Opening a physical store when you already sell online

1. Add the shop as a location

Your warehouse (or spare room) is already a location. The shop becomes a second one. Decide early which location fulfills online orders, and whether the shop can ship them too.

2. Move stock with transfers, not edits

Use inventory transfers to move stock from the warehouse to the shop, so both locations' numbers stay honest. Count the shop's stock once it arrives.

3. Decide POS Lite or POS Pro for the shop

POS Lite comes with your plan and covers simple selling. POS Pro is charged per location and adds staff roles and permissions, deeper inventory tools and retail reports. A one-person pop-up can start on Lite; a shop with staff usually needs Pro. See our costs page for current prices.

4. Set up staff and permissions

Give each person their own login. Decide who can give discounts, process returns, or open the cash drawer without a sale.

5. Choose hardware for your actual counter

A phone or tablet and a card reader can run a counter. Most shops add a receipt printer, a barcode scanner and a cash drawer. Buy for the counter you have, not the one in the catalog photo.

6. Check sales tax for the new address

Selling in person means collecting sales tax based on the shop's location. Confirm your registration and settings for the shop's state and locality before opening.

7. Train, then rehearse

Run a full practice day: sales, a return, an exchange, a discount, a gift card, opening and closing. Fix what trips people up before customers arrive.

8. Open, then check the first week

Watch for stock that goes negative, tax errors on receipts, and staff asking the same question twice. Those three tell you what to fix first.