Shopify Launches Rebuilt POS to Offer Flexibility Post-COVID

Need To Know

• Canada-based e-commerce giant Shopify has launched a new new POS system, bringing online and in-person sales together through improved omni-channel management.
• The relaunch offers added flexibility to retailers temporarily shuttered due to COVID-19.
• Increased options, such as curbside pickup and flexible delivery rates will be offered as businesses are able to gradually reopen.
• App integration also includes greater mobile capabilities, including appointment scheduling and door-counting for foot-traffic management.

Analysis

Shopify is relaunching its POS today, with a redesign that offers added capabilities and flexibility for retailers, in direct response to shifting business needs in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Retailers need help right now,” Shopify Director of Retail Ian Black said in a press release announcing the relaunch. “Shopify is doing everything we can to help retailers adapt to current challenges and come back stronger.”

The relaunch, which is available globally, bolsters Shopify’s omni-channel capabilities by uniting online and in-person sales in one place. As retailers continue to adapt to new conditions, offering curbside pickup and attempting to limit foot traffic to bricks-and-mortar locations, in adherence to physical-distancing requirements, when stores are able to reopen, Shopify’s POS will offer these capabilities within its app.

According to the release, over a two-week period last month, Shopify saw a ten-fold increase in users allowing for curbside pickup and in-store pickup options.

“Retailers deserve a point-of-sale that helps them shift their sales from in-store to online, easily offer curbside pick-up and local delivery, and be ready for growth when in-store customers start to return,” Black said. “No other point-of-sale is as powerful for the challenges retailers face today.”

The Shopify POS relaunch comes just under a week after the e-commerce giant rebranded its order-tracking app from Arrive to Shop, adding search and product-recommendation capabilities to the app, with a focus on shopping local.

Shopify has been extremely busy over the last month as the e-commerce platform tries to support merchants in any way it can. The company debuted its capital loan program in Canada, launched a competition that asked entrepreneurs to develop solutions that would help merchants during the pandemic, and released a new email marketing feature.