How To Choose a Mobile POS (mPOS) System in 2026

A mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) system consists of software and portable hardware that processes your shop’s transactions. It calculates sales totals, processes payments, tracks inventory, collects business data, and much more. 

An mPOS system turns any tablet or smartphone into a checkout point. This capability enables you to ring customers up anywhere in your store, at pop-up shops, and even on the go. Our guide to mobile point-of-sale systems has what you need to know about this essential retail technology.

What is a mobile POS (mPOS) system?

A mobile point-of-sale system (mPOS) is a portable hardware and software system that processes sales. An mPOS is nearly the same as a traditional point-of-sale (POS) system, except that it doesn’t have to be anchored to one checkout counter. 

With a mobile POS solution, you can install POS software onto a tablet or smartphone and serve customers wherever they are. And because your checkout moves wherever you need it, your shop doesn’t necessarily need a checkout counter at all.

How does an mPOS work? 

Here’s an overview of how transactions work on an mPOS system:

1. The customer chooses the products they’d like to buy. The sales associate begins the transaction by scanning the item’s barcode with a barcode scanner or the tablet or smartphone’s camera, or by searching for it in the system.
2. The mPOS calculates the total price, including applicable sales tax and discounts.
3. The customer pays with a credit or debit card, cash, digital wallet, gift card, or loyalty points. If the customer is paying with cash away from the register, the associate will need to bring them change.
4. The mPOS processes the payment. After the shopper decides if they want an emailed or printed receipt, the transaction is complete. The POS updates the store’s inventory count, factoring in the newly sold items.

Key benefits of using a mobile POS

These are just some of the many advantages of using an mPOS terminal:

Increase sales with mobile checkout and line busting 

With a POS that moves wherever you need it instead of being tethered to a checkout counter, you can check out shoppers wherever they are.

Mobile checkout virtually eliminates lines at the checkout counter, creates a faster checkout experience, and helps with line busting.

Improve customer service with on-the-floor support 

With a POS system in the palm of your hand, you have the information and tools you need to better serve customers. You can, for example, check inventory without leaving the sales floor or email shoppers a pre-loaded cart of products they tried on so they can buy online when they’re ready.

If you often find yourself serving more than one customer at a time, mobile POS systems let you save the customer’s cart and retrieve it later. This lets you switch between customer interactions without losing order details or wasting time at checkout reentering products into the customers cart. 

Securely accept payments anywhere 

Mobile POS systems like Shopify come with built-in payment processing. Payment data encryption, PCI compliance, and 3D Secure compliance ensure that mobile payment information and business data are safe.

📌 GET STARTED: Shopify Payments is the fastest way to start accepting mobile payments in person, online, and on the go. It’s included in all Shopify plans, so you can skip lengthy third-party activations and go from setup to selling faster.

Scale your business easily 

Getting up and running when you open a new location or sell at an event is quick and easy with an mPOS. The systems run on hardware you’re already familiar with and on software that’s similar to other iOS and Android apps, making them intuitive to use. 

While some POS systems have a lengthy setup process, Dustin Kroft appreciated how straightforward it was to open his first Kroft’s retail store with Shopify POS’ user-friendly interface. 

“I can set up Shopify POS in 10 minutes and it’ll already be synced with my Shopify online store’s inventory,” Dustin says. “I’m kind of blown away at how little I have to do to start transacting at the store.”

How to choose the right mobile POS system 

Choosing a mobile POS system is an important business decision. From assessing costs to confirming compatibility with existing tools, here’s how to choose the best mobile POS system for your retail store.

Step 1: Evaluate your business needs and sales volume 

The right mPOS should handle your transaction volume, integrate with your inventory, and support the payment methods your customers prefer. A system that’s too basic may slow down transactions, while an overly complex platform can increase costs and complicate workflows.

To ensure your new system can process payments quickly and reliably, use reports from your current POS platform to estimate your average daily transaction volume. Combine this with feedback from your retail team: What challenges are they facing with your current platform? Can you solve them with a new mPOS system? Use those insights to define your greatest needs as you start evaluating platforms.

Step 2: Compare essential mPOS software features 

As you begin to compare potential mPOS providers, make a list of essential features to narrow down your shortlist. If a vendor doesn’t offer the basic features you need, strike it off your list. 

Essential mPOS features include:

• Unified inventory management 
• Native payment processing
• Discounting functionality 
• Customer data collection
• Refunds and exchanges 
• Omnichannel fulfillment, such as buy online, pick up in-store
• Reporting and analytics

If you’re managing multiple locations (or plan to in the near future), consider features like customizable staff permissions, store inventory transfers, and cloud-based access. This helps avoid the need to switch POS platforms down the line. 

Step 3: Understand the true costs 

POS vendors each have their own feature sets that justify different prices. However, pricing tends to be unclear—some include essential features as standard, while others have everything you’ll need right out of the box. 

As part of your evaluation process, ask the vendor for a complete POS package cost that includes any features you shortlisted in the previous step, including:

• POS software
• Hardware costs
• Integration fees
• Transaction fees 
• Customization fees

Some providers use flat-rate pricing, charging the same percentage for every transaction, while others use interchange-plus, which passes through card network fees plus a small markup. Flat rate is simpler to forecast, while interchange-plus can be more cost effective for high-volume retailers.

💡Tip: Because Shopify is the only platform to natively unify POS and ecommerce in the same system, omnichannel retailers have just one platform to manage. A recent study found this approach delivers 22% better total cost of ownership (TCO) compared to competitors, on average.

Step 4: Check for hardware compatibility

Your mobile POS software is only as effective as the devices it works with. If the system doesn’t support the receipt printers, barcode scanners, or card readers you need, for example, you may have to manually process transactions or replace hardware later down the line. 

Step 5: Consider key integrations

A mobile POS system is the command center for a retail business. But if you’re selling through multiple channels, confirm that your shortlisted vendor integrates with that platform. Shopify POS, for instance, unifies customer, order, and inventory data wherever you sell—including your ecommerce website, social media storefronts, and marketplaces.

Aside from sales channels, evaluate your existing retail tech stack to shortlist which integrations your new mPOS should support. These include:

• Employee management tools
• Accounting and payroll software
• Email marketing tools
• Customer loyalty programs 
• Returns and exchanges platforms
• Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms
• Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems

Essential mobile POS hardware explained 

You don’t need much in the way of hardware to get started with an mPOS. That said, some merchants need additional POS hardware to keep their store running smoothly. 

Tablet or smartphone

Most mobile POS software can run on any iOS or Android tablet or smartphone. Download your POS software onto these devices and you’re ready to sell.

💡Tip: Shopify Tap to Pay turns your smartphone into a POS system to take payments on the go. Customers can tap their contactless card or mobile wallet onto your phone to process their order—no external hardware required. 

Mobile card reader 

To take full advantage of an mPOS, you should have a mobile card reader that accepts magstripe swipes, NFC chips, and contactless and mobile wallet tap-to-pay transactions through technologies like Apple Pay and Google Pay.

Barcode scanner 

Wireless barcode scanners make scanning products easy and convenient, both at the register and in the stockroom or warehouse for inventory management

However, barcode scanners are not a required part of an mPOS system—with most systems, you can scan products with your tablet or smartphone’s camera.

Cash drawer and receipt printer 

If you want to accept cash payments as part of your mPOS system, you’ll need to keep a cash register at one of your counters.

mPOS systems make it easy to go paperless with email receipts. But if you want to give customers printed receipts, keep a receipt printer next to your cash register.

📌 GET STARTED: Ready to start shopping for point-of-sale hardware? Head to the Shopify POS hardware store to shop for hardware designed to help you check out customers at the counter, curbside, and everywhere in between.

Why Shopify is the unified mPOS for retail 

When it comes to mPOS providers, one stands out from the competition: Shopify POS. Shopify is easy to use, priced competitively, and comes with a robust feature set that helps your business grow.

Customizable checkout 

The last thing you want is a complex POS interface that stalls checkout as cashiers struggle to find the functionality they’re looking for. 

A big benefit of Shopify POS is its customizable checkout. You can build your own workflow and customize the Smart Grid—with both native Shopify features and integrated apps—to make the POS dashboard work for your needs.

This flexibility was a huge driver in Tomlinson’s decision to migrate to Shopify POS. Owner and operator Kate Knecht says their previous system “used to require multiple steps to apply a percentage off products that were part of a promotion. But with Shopify, the right discounts populate automatically when you add items to the cart. It’s a thing of beauty.”

Unified inventory management 

If you have a Shopify online shop or warehouse, Shopify POS will connect with it and update inventory as it’s sold, returned, or exchanged, online or in-store. 

This lets you forecast demand, set low-stock alerts, create purchase orders, know which items are selling or sitting on shelves, and count inventory accurately. You can spend less time on inventory and avoid stockouts and overstocking. 

This unification pays dividends. According to an independent research firm, Shopify POS delivers an additional 5% gross merchandise value uplift on average through integrated inventory management, improved headquarters productivity, and enhanced marketing effectiveness.

Centralized reporting and analytics

Only Shopify POS lets you view detailed reports for brick-and-mortar and online stores in one place. Instead of working on several platforms, exporting data, and creating spreadsheets, you can find everything in a single dashboard. 

Centralized reporting helps you access the information you need faster, identify trends, take advantage of opportunities, and reach the right business decisions sooner.

💡Tip: Only Shopify POS unifies your online and retail store data into one back office–from customer data to inventory, sales, and more. View easy-to-understand reports to spot trends faster, capitalize on opportunities, and jumpstart your brand’s growth. 

Omnichannel selling features 

When you use Shopify’s mPOS and a Shopify online store, you unlock features that unify sales channels and give customers a holistic shopping experience:

• With a store pickup option, online shoppers can save on shipping costs and collect products at your shop. Spend less on last-mile delivery, speed up fulfillment times on local orders, and drive more foot traffic to your stores.
• Ship-to-customer lets you send products customers have paid for in-store to their destination of choice. This feature comes in handy with presale products, large items, or products sold at popups where a specific size or color wasn’t available.
• Email carts are useful when a customer finds an item in your store but you only have the color or size they want online. Shopify users can email preloaded carts to customers. When customers are ready to purchase, there’s nothing standing in their way.
• Accept returns or exchanges for purchases made online or at another store location and your inventory will be updated instantly—no manual reconciliation required.