Shopify vs Clover
Shopify or Clover?
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Compare Shopify POS vs Clover
| Key features | ||
|---|---|---|
| Unlimited SKUs, in store and online | Clover 15,000 products max | Shopify POS Pro |
| Fully synced inventory, in store and online | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Inventory transfers | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Receiving and counts | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Purchase orders | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Demand forecasting | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Inventory analysis and reports | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Exchange online purchases in store | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Return online purchases in store | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Pickup availability (show available stock at your locations on your website) | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| In-store pickup | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Local delivery | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Redeem gift cards online and in store | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Integrated first-party hardware and payments | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| First-party hardware 1-year warranty | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Unified in-store and online payments | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Fully customizable POS interface | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Mobile POS | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Unlimited staff | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Custom roles and permissions | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Ecommerce | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Website builder | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Social media selling | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Online marketplace selling | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| App integrations | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Loyalty program integrations | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| Built-in marketing platform | Clover | Shopify POS Pro |
| 24/7 support | Clover | Shopify POS Pro 24/7 in English |
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10 Things Shopify Can Do vs Clover
Centralized inventory
On Shopify, your in-store and online inventory is managed in a central place, so it’s always in sync. On Clover, you need to use a third-party platform to manage ecommerce, leaving you exposed to costly syncing errors.
Unlimited SKUs
With Shopify you get unlimited SKUs, in store and online. Clover can only support 15,000 SKUs in store and their ecommerce partner limits your SKUs based on the plan you’re on.
Simple exchanges and returns
With Shopify you can accept returns and exchanges of purchases made online at any of your retail locations. With Clover, you can’t accept online purchases as in-store returns.
In-store pickup and local delivery
Unlike Clover, Shopify has local shopping features. Shopify’s product availability feature means customers can check what’s in stock before coming to the store. They can also buy online and select local delivery or in-store pickup at checkout.
Email carts
On Shopify, you can start a customer cart in-store and email them to complete a purchase online. The perfect tool for re-engaging indecisive customers with items they didn’t purchase in-store. This feature doesn’t exist on Clover.
Smart inventory management
Managing inventory is a big part of running a retail business. Unlike Clover, Shopify has smart inventory features, from demand forecasting to updates on how quickly SKUs are selling.
Flexible gift cards
On Clover, you can only sell digital gift cards, and they can only be redeemed in store. On Shopify, you can sell physical and digital gift cards and they can be redeemed at any location, whether in store or online.
Unlimited registers
When you use Clover as your POS, you need to pay more for each retail location and every register. With Shopify POS Pro, you pay per retail location and get unlimited registers.
Built-in ecommerce
With Shopify you get ecommerce and point of sale starting at 288/month when paying yearly.
Unified reporting
Making impactful business decisions is hard when your data is spread across many platforms. With Clover, your in-store and online data is separate—with Shopify all your data is together, so you can easily spot trends and opportunities.
Why Businesses Choose Shopify Over Clover
You get a POS for retail, not restaurants
Unlike Clover, Shopify was made for retail businesses. That’s why Shopify POS has unlimited SKUs and powerful inventory features, like demand forecasting. That’s also why you can use Shopify to provide the service customers expect, from offering in-store pickup to accepting online purchases as in-store returns.
You can build better customer relationships
To customers, your website and retail stores represent the same brand—and it’s frustrating when their experience breaks between the two. With Shopify, customer profiles are synced across online and in-store sales, so you’ll always know who your customers are—whether they’re longtime fans or first-time shoppers
You can manage both your in-store and online business
Shopify’s strength is the unfair advantage you get when your in-store and online businesses are connected. That means you can skip the hassle of managing multiple systems and avoid the risk of reconciliation errors.
You have the data to make decisions
When all your business data is in one place you get more than information: you get actionable insights. With Shopify your data is all together, from the retail reports that shop owners need to website analytics and more. With Clover, your in-store and online data is separate, meaning you’ll spend more time reconciling data and less time responding to it.
You get ecommerce included
With Clover, you only get a POS. With Shopify, you get a POS and ecommerce. From domain hosting to our website builder and over 100 ready-made website templates, you can use Shopify to build a website and start selling online, at no extra cost.
You get centralized support
Shopify support is available 24/7, no matter which plan you’re on. You’ll also have access to help docs, webinars, blog posts, and online courses to guide you along the way. On Clover, you have to call Clover for retail support and your ecommerce provider for ecommerce support, leaving you without the help you need when your problem doesn’t fit neatly into one or the other.
From the seamless checkout experience, to the ecommerce integration and apps, to the simple and powerful reporting, there’s no beating Shopify POS.
Learn More About Shopify
Compare Shopify POS
See how Shopify POS compares to other popular point-of-sale systems.
Discover Shopify POS
Learn why Shopify’s powerful solution is the advantage your business needs.
Read the Retail Blog
Check out the blog for everything retail from success stories to emerging trends.
Try Shopify POS Free for 3 Days
Start unifying in-store and online sales with Shopify to streamline operations, make more sales, and keep customers coming back.
FAQs
Does Clover work with Shopify?
Yes, there are third-party apps that allow you to sync your Clover POS with Shopify. However, we strongly recommend using Shopify POS if you’re using Shopify to power your website. That’s because Shopify’s strength is bringing together your in-store and online sales, inventory, payments, reporting, and customer profiles. When all your data is in the same place, you can offer a competitive shopping experience for your customers, from offering buy online, pick up in store, to accepting returns and exchanges at any location.
Does Clover have an online store?
No, Clover doesn’t have an online store. You can use apps from Clover’s app market to integrate your Clover POS with ecommerce platforms. However, these integrations leave you exposed to syncing errors. In contrast, Shopify comes with ecommerce built in, at no additional cost. When your POS and ecommerce platform are connected, your sales, inventory, and customer data are kept together so you can skip the syncing errors.
Who does Shopify use for credit card processing?
Shopify has its own credit card processing solution called Shopify Payments, which is available at no additional cost. You can use Shopify Payments to take payments online and in person, using Shopify’s first-party hardware. That means you won’t have to reconcile payments from a variety of processors—you can see all your payments and payouts in one place.
Does Clover have a monthly fee?
Yes, when comparing Shopify vs Clover pricing, both Shopify and Clover have a monthly fee. However, Clover’s pricing is only for POS and you need to pay an additional fee for ecommerce. Shopify’s pricing covers both POS and ecommerce.
Is Clover good for retail?
Clover was built for restaurants while Shopify was built for retail. That means that Clover lacks many of the features that retail businesses need, like unlimited SKUs, fully synced online and offline inventory, in-store pickup, and local delivery. Shopify was made for retail and has the features to support retail businesses, online and offline.
Page last updated June 2021
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