ShopKeep POS Review 2021

ShopKeep is a fantastic cloud-based POS system that suits almost any type of business, though it's a particularly strong choice for restaurants.

ShopKeep's apps will let you accept payments using iPad or Android tablets, as well as help you track your inventory and sales.

However, ShopKeep was acquired back in November 2020 by POS giant Lightspeed. Since then, Lightspeed has been working to fully subsume ShopKeep into its existing offering. We'll talk more about what that means for ShopKeep and its users in a moment.

In the meantime, you can get started with Lightspeed for absolutely nothing. It offers free accounts to businesses, which can help get you up and running. After that, ShopKeep tailors its pricing plans to each business, though entry-level plans will set you back around $49 per month.

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.

However, ShopKeep isn't really designed to support service-based businesses. It also only supports businesses in the US, Canada, and the UK.

Looking for a specific price to guide your POS research? It's well worth comparing tailored quotes from all the leading suppliers using our quick and easy price comparison tool.

ShopKeep Acquired by Lightspeed

In November 2020, Lightspeed bought ShopKeep for around $440 million as it was seeking to expand its presence in the US hospitality sector.

The deal also allowed Lightspeed to increase “investment in sales, marketing, and research and development to capitalize on the increasing demand for modern, cloud-based, omnichannel commerce solutions.”

As of March 2021, ShopKeep was rebranded to “ShopKeep by Lightspeed” and the company promised that existing POS systems would still be “maintained and supported” and the company was still available to help with questions.

Over time, however, ShopKeep and Lightspeed will become more closely aligned as the two halves of the company work to unify the code and software stack that make their services tick. This means that if you currently use ShopKeep, you will start to see your service look increasingly like Lightspeed.

Fortunately, it doesn't seem likely that Lightspeed will leave any merchants in the lurch, your POS should be supported into the future. You'll also be unable to sign up for a new ShopKeep account at the moment, it's Lightspeed or nothing.

ShopKeep Pricing and Plans

ShopKeep offers three pricing plans, in addition to its free starter plan.

In this review:

• ShopKeep POS Pricing and Plans
• ShopKeep POS: Core Features
• ShopKeep POS Setup and Customer Support
• ShopKeep POS Alternatives
• ShopKeep POS Review Verdict
• ShopKeep POS FAQs

The Free ShopKeep Account will let you use the POS in a single location, with a single register, operated by a single staff member. You'll have detailed reporting on sales of up to $5,000 per month, and limited access to the ShopKeep Pocket app. You'll also get unlimited product inventory.

However, if you need extra registers, locations, or staff members – or are running more than $5,000 per month in sales – you'll need to upgrade to a paid-for plan.

The Basic plan is ShopKeep's cheapest paid-for offering, and will cost you $49 per month.

It allows you to manage an unlimited number of employees, accept virtually all payment forms, and sell products and services online. The Basic plan even comes with some solid reporting, which is rare for cheap POS plans. You also get access to 24/7 customer support, employee performance tracking, and the ability to personalize and target your marketing campaigns.

The Essential plan will cost you $79 per month, and is ShopKeep's most popular plan.

It comes with all the features from the Basic plan, plus some nice extras. You'll be able to integrate your service with QuickBooks,  for example, as well as issue gift cards, and track all your sales on your mobile phone.

You can also set up custom permissions for employees, which will help manage their access to sensitive business information. You can also set restrictions around the number of items you can sell, or the age of the customer — pretty important if you sell cigarettes, alcohol, or other semi-restricted items. Finally, you can also start using MailChimp's email marketing platform with the data you collect as a customer checks out.

The Advanced plan will cost you $179 per month, and comes with everything from the previous two plans.

You get unlimited register licenses per location (compared to the single register you can have on the Essential and Basic plans). You can also start a customer loyalty program, as well as centralize your business' social media presence – handy if you need to update opening hours across multiple platforms.

You can also buy the $500 hardware bundle, which gives you a credit card reader, a receipt printer, and an iPad stand. The Advanced plan also gives you priority phone support – useful if something goes wrong.

It's also worth noting that the prices we've quoted here are if you pay annually. If you want to pay monthly for ShopKeep POS, the Basic plan jumps to $69 per month, while the Essential and Advanced plans increase to $99 per month and $199 per month, respectively.

Note: New customers are no longer being accepted, following ShopKeep's acquisition. Try Lightspeed, instead.

The best way to fully understand how much a POS will cost your business is to get a quote tailored to the number of users, registers, and locations specific to your business.

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 from Apple Pay and Google Pay. You can even accept PayPal.

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

You can add discounts at checkout, either as a percentage of the product's value, or as a specific amount. Bill-splitting is available for restaurants, while gift cards can be also be accepted.

Staff Management

Managers can set individual-specific access levels to help keep sensitive information secure. Shift reports also allow managers to 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 capitalize on 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 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, ShopKeep's hardware options include a Bluetooth scanner that lets you scan and upload a new product immediately.

ShopKeep Restaurant Features

ShopKeep has all of the essential features you need to run a great restaurant, bar, or cafe.

It offers a detailed floor plan and solid table management features to help you keep the floor in order.

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 allow you to assemble a customer emailing list, which you can then use to announce special offers or keep people posted 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 its POS.

ShopKeep Hardware Suite

ShopKeep's suite of hardware covers the basics with credit card readers and barcode printers, as well as a few handy non-essentials like personalized gift paper. This video introduces viewers to ShopKeep's range of hardware options, as well as explaining their one-year warranty and policy of overnighting replacements when needed.

Setup and Customer Support

ShopKeep offers a free downloadable guide to POS systems in general, as well as a database of support articles for the ShopKeep POS specifically. These articles are divided into searchable categories including “Getting Started”, “Backoffice”, and “Hardware Setup”. Most FAQs can be sorted via these online answers.

ShopKeep customers can access their available technical support contact options by logging into BackOffice, which is ShopKeep's online customer portal, or by submitting a case through an email form on ShopKeep's website.

Support & Training

ShopKeep Alternatives

ShopKeep is a great POS with powerful tools for restaurants and retail businesses alike.

However, we think that Vend and Square are better options for most retail businesses. Square is also a better choice for most restaurant businesses, as well. Vend has a better till, while Square represents better value for money.

However, there are a number of alternatives on the market that can offer similar mobile functionality, as well as a range of services.

So, should you choose ShopKeep, or one of the other leading providers on the market to be your business's POS system? Let's compare our top-rated providers:

ShopKeep POS Review Verdict

Tech.co 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 additional value that you won't find in many other POS services.

Note: New customers are no longer being accepted, following ShopKeep's acquisition. Try Lightspeed, instead.

You've made it too far to leave without any pricing, which is why you should fill out our quick pricing questionnaire to get a more complete picture of how ShopKeep will impact your business. We also have an overview of average POS prices here, which will give you a better idea of what the entire industry charges for POS software.

ShopKeep FAQs

We answer your most-asked questions about ShopKeep.