Shopify vs Square
Shopify vs Square 2023 - Which is the Best Payment Processing Solution?
Choose Shopify for an intuitive and powerful solution for running your business in-store and online. With transparent pricing and robust features, it’s the partner you need to grow your business.
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Compare Shopify POS vs Square
|
Key features |
Square for Retail |
Shopify POS Pro |
|---|---|---|
| Pickup availability | No | Yes |
| Local pickup | Yes | Yes |
| Local delivery | Yes | Yes |
| Integrated first-party hardware and payments | Yes | Yes |
| First-party hardware warranty | 1-year | 2-year |
| Fully customizable POS interface | No | Yes |
| Unified in-store and online inventory | Yes | Yes |
| Cross-location returns | Yes | Yes |
| Loyalty program integrations | With a monthly add-on | Yes |
| Product reviews | On paid annual online plans | Yes |
| Custom domains | On paid annual online plans | Yes |
| Online marketplace selling | No | Yes |
| Shipping tools and discounts | On paid annual online plans | Yes |
| International selling (currencies, languages, and domains) | No | Yes |
| Back-office mobile app | No | Yes |
| 24/7 support | No | 24/7 in English |
| In person payment rates (per transaction) | Starting from 2.5% + 10¢ | Starting from 2.4% + 0¢ USD |
| Payment hardware starting from | $49 | $49 |
Based on features available in the US as of June 2021
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.
Try Shopify free for 3 days, no credit card required. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.
7 Things You Get on Shopify vs Square
Pickup availability
Shopify makes it easy for online shoppers to view what’s in-stock at your store on individual product pages. On Square, buyers don’t know what’s available for pickup until checkout, leading to frustrated customers and abandoned carts.
Fully customizable POS
You can tailor the Shopify POS interface to your business. Speed up checkout by keeping your best sellers, discounts, or common tasks front and center. Square’s interface can’t be changed, forcing you to adapt to their workflows.
Back office mobile app
Monitor and manage your business on the sales floor or on the go with Shopify’s mobile app. Get notifications, check sales, chat with customers, and more right from your phone. Square’s dashboard is only accessible from a browser.
In-depth reporting and analytics
Square’s basic reports cover sales, products, and payments. But deeper insights can help you identify trends and opportunities. From marketing performance to inventory grading, Shopify’s reports help you make informed decisions faster.
Over 100 website templates
Shopify’s large selection of commerce-ready themes, let you design your website to match your retail store—no coding required. Square’s simple template isn’t as customizable, making it difficult to bring your brand to life online.
Online marketplace selling
Using Shopify to sell on Google Shopping, Amazon, and more can be a great way to tap into new audiences and gain new customers. This opportunity doesn’t exist on Square because you can’t integrate with these popular channels.
International selling
Expand your reach around the world with Shopify’s ecommerce tools for global selling. Square’s websites can’t support multiple currencies, domains, or languages like Shopify can, meaning products can only be sold in your local currency.
Why Businesses Choose Shopify Over Square
You can start selling with no surprises
If you’re comparing Shopify vs Square pricing, Square does offer free plans but businesses soon find that features like staff permissions and custom domains are all locked behind annual paid plans or monthly add-ons. Shopify’s transparent pricing includes everything you need to run your business in-store and online, with the ability to upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time.
You get a solution that’s ready to scale with you
Square’s platform is easy to use, but a scaling business can quickly outgrow Square’s simple features. Shopify is designed to balance ease-of-use with robust functionality for inventory, payments, orders, and more. That means you can start selling simply and know that Shopify’s solution can level up with you as your business grows, from new retail locations to new international markets.
You can sell everywhere
On Square, you can sell in-store, from your website, and on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. On Shopify, you’re covered for all of the above plus over 10 more sales channels, from Google Shopping and Amazon to Groupon and TikTok. Not only is it easy to explore new opportunities, you can also keep inventory in sync, consolidate online orders, and capture info from new customers because it’s all managed in Shopify.
You can do more with your inventory data
Square’s reports give you a good overview of your product performance, but having the tools to analyze and take action can be a game changer for your business. Shopify’s smart inventory features analyze your data to serve you timely recommendations like: when to reorder your best sellers based on vendor lead times or when to discount low-performing stock to free up cash flow.
You get powerful ecommerce features
Having the right ecommerce features can turn your website into a powerful tool for growing your entire business, in-store and online. Square helps you unify inventory and offer local pickup, but Shopify’s tools can help you do that and more. Whether it’s driving online traffic to your retail stores, testing international markets, or starting to sell wholesale, Shopify can support your goals for growth—whatever they are.
You get 24/7 support
From late-night inventory counts to your weekend rush, having reliable support is vital for your retail business. On Shopify, you can connect with a human 24/7. Square has limited hours of service, leaving you to navigate help documents or chatbots when you just need answers.
From the seamless checkout experience, to the ecommerce integration and apps, to the simple and powerful reporting, there’s no beating Shopify POS.
Ben Sehl, Kotn
Shopify has allowed me to seamlessly sell products on my website, in my brick and mortar store as well as on Facebook & Google. I load my products once and it's done… Once one realizes that the Shopify platform is a one stop shop for marketing and selling it is literally off to the races.
Curt, via G2 Reviews
Shopify, Shopify POS, and the back-end reporting has helped us to really analyze our business in a way that we couldn’t before. To have one system where every aspect of the store is put together has been really, really helpful.
Ale Tarver, Assembly New York
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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.
Try Shopify free for 3 days, no credit card required. By entering your email, you agree to receive marketing emails from Shopify.
FAQs
Shopify POS vs Square: which is better?
Shopify provides independent retailers with a complete solution for running their business and taking payments both in-store and online. An intuitive POS, powerful ecommerce features, and transparent pricing plans make Shopify a great fit for all businesses, whether they’re starting or scaling. Square is easy to use and offers free plans but unexpected add-ons and simple features can make it difficult to manage monthly costs and scale for growth.
Can I integrate Square and Shopify?
No, Shopify and Square can’t be integrated. If you’re looking to manage your business from one place, we recommend using Shopify. Unifying sales with Shopify can help you win back time spent on inventory, make more sales in store and online, and keep customers coming back. Shopify’s monthly plans include your POS, ecommerce, and payments with quick payouts and consistent rates, starting from 2.4% + 0¢ USD.
Is Square’s online store good?
Square offers simple websites with limited customization. While it’s easy to use, the basic templates can limit your ability to match your brand’s identity online. Shopify offers over 100 designs that can be customized endlessly along with all the tools to accept online payments, manage orders, and simplify shipping. Both Square and Shopify sync in-store and online sales, but Shopify’s powerful ecommerce features give you the ability to do more with your data and grow sales locally and internationally.
How do Shopify’s transaction rates compare to Square’s?
Shopify’s plans include a built-in payments provider: Shopify Payments*. You can accept payments online or in-store with consistent rates and quick payouts. Transaction rates start at 2.4% + 0¢ USD for in-person and 2.4% + 30¢ USD for online payments. Square’s rates start at 2.5% + 10¢ for in-person payments and 2.9% + 30¢ for online payments. On both Square and Shopify, payment rates are dictated by your plan and higher tier plans benefit from lower rates.
*For permitted industries in supported countries.
Page last updated June 2021
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