Migrating from Shopify POS to RetailPOS
Last reviewed 2026-05-30 · by the RetailPOS team
Shopify POS makes most sense when your online store is the heart of the business and the counter is an extension of it. The migration question comes up when that's reversed: you're primarily a brick-and-mortar shop, the website is a brochure, and you're paying for an e-commerce platform — plus POS Pro at roughly $89 per location per month for the retail features (smart grid, stock transfers, unlimited staff roles) — on top of processing.
We'll be straight about it: if e-commerce is genuinely core to you, stay on Shopify — its online + in-store unification is the best in the market and RetailPOS doesn't replace your storefront. If the shop floor is the business, this guide covers a clean move to a counter-first POS at $29 a shop with your own Stripe rate.
When to switch — and when not to
Switch if:the shop floor is your real business; you're on POS Pro mainly for multi-location and stock transfers; you want recipe-based inventory (Shopify has none); or Shopify Payments' processing — and the extra fee for using a third-party processor instead — is eating your margin.
Stay if:online sales are a meaningful slice of revenue and the unified catalogue/inventory across web + counter is doing real work for you. RetailPOS is not an e-commerce platform; we won't pretend otherwise.
What carries over cleanly
Products + variants + prices— Shopify's product CSV export is mature and well-documented (Products → Export). RetailPOS imports the item + variant shape via POST /v1/imports/items. Option sets (size/colour) map to variants; tags carry across.
Customers — Customers → Export gives name, email, phone, and accepted marketing state. Import via POST /v1/imports/customers. Notes and tags come across; store-credit balances and loyalty points do not.
Most hardware— iPad/Android tills, ESC/POS receipt printers, USB scanners and cash drawers work as-is. The exception is the Shopify card reader (locked to Shopify Payments' SDK) — you move card-present to a Stripe Reader.
The processing question
On Shopify you either use Shopify Paymentsor pay an extra third-party-gateway fee on top of your processor's rate. RetailPOS takes no per-transaction cut: you connect your own Stripe account and pay Stripe's rate directly (typically 1.5%–2.4% card-present by volume/region). Open Stripe before cutover, order a Stripe Reader, and test a sale in test mode.
What doesn't migrate
Your online store.RetailPOS is counter-first; it doesn't host your website. If you keep selling online, keep the storefront (Shopify, WooCommerce, etc.) and connect it to RetailPOS via the connector layer (/integrations) rather than running both as the source of truth.
Sales history, gift cards, store credit, loyalty points — these stay on Shopify. Export the history for your accountant; run a redemption push for points and gift cards in your final week; honour outstanding balances manually during the wind-down.
App-store integrations— anything you wired through Shopify's App Store reconnects fresh on RetailPOS.
Step-by-step cutover
Week before: sign up for RetailPOS, pick your vertical kit, open Stripe, order a reader, test in Stripe test mode. Decide what happens to the website (keep + integrate, or wind down).
Mid-week: export Shopify products + customers; import on RetailPOS; confirm counts match.
Late week: configure modifiers, tax classes, recipes (if food), per-piece tracking (if jewellery/electronics), and end-of-day rules. Parallel-run a handful of internal sales on Saturday.
Sunday → Monday:final Shopify in-store close + full export; Monday, ring on RetailPOS. Keep Shopify live for the website if you're keeping it.
Frequently asked
- Does RetailPOS replace my Shopify online store?
- No. RetailPOS is a counter-first POS, not an e-commerce platform. If online sales matter, keep your storefront and connect it; if the website was only ever a brochure, you can wind it down after cutover.
- Can I keep selling online and use RetailPOS in store?
- Yes — keep the storefront and connect it through the integrations layer so stock and orders flow. Pick one system as the source of truth for inventory to avoid drift; for a shop-floor-led business that's usually RetailPOS.
- Will my Shopify card reader work?
- No — it's locked to Shopify Payments. A Stripe Reader replaces it. Your iPad/Android till, ESC/POS printer, scanner and cash drawer all carry over.
- What about POS Pro features like stock transfers?
- Multi-store stock transfers, low-stock alerts and consolidated owner reporting are on every RetailPOS plan — not gated behind a per-location Pro fee.
- Do I lose my historical sales?
- They stay on Shopify; export everything before cutover for your accountant. RetailPOS starts as a clean slate rather than backfilling an ambiguous historical ledger.
Open your shop in 30 seconds.
No card. Free until your first 100 sales. Bring your own Stripe; keep your hardware.