Shopify card reader Ireland: works with POS app, connects with online store

• Highs: POS-ecommerce integration. No lock-in required. 24/7 support.
• Lows: Requires ecommerce subscription. Slow payouts. Does not work with Android. Poor service reviews.
• Best for: Retailers who sell online primarily and require an iOS-based POS system connected to an online store.

How does it work?

Shopify sells a card reader that works in conjunction with a mobile point of sale (POS) app on iPad or iPhone. It uses the payment system ‘Shopify Payments’ to process the most common cards including Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Apple Pay and Google Pay.

There are two versions of the POS software: POS Lite and POS Pro. The free Lite plan is suitable for basic retail shops while the paid (in addition to an ecommerce plan) POS Pro is built to enhance the customer experience, coordinate online and in-store sales and manage a larger inventory library. By default, the POS app contains Lite features until you upgrade to POS Pro.

Although anyone can buy the card reader, it only works when you’re on one of Shopify’s ecommerce subscriptions.

If you’re only going to use it as a way to accept cards in person, the cheapest online subscription is Shopify Lite (US$9 + VAT/month) which includes Buy Buttons and invoices.

The card reader is most beneficial with a Shopify online store because all payments, customer data and inventory are synced in the cloud for seamless multichannel sales.

Shopify pricing

To use the Shopify card reader, you need to buy it upfront for €59 + VAT and choose any one of Shopify’s paid ecommerce subscriptions. New sign-ups get a 14-day free trial. The card reader comes with a year’s warranty (or two years on the POS Pro plan) and 30-day money-back guarantee if you change your mind within a month.

There’s no contractual commitment for these subscriptions, but paying annually, every two or every three years upfront reduces the monthly cost compared to a monthly subscription that costs the most.

Despite being offered to Irish merchants, the ecommerce subscriptions only have US dollar pricing. Shopify Lite is the cheapest subscription at $9 monthly. It includes online selling features, but no full-fledged online store. The monthly online store plans are Basic Shopify for $29/month, Shopify for $79/month and Advanced Shopify for $299/month excluding VAT which is added at checkout.

On top of this, you can opt for a monthly Shopify POS Pro subscription ($89 per month per location) that includes all of Shopify’s POS system features in the iPad app. If you don’t need all the features, it’s perfectly okay to just use the Shopify POS Lite features included free in the app.

The transaction fee for payments through the card reader depends on the plan: it’s 1.7% on the Lite and Basic Shopify subscriptions, 1.6% on Shopify and 1.5% on Advanced Shopify. Online transaction fees are also lower on the pricier plans (table below).

POS features and online integration

All ecommerce subscriptions include basic point of sale features – Shopify POS Lite (free) – that are enough for a small shop, market stall holders, pop-ups and mobile merchants. If you trade from more than one location and require more inventory management and till features, Shopify POS Pro ($89 USD monthly) is better.

This latest Shopify POS app (pictured below) only works reliably on iPad and iPhone. The Android app (which does exist) cannot use the POS Pro features.

Shopify POS is designed for retailers selling online, who require a POS system that connects in-store sales with online orders – but you only really benefit from this on the Pro plan. Let us first look at the standard features also included on Lite:

Payments: Accept cards, cash, custom payment types and gift cards. Sell physical or digital digital gift cards (only with Basic Shopify, though). Split the tender, accept deposits/partial payments and do layaways. The till records cash flow so you can always track how much you’re meant to have in the till drawer.

Checkout: The interface is a customisable ‘smart grid’ with buttons for important functions like discounts, inventory and apps. You can easily search customers, products and orders, accept tips, do refunds (exchanges only on Pro), add products or custom amounts to the bill, and customise discounts if not using preset discounts. Staff can get their own PINs for the till.

Online integration: Print QR codes to attach to products in store so customers can scan it for information or buy online without asking staff. In the online shop, people can see in-store availability, but it requires Pro to order for collection. Customers browsing in person can get email reminders for purchasing their favourite items online.

Products: Add unlimited products, variants and product collections. Products can be assigned to different locations (e.g. online, in store, warehouse) and tracked as you can see inventory statuses (e.g. received, transferred, order fulfilment).

Customers: Build relationships through customer profiles where transactions, notes, tags and contact details are saved. You can offer exclusive discounts, events and content through emails, if they have opted in for marketing emails.

Reports and analytics: There are more than a few reports to analyse sales, products sold, discounts given, cash flow and more. You can, however, only get a comprehensive daily sales report on the Pro plan.

On Shopify POS Pro, you get a more sophisticated integration of online-offline features, for instance online ordering for in-store collection or delivery. If customers buy something online, they can return it in person. The till gives personalised recommendations based on customers’ online purchases. You can also customise receipts and save carts to serve multiple people at once. Moreover, inventory and staff management are much more advanced on Pro.

Customer support and reviews

Shopify subscribers get 24/7 customer support via email and live chat. There is also an online help centre with in-depth answers to most queries.

We’ve seen quite a lot of complaints about the quality of service, where issues do not get resolved or Shopify doesn’t respond to basic queries (if you can get through to them in the first place).

The Android POS app has received lots of complaints, but card reader users would need the iPad or iPhone app anyway.

Many users have had their online store closed or products taken off the site due to Shopify’s security procedures. This has resulted in merchants having a hard time recovering transactions they were meant to receive. Some have been locked out of their accounts, thereby losing the ability to contact support, remove an online store or delete credit card details. Cancelling a Shopify membership also appears to be difficult despite the lack of contractual commitment.

There are also users who are happy with Shopify’s online store system. Our own tests have found it to be a comprehensive ecommerce platform that is generally easy to figure out for a non-coder. Few reviews actually talk about the POS system and card reader, as those are more of a secondary offering in addition to the ecommerce features.

Our verdict

Given the relatively high price of the mobile card reader (SumUp and Square offer cheaper ones) and compulsory monthly cost of an ecommerce subscription, it’s only worth getting the Shopify reader if you’re planning to use Shopify for online selling too.

You do have to accept the fact that payouts can take about a week. This can be a hindrance for some micro-businesses where daily cash flow is important.

Compared to other POS systems, Shopify POS Pro in particular makes for a great multichannel solution where retailers can switch between socially distanced selling, fulfilling online orders and communicating with customers through the same app.

Shopify has clearly put a lot of effort into this online-and-in-store integration, but beware that many of these benefits only apply to the iOS app, not the Android app that doesn’t even connect to the card reader.

As for the card reader – it does the job. There’s nothing spectacular about it except for its pocket-sized convenience. The lack of built-in receipt printer means you need a separate receipt printer if this is important for you, but that’s normal for an app-based card reader.