A small business owner using a chip and swipe card reader from Shopify to accept payment

If you’re reading this, chances are one of your clients wants to start using Shopify POS and has enlisted your help to get them set up.

Migrating client data and information can be a challenge, but we’re here to help.

This guide will walk you through the milestones that make up the journey to migrate a client to Shopify POS. Task times will vary depending on the amount of data your client has or the amount of onboarding they will need to familiarize themselves with Shopify POS.

Table of Contents

What you need from your clients before you start migration

To ensure you’re able to quickly and easily migrate your clients to Shopify POS you’ll need to request key information ahead of time. The material you request will largely depend on what exists in their current POS system.

To start planning the data migration, evaluate your client’s existing data and decide what needs to be moved. Listing the types of data your client’s old platform tracked can give you a good estimate of how many items will need to be moved over.

Key information from you client can include:

Gift cards
Inventory
Customer data

In some cases, this info may be accessible through their current POS provider’s admin. However, in other cases, your client may need to contact their current POS provider and have the data exported and sent to them.

Your client(s) may want to use this as an opportunity to clean up their inventory levels and do a fresh stock count. If they do, you’ll need to clean up any inventory levels prior to importing them to Shopify so that when it’s time to import product, customer, and gift card data, it’s in the merchant’s desired state.

Migrate your client’s data

When a merchant migrates to Shopify POS, they need to transfer over existing data, like products, customers, gift cards, and/or orders. It's important to consider what data is absolutely necessary for them to run their business. It should be noted that moving all of this data will require more time and effort, depending on how much data will need to be transferred.

Important steps to take when migrating your client’s data are:

Adding products: This is the first and most important step towards selling on Shopify. Tools like Shopify’s Migration Hub can bring your client’s products from their old platform to Shopify POS. Or, create a CSV file and upload the merchant’s products, inventory or customer data in bulk.
Adding gift cards: You can migrate a merchant’s gift cards from their old platform to Shopify POS either manually or by using an app like Selling Point.
Organizing the merchant’s products: Once you’ve added products to your client’s store, it’s time to consider how to organize their product catalog. You can organize your products in four ways: collections, tags, types, and vendors.
Creating new product barcodes: If your client’s products do not have a barcode already attached to it, you can use our Retail Barcode Label App to auto generate a barcode for their products. Find more information on how to create barcodes here.
Establishing your client’s inventory management: Shopify merchants can use our locations feature and apps like Stocky or Shopventory to manage inventory more effectively. Stocky is effective for merchants with one store location and fewer products, while Shopventory is ideal for merchants with multiple store locations and a large product catalog.
Setting up product discounts: Discounts are an effective way of attracting new customers and keeping them coming back. Shopify lets you create discount codes for products or shipping rates all on one platform. Discount codes can be created manually or generated automatically.

Using a third-party app for migration

We know that moving all of the above information over can sound a bit intimidating. That’s why Shopify integrates with multiple third-party applications to make migration as easy as possible.

A few standouts in the Shopify App Store are:

Configure your client’s settings in Shopify admin

Next, you’ll need to set up your client’s settings to ensure they can fulfill orders, charge the appropriate tax rates, and accept payments on Shopify POS. This is also an excellent time to explore other apps that will help your client unify online and in-person selling.

There are 4 key stages to configuring your client’s settings:

Set up your Shopify POS location: Shopify offers two types of POS subscription plans: Shopify POS Lite and Shopify POS Pro.

If you’re working with a client who has a brick-and-mortar store, they’ll get the most value from our POS Pro subscription. POS Pro provides clients with extra retail features for inventory management, reporting, staff management, and omnichannel selling features.
The POS Lite plan offers basic features for merchants who sell casually on weekends at trade shows, fairs, and events.

NOTE: You can choose the pos subscription plan that is appropriate for each of your locations. Read more about how to manage device locations here.

Setting up shipping, local pickup, and delivery: Shopify has three main product delivery methods available to all of its merchants: shipping, local delivery, and local pickup. Our Shipping checklist is an excellent resource to use when setting up your clients shipping options.
Setting up taxes: The Shopify POS app applies taxes based on the store location that you assign to your POS device. Store locations must be included in your shipping zones for taxes to be calculated correctly. To learn how to set up and adjust tax rates for your clients in Shopify POS, click here.
Setting up payments on Shopify POS: Before your client can start accepting payments on Shopify POS, they need to set up payments processing for their store. Your client can use Shopify Payments or a third-party payment provider to do this. Once they’ve chosen their in-person payment options, the client will need to activate their payment methods on Shopify POS.
Installing helpful apps: Use the Shopify App Store to discover a variety of different apps that may enhance your client’s business on Shopify. To explore apps that elevate the in-store experience with Shopify, check out our list of Shopify POS apps.

Buy hardware and set up Shopify POS

Now, it’s time for your client to purchase hardware that’s compatible with Shopify POS and set up their POS terminals.

Basic POS setup: To sell in-person your client will require an iPad, iPhone, or Android device. Once your client has their device, they’ll need to install the Shopify POS app, which is available on Android and iOS.
Add users to POS: If your client has several people working for their store, you’ll need to add each as point of sale staff so they can use the Shopify POS app to run the store.
Connect your POS hardware: Each piece of hardware has its own set of setup instructions in the Shopify POS app. Hardware that you can connect to your POS system are: tap and chip card readers, barcode scanners, printers, and more. Make sure to check out our hardware overview outlines to see what is and isn’t supported.
Train your staff to use Shopify POS: Once your client’s hardware is set up, they can focus on training their staff on how to use Shopify POS. This video is a good place to start when it comes to training, or refer to our staff and store manager training checklist.
Run a test transaction: The best way to ensure your client’s transactions are processed correctly is to perform a custom sale for $1.00. The transaction should appear within 3 business days, after which your client can perform a refund.

Congratulations! Your client is now ready to start serving customers in-person using Shopify POS!

Post-launch considerations

Shopify POS is a powerful tool to manage brick and mortar selling. Here are a few helpful tips to share with merchants to ensure they’re getting the most out of Shopify POS.

Manage your orders: Understanding how orders work in Shopify is an important part of a merchant running their business. Your clients can manage all of their store's orders from the orders page of Shopify.
Analyze data with reports: Analytics and reports help merchants understand their store’s performance, provide insights into their customers and transactions. We recommend reviewing our beginner's guide to analyzing Shopify reports to get your client comfortable with using data to drive decisions.
Grow your business: Marketing campaigns can drive sales. A key resource we have at Shopify is Shopify Learn. It has a wealth of videos and content to help teach merchants best practices, including marketing.

FURTHER READING: Learn How Shopify POS Apps Help Brick and Mortar Merchants Succeed

Helpful resources and tips

Following this guide will help you set your clients up for success with Shopify POS. However, if you’d like to take a deeper dive into Shopify POS, we’ve compiled a list of helpful links below.

Check out the Shopify POS Youtube playlist to learn more about POS and its features, like third-party app extensions, tracking customer contact details, and more.
Catch up on recorded workshops and webinars on Shopify Learn, with topics ranging from social media marketing to branding and design to fulfillment.
Read this troubleshooting guide if you or your client experience performance issues with the Shopify POS app.
Migrating your client from another POS? These links might help:

If you’d like additional support to help onboard merchants on Shopify POS, consult your POS dashboard inside the Partners admin. Log in to your Partners admin to get started.

Refer brick and mortar merchants to Shopify POS

Partners will earn uncapped recurring revenue with Shopify Point of Sale and Shopify Payments.

Submit a POS Pro referral

If you have any questions about Shopify POS Pro, please contact us here.

Camille Nguyen