MicroBiz Cloud vs Shopify POS

Simply put, If you are looking for a ‘real’ inventory management system, MicroBiz Cloud is a better fit for you.

MicroBiz vs Shopify Tightrope 1080px 1080x675 1

Looking for the best alternatives to Shopify POS? MicroBiz has been in business since the 1990’s and used this experience to build a top alternative to Shopify POS. MicroBiz is focused exclusively on the development of POS and retail automation software for multi-store specialty retail and services businesses. In comparison, Shopify was founded as a ecommerce technology business. Their POS system was added much later. As a result, their POS system is much more focused on the integration with the Shopify ecommerce platform and less on the core features of top POS systems, such as inventory management.

Shopify is Missing Many Key Inventory Management Features

With MicroBiz, you can manage special orders (the sale of items not in stock at your store). You can sell kits or bundled items (such as furniture sets or blends of component items). You can track the average cost of items in inventory in MicroBiz but not in Shopify. You can also manage the inventory and sell/return items with serial numbers (such as appliances or parts).

Shopify is Not Focused on Retailers Offering Add On Services

Shopify does not support work orders and related services. MicroBiz allows you to manage your in-store repair or service department. You can check in a customer owned item, add parts and services, assign to an employee and collect a deposit with ease. There is also an optional service calandar to help with scheduling your work orders and deliveries. You cannot do this in Shopify POS.

Shopify Requires its More Expensive Shopify Pro Product for Many Key Features

Shopify POS’s basic service is missing several key features that come with MicroBiz. These missing features require you to purchase the more expensive Shopify Pro Plan. Missing features include enterprise purchase orders, physical inventory counts and store transfers of items between locations, employee roles and permissions, stock adjustments, delivery management, and others. All of these are available in MicroBiz POS’s Standard Plan

MicroBiz is More Affordable

MicroBiz has been in business since the 1990’s and did not need to raise VC money in the 2010’s to fund development. We do not have fancy offices or flashy marketing campaigns. This allows us to charge more reasonable prices.

MicroBiz Cloud

-One store
-One register

$60/mo

plus $30/mo. for additional registers

Comparison of Features – MicroBiz vs Shopify

The table below provides a comparison of features between MicroBiz Cloud and Shopify POS. You will see that Shopify POS is missing some key requirements for inventory-centric retailers and retailers offering services.

	MicroBiz	Shopify POS
MANAGEMENT
Remote Access	x	x
Management Dashboard	x	x
Restrictions on Discounts	x	x
Restrictions on Returns	x	x
Accounts Receivable	x
Employee Roles	x	x
Customizable Receipts	x	x
VAT/Tax Inclusive Pricing	x	x
Customer/Product Tax Groups	x	x
Customer & Product File Imports	x	x
REGISTER
Mobile POS	x	x
Barcode Scanning	x	x
Returns & Voids	x	x
Split Tenders	x	x
Suspend/Recall Transactions	x	x
Custom Payment Types	x	x
Gift Cards	x
Store Credits	x	x
Gift Receipts		x
Integrated Payment Processing	x	x
Discounting by Transaction and Item	x	x
Emailing of Receipts	x	x
QR Codes & SMS		x
Product Quick Add Keys	x	x
Apply/Assign Salesperson	x
Register Close-out (Z Report)	x	x
ORDERS
Order Management	x	x
Work Orders/Service Dept	x
Special Orders	x
Min Deposit Requirements	x	x
Layaways	x	x
Backorders	x	x
Delivery Management	x	x
Quotes, Estimates & Invoices	x	x
PRODUCT/CATALOG
Departments/Categories	x	x
Product File Imports	x	x
Auto SKU Generator	x	x
Average/Replacement Cost	x	x
Tiered/Quantity Price Break	x	x
Customer-based Pricing	x
Reorder Level/Quantities	x	x
Time-based Promotions	x	x
Product Image	x	x
Multiple Tax Levels	x	x
Fractional Quantities/Sell by Weight	x	x
Prompt for Price	x	x
Serialized Products/Inventory	x
Matrix/Configurable Products	x	x
Kit/Bundled Products	x
INVENTORY
Purchasing & Receiving	x	x
Auto PO Fill by Reorder Level	x
Suppliers/Vendors	x	x
Barcode Label Printing	x	x
Multi-Store Visibility	x	x
Store Transfers	x	x
Special Order Tagging	x
Low Stock Alerts		x
Demand Forecasting		x
Store Transfers	x	x
Physical Inventory Count	x	x
CUSTOMERS
Shipping & Billing Addresses	x	x
Type/Groups/Classes	x	x
Purchase History by Items	x	x
Customer-based Pricing	x
House Accounts/AR Statements	x
Tax Exempt Status	x	x
INTEGRATIONS
Shopify Ecommerce Integration		x
WooCommerce Ecommerce Integration	x
QuickBooks Online Integration	x	x
PAYMENTS
Integrated Payments	x	x
Apple Pay/Mobile Pay	x	x
Tips	x	x
Cash Discount/Credit Card Surcharge	x
Card on File	x	x
EMPLOYEES
Username & Password	x	x
Employee Roles	x	x
Access by Store	x	x
REPORTS
Inventory	x	x
Sales	x	x
Register	x	x
Vendor/Supplier	x	x
Customer	x	x
Multi-Store Reporting	x	x
Export to CSV & PDF	x	x