Migrating your store to Shopify POS

Using a cloud-based till system for a Point of sale (POS) and migrating to a Shopify POS will require some work in bringing over customers, products, and orders and fill your Shopify store with the history of the past transactions, as well as being able to reach your customers for re-marketing. Make sure a checklist is created on the needs of the business before you look into the migration process. The checklist will require access, data structures, and export capabilities such that the review of the capabilities of the current POS is well studied before looking to migrate the current POS to the Shopify POS.

The POS Audit

A brick-and-mortar store relies on a POS heavily to take payment and may or may not have the full range of data capabilities Shopify has, or the tools to access, store, or report on when it comes to POS data. Retail stores will have products and inventory, so it may be a good idea to do a stock-take before the migration to ensure accuracy in the Shopify POS. Business owners would most likely want to have customer data during transactions, however, some POS may not offer this. Payment methods might be similar, or at times use the same provider. Orders however should be available to transfer over. It may require contacting your current POS provider to understand how to extract the data so it can be imported over to the Shopify POS (Point of Sale system).

Data Migration to Shopify POS

Key categories that a small business will require when it comes to migration will most likely be the following: Sales orders, Customers (if available), Products, and Gift cards. Important steps in considering the migration are as follows:

• Adding products - CSV file bulk upload, as well as tools that can assist in uploading your products, are key research-and-test areas before you do the bulk.
• Adding Gift cards - Either using a Shopify App or manually entering the Gift cards, this will also require some looking into before loading these.
• Organizing products - Collections, Tags, Types, and Vendors are the categories in which you can group your products.
• Creating and applying bar codes to the products - Shopify has a Retail Barcode Label App to create new barcodes if your products don't have them already.
• Inventory management setup - Shopify Merchants can use Stocky or Shopventry Apps to manage inventory with efficiency. Stocky is good for merchants with one store location and fewer products, while Shopventry is suitable for multiple locations and a large product catalog.
• Setting up product discounts - Setting up discount codes can be created manually or automatically, these should carry over from your current POS.

3rd Party App for Migrating your POS

While migrating your POS might feel overwhelming, there are advantages and leverages to having a Shopify POS, such as selling online. To make the process easier, Shopify has worked with Shopify Partners to make the process easier with the integration of Shopify Apps, and if you need a hand in the migration, Shopify Experts are on hand to assist. These Shopify Apps are:

• LitExtension - An automatic data migration solution for Shopify and Shopify Plus.
• Matrixify - Working within the Shopify Admin using XLS and CSV files to upload your data from the other POS.
• SellingPoint - Migrates Gift cards from different POS' to Shopify.

Shopify Admin configurations and settings for POS

Set up your POS, which is in a physical location unlike an Online Store, requires specific settings to ensure you have the right taxes and payment methods.

• Location setup - You have Shopify POS Lite and Shopify POS Pro, the latter is more suitable for brick-and-mortar stores, while the Lite is aimed at casual weekend trade show fair events.
• Setting up Shipping, local pickup, and delivery - go to your shipping checklist and select your options on what you offer.
• Configuring your taxes - based on your store location, you must clearly add it to your shipping zones for them to be calculated correctly.
• Setup Payments on Shopify POS - Payment processing has to be set up either through Shopify Payments or other providers. Then you have to activate your Shopify POS to the payment options once set up.
• Installing Shopify Apps - Find your helpful Shopify Apps in the Shopify App store to improve the shopping experience for your store.

Hardware and Setting up your Shopify POS

Shopify POS-compatible hardware is required to operate the POS terminals.

• Basic POS setup - You will require an iPad, iPhone or Android device to operate the Shopify POS. There is an available App in the IOS or Android store to download.
• Add users to your Shopify POS - adding your staff so you can track who is running the till.
• Connecting your POS hardware - The Shopify POS App allows you to connect the hardware, such as Tap-n-Chip readers, Barcode scanners, Printers, cash registers, and more.
• Shopify POS training with your staff - Train your staff to manage the POS, there is a checklist provided to assist in this.
• Testing your Shopify POS for a transaction - To test out the POS, set up a dummy product for $1, see it show up in your bank transfers it in 3 days, and then test the refund unction to ensure all is well.

Running Shopify POS and beyond

Your previous cloud-based POS system is now behind you, and you are running your store on your new Shopify point of sale (POS) system as well as your online sales if you set up a store online as well.

• Managing your orders
• Analyze your data and analytics
• Explore other online marketplaces

Conclusion

It is a journey to get onto the Shopify POS, however, it does bring new opportunities both for online sales as well as adding more options for customers on Social Media, especially if you integrate your store into Facebook Dynamic Ads for social media marketing. Your online shop is now open globally, while your Shopify POS is in tune locally. With your store organized in product categories, managing your inventory gets easier. If you are looking to evaluate what it will take for your POS to be migrated to a Shopify POS, feel free to reach out to us at wish@thegenielab.com.