Spoton POS vs Shopify POS: Which One’s Best for Ecommerce?

Spoton POS and Shopify POS are two powerful point-of-sale systems, but which one is better for ecommerce businesses?

I’ve spent over 200 hours analyzing, testing, and comparing POS systems — and here’s the verdict:

Shopify POS is the clear winner if your business sells online or plans to go omnichannel. Its native ecommerce integration, retail tools, and synced inventory give it a serious edge.

Spoton POS, on the other hand, is better suited for restaurants and hospitality businesses with physical-only operations.

Quick Verdict: Spoton POS vs Shopify POS

POS System	Best For	Starting Price
Shopify POS	Ecommerce businesses, online and retail integration	$39/month (POS Lite included)
Spoton POS	Restaurants, cafes, local businesses	Custom quote (typically $65–$135/month)

Winner: Shopify POS is the best option for ecommerce stores. It offers native integration with your Shopify store, superior inventory syncing, and robust retail features.

Quick Comparison Table: Shopify POS vs Spoton POS

Feature	Shopify POS	Spoton POS
Ecommerce Integration	Native (Shopify store)	No built-in integration
Retail Inventory	Real-time, multi-location	Basic inventory features
Restaurant Features	Limited	Industry-leading for food service
Offline Mode	Limited	Full offline support
Payment Options	Shopify Payments + 100+ gateways	Spoton Payments
Customer Profiles	Unified across channels	Loyalty tools, not synced online
Hardware	Shopify card reader, terminals	Custom hardware bundles
App Ecosystem	Over 8,000 Shopify apps	Limited marketplace
Support	24/7 support with Help Center	Dedicated onboarding + support
Pricing Transparency	Clear, listed publicly	Requires sales call

Shopify POS: The Ecommerce Champion

Shopify POS was built from the ground up for ecommerce. If you’re already using Shopify for your online store, this POS is the perfect extension of your business.

Everything’s synced — products, inventory, customers, orders, and even analytics — across your online and offline operations. Whether you’re selling at a pop-up, your own retail store, or via local pickup, Shopify POS keeps things tight and consistent.

Key Benefits of Shopify POS

• Centralized Inventory Management: Track inventory in real time across online and retail channels.
• Seamless Checkout Experience: Unified shopping cart and customer profile between store and POS.
• Shopify Payments Integration: Avoid third-party gateways and extra fees.
• Omnichannel Tools: Enable local pickup, in-store returns, and more.
• POS Pro Features: Staff permissions, smart reporting, and sales analytics.

Shopify POS Pricing

Plan	Monthly Price	Includes POS Pro?
Basic	$39/month	POS Lite only
Grow	$105/month	POS Lite only
Advanced	$399/month	POS Lite only
POS Pro Add-on	$89/month per location	Full POS features

Shopify POS Lite is included in all plans. For advanced features like staff permissions, multi-store inventory, and more detailed analytics, you’ll need POS Pro.

Spoton POS: Best for Brick-and-Mortar, Not Ecommerce

Spoton POS is built primarily for restaurants, bars, cafes, and service-based shops. It offers flexible menu modifiers, tipping, loyalty programs, and offline-first functionality. But its ecommerce support is minimal to nonexistent.

If your business operates exclusively in-person, especially in food service, Spoton is strong. But if online sales are part of your strategy, you’ll hit limitations fast.

Key Benefits of Spoton POS

• Custom Menus & Modifiers: Perfect for food and hospitality businesses.
• Offline Functionality: Works without internet, syncing when back online.
• Built-in Loyalty Tools: Helps with repeat customer retention.
• Custom Payment Hardware: Includes tablets, stands, terminals.
• Dedicated Setup Support: Personalized onboarding and setup.

Spoton POS Pricing

Spoton does not publish pricing — you’ll need to contact their sales team. Based on data and customer feedback:

• POS Software: $65–$135/month per terminal
• Hardware Bundle: Custom quote (may include setup fee)
• Processing Fees: Around 2.5–2.9% + $0.10 per transaction

No ecommerce functionality is included by default. Integrating online orders may require custom dev work or third-party platforms like WooCommerce or Ecwid.

Selling Online: Shopify Dominates

Shopify POS isn’t just better at handling ecommerce — it was built for it.

Everything is designed to bridge the gap between online and offline sales, giving you a unified backend for your entire operation. Spoton doesn’t offer this out of the box.

Shopify Wins on:

• Native ecommerce integration (your online store and POS are one system)
• Real-time inventory syncing across all channels
• Ability to run marketing campaigns from a single dashboard
• Unified customer history and purchase data

If selling online is even part of your business plan, Shopify POS gives you the structure to manage it efficiently — and scale.

Another major advantage with Shopify is how quickly you can launch and optimize your online presence.

With built-in SEO features, fast site performance, and integration with sales channels like Amazon, TikTok, and Instagram, you can expand your reach without needing to leave the Shopify dashboard.

Spoton simply doesn’t offer that kind of flexibility or visibility for online growth.

Selling In-Person: Depends on Your Industry

Spoton POS is tailored for hospitality. Its features are built around quick-service workflows — think tip prompts, table service, order modifiers, and loyalty programs.

Shopify POS works well for retail stores, but it’s not designed for food or hospitality.

Here’s how they compare:

Industry Type	Best POS System
Fashion/Retail Boutique	Shopify POS
Coffee Shop or Bakery	Spoton POS
Ecommerce + Pop-Up Shop	Shopify POS
Sit-down Restaurant	Spoton POS
Art or Craft Seller	Shopify POS
Food Truck or Bar	Spoton POS

While Shopify handles product-based retail exceptionally well, it lacks some of the features that make Spoton stand out for service-based environments — like managing table turns, printing orders to the kitchen, or scheduling shift changes for waitstaff.

So if your in-person operation revolves around food service or hospitality, Spoton is likely to be a better operational fit.

Hardware & Usability

Both platforms offer reliable hardware, but their approaches differ.

Shopify POS Hardware

• Shopify Retail Kit (iPad stand, card reader, barcode scanner)
• Tap & Chip Reader: $49
• POS Terminal: All-in-one device with Shopify Payments

The hardware works seamlessly with Shopify’s backend. Everything feels modern, clean, and easy to use — especially for retail environments.

Shopify’s setup is intuitive for both beginners and experienced teams. You can manage the entire POS system through your existing Shopify admin.

Hardware arrives preconfigured, and getting started usually takes minutes rather than hours. Staff can be trained quickly using Shopify’s clean interface, and most troubleshooting is already covered through Shopify’s help center.

For fast-paced retail or pop-up environments, Shopify POS hardware is built for portability.

The Tap & Chip Reader connects via Bluetooth, and the POS Terminal can be used as a standalone system with minimal setup. It’s optimized for flexibility without sacrificing performance.

Spoton POS Hardware

• All-in-one terminal with touchscreen display
• Receipt printer, cash drawer, kitchen printer options
• Offline-ready setup for food service speed

Hardware bundles are only available via custom quote and are more tailored to food service environments.

Spoton’s hardware is designed with quick-service operations in mind. You’ll find features like dual-screen terminals for customer-facing interactions and kitchen display system (KDS) integrations for fast order fulfillment.

These setups support busy restaurant workflows well, including kitchen printing, tipping prompts, and table layouts.

However, the onboarding process is more complex. Spoton handles hardware installation in many cases, which can be useful for larger locations — but may delay setup.

And since the hardware is more proprietary, replacements or upgrades may take longer and require going through Spoton’s team directly.

App Marketplace and Flexibility

Shopify POS Apps

With over 8,000 apps, Shopify’s ecosystem is unmatched. Want CRM, loyalty, email automation, or upsells? There’s an app for it — often more than one.

This means you can scale your business or add new features without needing developers or custom software.

For retailers that rely on customization, Shopify apps provide almost limitless flexibility. You can choose between free and paid options, integrate with marketing tools like Klaviyo or Mailchimp, and sync loyalty programs across platforms.

These tools help small businesses scale into multi-location operations without rebuilding their tech stack.

The app store is also highly curated. Shopify regularly removes low-performing apps and highlights trending ones, so you can discover tools that match your growth stage.

Whether it’s live chat widgets, upsell prompts, or returns management, there’s usually a plug-and-play solution available.

Spoton POS Apps

Spoton’s app ecosystem is small. It leans heavily on its built-in tools. While this works fine for restaurants, it’s limiting for businesses that want to experiment or scale online.

The platform does include some valuable native tools — such as loyalty programs, customer marketing, and reporting dashboards — but these are typically focused on in-person engagement.

If you want more advanced tools like third-party fulfillment, online scheduling, or ecommerce CRM, you’re out of luck.

For businesses that don’t need to build a digital presence or connect multiple sales channels, Spoton’s simplicity might be fine.

But if you plan to expand or integrate with external systems, the lack of third-party support becomes a bottleneck quickly.

Customer Support

Both platforms offer strong customer support, but in different ways.

Shopify POS Support

• 24/7 live chat and help center
• Massive online community and guides
• In-depth documentation and training videos

Shopify’s support structure is built for scale. You’ll find answers fast in the help center, which includes tutorials, setup walkthroughs, and step-by-step guides.

For more complex issues, the live chat assistant can escalate requests to a human within minutes.

Beyond support channels, Shopify has invested heavily in education. There are free courses, community forums, and YouTube tutorials created both by Shopify and its large network of partners.

This makes it easier to troubleshoot on your own without needing to file a ticket or call support.

Spoton POS Support

• Personalized onboarding
• Phone and chat support
• Industry-specific setup help (restaurant menus, etc.)

Spoton takes a more hands-on approach. When you sign up, you’re usually paired with a specialist who helps configure your setup — especially helpful if you’re managing a custom menu or complex table layout.

Their support team understands restaurant workflows and offers niche expertise that’s hard to replicate in a more general system.

That said, once onboarding is complete, ongoing support is mostly handled by the general support team. While responsive, their knowledge is sometimes limited to the standard features — and online support documentation isn’t as extensive or up-to-date as Shopify’s.

If your business is growing or evolving quickly, this could mean slower adjustments over time.

Final Verdict: Which Should You Choose?

Here’s the simple breakdown.

If You…	Go With…
Sell online and in-person	Shopify POS
Run a restaurant or bar	Spoton POS
Want one platform for ecommerce	Shopify POS
Don’t need online sales	Spoton POS
Need advanced inventory syncing	Shopify POS
Prefer a hospitality-first system	Spoton POS

For ecommerce sellers, Shopify POS is the obvious choice. It connects your online and offline business in a way that Spoton simply can’t.

If your business is based entirely on in-person sales — especially in hospitality — then Spoton may be the right tool. But for most ecommerce-focused brands, Shopify POS provides the flexibility, integrations, and growth potential you need.

It’s also worth noting that Shopify is continuing to expand its physical retail features.

With POS Pro, Shopify is closing the gap even more when it comes to offline operations, offering staff management, advanced reports, and flexible fulfillment options.

If you’re unsure, start with a Shopify free trial and explore the POS tools from inside your dashboard. You’ll see how quickly it fits into your business flow — and whether the ecommerce-first approach is the right one for you.

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