We recently covered some alternative point of sale systems which used your phone as the payment device. Using your mobile, you can effectively shop anywhere, but how about a solution that’ll let you take payments AND manage your entire store – both online and on the high street.. The Shopify POS system just needs your iPad. You slot in a card reader and then you can take payments straight away.
It’s also a way to create an online store and manage your inventory – whether you’re selling online or in a real “brick and mortar” store. You can choose which items you’d like to sell online and which ones you’d like to sell in your store. Or you could add them to both places if you want.
Sure, I know what you’re asking. How much is this? Well, in America it’s $49 per month. That includes the ecommerce functionality, the full management and the card reader which takes payment from customers entering your store. When things get busy you can add an additional reader onto another iPad and you’re away.
There’s a full YouTube video showing the system in action below..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=8y4JzCopAPg
As you saw there, you can add a cash drawer, receipt printer and you can also buy one of those rather clever iPad stands too. The actual Shopify card reader plugs into the 3.5mm audio port but you can also have an external card reader which would work with more modern cards with chip-and-PIN technology.
You can try the system free for 14 days. It’ll let you setup your own shop, add your own stock, put it online, sell it and earn money – all via your iPad.