, kitchen tickets and tips. Then look at a POS system built for hospitality.

• You're still tied to a contract. If your payment terminal still has a year to run, use it as an external card terminal or plan the switch for when the contract ends.

• You almost never sell in person. Then you don't need to buy hardware. Tap to Pay on your phone is enough for that one market a year.

On the market you'll also find other POS systems for retailers, such as Lightspeed Retail and SumUp. If you already run your shop and your online store on another platform, switching only makes sense if it really gains you something, such as one inventory or an online store that sells better. How such a move works, you can read under Shopify migration.

Set it up yourself, with help, or from your brand?

There are three ways to connect Shopify POS to your shop, and each fits a different situation: retailers who mainly need technical help often choose something different from brands that want to present their shop and online store as one experience.

• Set it up yourself. If your store is already in good shape on Shopify, follow the step-by-step plan above. Shopify guides you in the app and the Help Center.

• With help from a freelancer. Handy if you have to import a lot of products, create barcodes or connect your bookkeeping. Migrating inventory and customer data is a typical request too. You pay for the technical work, and you make the choices about your brand yourself.

• From your brand. When your shop and online store have to feel like one experience, it goes beyond the till. Then you look at how your collections are structured, what customers see online before they come to the shop, how pickup and exchanges work and what your returns policy says.

The till is the easy part

A good point of sale system makes sure your numbers add up. What makes people buy in your shop and online is what your brand says, and how easy it is to choose. That's where our work begins.

Who we are and what we do

We are Design by Karina, a boutique Shopify agency in Rotterdam. We design and build Shopify stores on a considered strategy, for ambitious fashion, beauty and lifestyle brands. With brand strategy, UX and careful design, we create shopping experiences where what sets you apart becomes the reason people choose you.

Ecommerce strategy

Who are your customers, what do they want to know and what helps them choose your brand? We define the positioning, the customer journey and the structure of your store before the design begins.

Shopify design

A store should be unmistakably yours and work intuitively. We design Shopify stores around your brand, from the homepage to the product pages, and always mobile first.

Shopify development and migration

From a custom Shopify theme to the migration of an existing store. Coming from WooCommerce or another platform? Then we help you with a clear plan for your store, your content and your customers' experience.

Conversion and retention

What customers need to see, understand and feel before they choose, from product pages to the emails after the purchase.

Growth after launch

We look at how real visitors use your store and improve, step by step, what makes the most difference.

Brand Sites

For coaches, creative studios and service providers with something to say.

Why business owners choose us

• Strategy before pixels. Before we open a design file, we want to understand who buys from you and what those people need to see first.

• A background in product design. Before I started Design by Karina, I worked in product design at Uber, where I helped shape payment experiences for drivers.

• Fewer projects, more attention. We work on a limited number of projects at a time, so I'm closely involved in every one.

• We tell you honestly. If a free theme and a few good adjustments are enough for your store, we'll tell you.

• Launch is the starting line. After launch we keep improving your store based on what real visitors do.

See our work under projects.

What does a Shopify store that works with your shop cost?

Shopify POS: a quick summary

Shopify POS is Shopify's point of sale system and also works as a retail POS, sharing your products, inventory and customers with your online store. The basics are included in every paid plan, and POS Pro costs €79 a month per location. In the shop you pay from 0.75% + €0.10 per card payment on Basic, and hardware starts with your own phone or a €59 card reader. This type of POS system for retail businesses fits best when your online store and your shop are both important. First clean up your product data, count your stock properly once and do a test sale with your trickiest product before you open the doors, and pay attention to ease of use when you choose.

What we see with clients

When brands with a shop come to us, the first conversation is usually about the online store: how it should look and what could be better. The till only comes up later, even though that's where your inventory, your discounts and your regular customers come together. That's why we ask early how you sell now, in the shop and online, before we design anything. Then nobody has to go back to the drawing board halfway through.

Sources

• Shopify, pricing, https://www.shopify.com/nl/prijzen: plans, online and in-person card rates, iDEAL, inventory locations (checked in November 2026)

• Shopify, POS pricing, https://www.shopify.com/nl/pos/prijzen: POS Pro €79 a month per location, what's included with every plan, the offer with a year of POS Pro (checked in November 2026)

• Shopify Help Center, comparing POS Lite and POS Pro, https://help.shopify.com/nl/manual/sell-in-person/getting-started/pos-subscription-overview (checked in November 2026)

• Shopify Help Center, choosing the right card reader, https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/sell-in-person/hardware/card-readers/choosing-card-reader: card readers for the Netherlands and Belgium (checked in November 2026)

• Shopify Help Center, offline payments, https://help.shopify.com/en/manual/sell-in-person/shopify-pos/selling-offline/offline-payments (checked in November 2026)

• Shopify Hardware Store Netherlands, https://hardware.shopify.com/nl-nl/collections/all: prices, shipping and returns (checked in November 2026)

• Shopify Changelog, Tap to Pay on iPhone and on Android for Shopify POS, 15 October 2024, https://changelog.shopify.com/posts/expanded-availability-of-tap-to-pay-on-iphone (checked in November 2026)

• Belastingdienst, The till system in your business, https://www.belastingdienst.nl/wps/wcm/connect/bldcontentnl/themaoverstijgend/brochures_en_publicaties/uw_bedrijf_en_het_kassasysteem (checked in November 2026)

• Belastingdienst, Guide to a reliable till system, https://download.belastingdienst.nl/belastingdienst/docs/handreik-betrouw-afrekensystm_on2011z1fd.pdf: transaction data available for seven years (checked in November 2026)

• Febelfin, FAQ on businesses being required to offer a digital payment option, https://febelfin.be/nl/publicaties/2022/faq-ondernemingen-verplicht-om-digitale-betaaloptie-aan-te-bieden (checked in November 2026)