ShopKeep's iPad POS software is aimed at two biggest POS-reliant industries: retail and restaurants. Through the software system, a store's logged-in employees can accept cash or credit, email or print receipts, and track inventory alongside sales, all from an iPad or Android tablet. And, since the software is cloud-based, managers can easily access all the data from their own phones, even when not on location at their store.

The vendor also sells hardware options for businesses in need of more than just iPads, from barcode scanners to receipt printers.

In addition to retail and restaurant-specific services, Shopkeep offers POS systems designed for more granular industries with their own needs: Bars, coffee shops, food trucks and clothing stores are all catered to. That said, this review covers the main features you can expect from any ShopKeep POS software, followed by a quick overview of the support, training and pricing information to know about ShopKeep.

ShopKeep POS: Core Features

Transactions and Payment Processing

ShopKeep's POS lets staffers quickly add or remove items, include sales tax, or specify item quantities with a tap. An “add notes” option allows them to further clarify any unique order details. The EMV-equipped service accepts cash, credit or mobile payments.

If using multiple registers, staff members can interact: They can open, update, split, merge, close or transfer checks between registers. They can change shifts easily, and can quickly create X- or Z-reports.

Staff Management

Managers can set individual-specific access levels to keep sensitive information secure. Shift reports let managers follow their employees' clocked hours and sales numbers at a glance.

By tracking the busiest hours of the week, managers can structure future shifts to take better advantage of customer trends.

Inventory Management

You can manage large inventories entirely through ShopKeep, which lets users upload thousands of stock keeping units (SKUs). Users can track product-specific profit margins, organize products by category and department, and can add modifiers to products to further differentiate them.

If you're running a restaurant, ShopKeep's raw goods tools allow you to track the individual ingredients that go into each food item you serve. And, if you're constantly updating your inventory, one of ShopKeep's hardware options is a bluetooth scanner that lets you scan and upload a new product immediately.

Reporting and Analytics

The manager's analytics dashboard crunches data to reveal insights as granular as average sale value, average items per sale, and average number of returns. Managers can track their monthly or yearly progress in these areas as well as overall foot traffic or transactions, and can understand which products sell best or which employees make the most sales.

As long as managers are using ShopKeep's mobile app, they can track sales and stay informed about their business even while out and about.

Customer Marketing Features

ShopKeep's email receipt options allows you to collect a customer emailing list that you can then use to give special offers or notify them on upcoming events. You can track your most common customers by number of visits or purchases, and use the data to inform which discounts will be the most effective. MailChimp is one of ShopKeep's third-party integrations, allowing managers to craft better email campaigns.

In addition, ShopKeep lets you sell your own business-specific gift cards through their POS.

ShopKeep Plans and Pricing

The pricing for Shopkeep's POS software subscription plans is not listed on the site, which instead asks potential customers to contact the vendor for a quote. TechCo's own quote form, listed at the bottom of this page, can help you locate plenty of additional POS vendors as well.

Shopkeep's listed price was — as late as early 2017 — $69/register/month, which should give you an idea of the price point to expect. Still, the best option is to get a quote tailored to the number of users, registers, and locations specific to your business.

The Verdict

TechCo recommends ShopKeep for businesses that highly value a mobile POS service. ShopKeep's core features cover all the POS basics a business should need, and its customer marketing features in particular offer an additional value that you won't find in many other POS services.

However, given ShopKeep's lack of transparent prices, you may want to pair their quote with quotes from other top POS vendors. You can read TechCo's overview of average POS prices here, and can fill out our quick quote form below.