Last updated: 2025-06-17
Estimated reading time: 30 minutes

Before you start

✅ This feature is available on Ako Marketing's Platinum plan($49/month) and above.
✅ An active points program is required. Learn how to enable your points program.
✅ If you haven't installed Ako Marketing yet, click here to start your 14-day free trial.
✅ Required tools: A tablet/phone with the Shopify POS App installed (supporting iOS and Android devices)
✅ For point redemption offline, you need Shopify POS Pro plan. For earning points from offline orders, Shopify POS Lite plan is enough.

1. What is Shopify POS?

Shopify Point of Sale (POS) is an application designed for brick-and-mortar businesses. It can be used in physical stores and pop-up shops.
All Shopify POS sales records sync with your Shopify store's backend, allowing you to manage both online and offline orders in one place while tracking orders, customers, and inventory.

Shopify POS is available in two versions: Lite and Pro. All Shopify store plans include POS Lite for basic operations. If you need additional retail features—such as attributing sales to employees or supporting unlimited POS employee accounts—you can refer to Shopify’s help center for more information on POS features and pricing.

2. Features available after integration

  1. Earn points for both online and in-store purchases.
  2. Combined purchase records across all channels for member tier upgrades.
  3. Member-exclusive checkout discounts extend to physical stores.
  4. Easily redeem points during in-store checkout.
  5. Immediate signup reward redemption for new customers.
  6. Automatic point refund for in-store returns.

3. Pre-setup for using Shopify POS

Step 1: Add a location

  1. Shopify Admin > Settings > Locations > Add Location > Enter "Name" and "Address".
  2. If the location is used only for processing offline orders, do not check "Fulfillment".
  3. If the location will process both online and offline orders, check "Fulfillment > Shipping", and set up shipping fees for the location. 

Step 2: Allocate Inventory 

  1. Shopify Admin > Products > Inventory
  2. Use "Bulk Edit" or import a CSV file to update inventory for the location.

Step 3: Create staff accounts

  1. Shopify Admin > Sales Channels > Point of Sale (POS) > Staff > Add Staff > Enter contact info.
  2. Set a PIN for each staff account. It’s recommended to set unique PINs for each staff, this helps Shopify to attribute sales accurately.

⚙️ If you are on a POS Pro plan, you can further manage permissions like:

  1. Customize staff permissions with POS roles, for more information, please click here.
  2. (If you have multiple locations) Manage which locations staff have access to by "Locations > Restrict access".

Step 4: Install Point Redemption Button

  1. (Tablet/Phone): Shopify POS homepage > Add Title > App > Click "Add" for Ako Marketing and Save.
  2. (Desktop): Shopify Admin > Point of Sale (POS) > Settings > General > POS Apps > Ako Point Redemption > Add.

4. How to create Orders and redeem Points in Shopify POS

Step 1: Add customer

Use the search bar on the POS homepage to add a customer to the order.If the customer is new, staff can select "Add New Customer" to create an account, 💡or trying Ako Marketing's social login for quick signup. 

Step 2: Add products

Search for products manually on the POS homepage or scan barcodes to add them to the cart. For popular items, you can set up shortcuts on POS homepage so your staff can easily add them without searching.

Step 3: Redeem points and apply member checkout discounts

*POS Pro Plan Required

After confirming the order details, click the button with the Ako logo. The system will calculate the points available for redemption. Once the box turns red and displays "Remove Discount," it means the points have been applied. If the customer has a member exclusive checkout discount online, they will receive the same discount for their offline orders. Once confirmed, you can proceed to checkout.

5. Frequently asked questions

1. Can customers choose how many points to redeem?

Currently, customers cannot choose their own redemption amount for offline orders. The system applies the redemption limit set in your Ako Marketing settings. For example, if the redemption limit is set to 20%, this rule will apply to both online and offline orders.

2. Can I set products to be sold only in-store?

Yes, on each product page, there is a "sales channel" option allows you to decide wether the product will be sold online, in-store, or both.

3. I'm using a POS Lite plan. How can I redeem points for my customers on Shopify POS?

Automatic points redemption is only available on the POS Pro plan. If you're using a POS Lite plan, you can manually apply points by creating a custom discount for the customer's POS order. Then, go to your Shopify admin > Ako Marketing > Customers to manually deduct the points from their account.