If you follow me on Instagram, you know that I’ve been doing more craft shows recently. After a few years of consistently growing my online sales, I decided to add some shows into my schedule to help expose my work to new customers.
And while I still feel like I’m finding my sea legs when it comes to selling at craft shows, I wanted to share one tool that’s made managing my online store while away at shows so much easier – Shopify’s Point of Sale.
(Before we get any further, I just want to say that this post isn’t sponsored by Shopify and there aren’t any affiliate links! I just genuinely wanted to share what I’ve been using and what’s been working for my own business!)
Shopify’s Point of Sale is a chip and swipe credit card reader combined with a mobile app, all of which syncs to your online store. And while you may be totally happy using your current credit card processor at shows, today I want to share a few reasons I’m loving Shopify’s POS.
1. You can sync it to inventory on your website.
I’ll never forget the first stressful summer of my business. I had recently opened an Etsy shop, while also doing a full slate of outdoor craft shows. And because I still hadn’t streamlined my production process, I was concerned about selling something online and in person at the same time. (And this was in the pre-iPhone days, so I was trying to manage my Etsy inventory on a Blackberry.)
Flash forward to this year, when I made the decision to do more high end craft shows. While the technology may have changed, I still found myself in a similar predicament. How to manage inventory of my one of kind pieces online and at shows at the same time?
My first thought was to make a completely different set of inventory for shows, but let’s face it, who has time for that?!?
Then I remembered that I had ordered Shopify’s POS device a few months back (hey, it was free!) and decided to look into how it worked.
With the Shopify POS, I can literally select the exact pieces I’m selling at the show from my online inventory, and it will immediately show as sold out on my website. (And if something would sell on my site while I’m at a show, it will show up as sold out in the POS app.)
Removing the stress of worrying about whether I’m double selling one of a kind pieces is definitely the biggest plus of Shopify’s POS.
2. You get detailed reporting during and after the show.
One of the things I never loved about craft shows was having to guess what kind of inventory I needed before each show. And while prepping for a craft show will always require at least some guesswork, having detailed reports of what sold at prior shows certainly makes the planning process easier.
Because you can select actual products from your online store (or manually add products on the fly), Shopify POS gives you detailed reports about what sold at a show. For someone who loves data and reports (but isn’t always so good at keeping track of those things while a show is going on) this is invaluable.
Not only does seeing what’s sold help me plan inventory for future shows, but it also allows you to compare product sales between shows to look for trends.
In addition to seeing what products have sold, you can also see hourly sales stats, even while a show is going on. This is great if you want to compare sales on the same day at different shows or even the same show from year to year.
There’s always an element of guesswork when you’re doing a craft show, but the more data you have, the more prepared you can be for future shows!
3. It’s a chip card reader that’s easy to use. (And free if you’re already selling with Shopify.)
So clearly, one and two were the big pluses for me. But I still think it’s worth mentioning that the Shopify POS system is a chip and swipe reader, which means it’s as secure as an other credit card processing system out there. It also connects via Bluetooth to your phone or tablet, has really long battery life, and is free if you have a Shopify store.
As far as hardware goes, it’s as simple and easy to use as Square (which I know has become the default for most craft show credit card transactions) with the added bonus of syncing directly to your online store. (If you’re using Shopify.) And that makes it a much better option, as far as I’m concerned!
Like any system, this one isn’t perfect. (I did have to turn my Bluetooth on and off a few times to get the device to reconnect. But that could just as easily been a problem with the out of date OS on my iPhone.) But if you’re looking for a solution to help you manage one of a kind or limited edition products between your online store and in person selling, I’d highly recommend Shopify’s Point Of Sale!