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Shopify POS in France: All the Things You Need to Know

Having an online presence is a key factor if you want your business to be successful in these post-pandemic times. Online shopping has indeed become a big part of most economies, but France is one of the countries that have adapted to it in the best way. Since they are currently part of the 6th best economy in the world, French consumers have managed a way to naturally increase their online shopping habits. Since 2020 when the pandemic started affecting brick and mortar stores, there was a rise of 1.5 million new online buyers, for a total of 41.6 million French people buying online, i.e. 81.4%.

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Based on the mentioned above, Shopify POS (point de vente) offers a convenient solution for these unpredictable times where physical and online sales have merged to keep businesses afloat. Right now, Shopify is considered one of the leading eCommerce platforms around the world given the fact that it has more than 2.1 million daily active users. The POS system offers an intuitive interface with a customizable dashboard (tableau de bord) where you can add the tiles of your preference to automate processes and improve the experience in your store.

Does Shopify work in France?

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Unlike other countries where retail businesses (commerces au détail) can easily use all of Shopify's solutions the way they want, such as Shopify Payments and Shopify's hardware store, France's government has very strict legal limitations. One of them is Article 88 of the Anti-Fraud law, which intends to reduce the chances of merchants committing tax fraud. This article demands that all merchants selling in France and subject to VAT must have a certified system of records.

Shopify's market started focusing mainly on the USA (états unis) based merchants, but after a few years of trying to expand their coverage, they were finally considered an accepted point of sale system that met all requirements of French legislation. In order to be compliant with Article 88 in France, you need to download and complete this Loi Anti-Fraude TVA document and keep it in your records. Additionally, in order to export your compliant records, you need to install the France Data Exporter and select the calendar year you want to export. Your exported records are sent to the store owner's email account.

You'll be able to use the POS system on your compatible iOS/Android device and connect it to supported third-party hardware like receipt printers, card readers, iPad stands, and such. You can also scan products out, create orders, cash them, print receipts, and customize the receipts information. Unfortunately, the only native payment method you can use is cash, but you should be able to use third-party card readers and indicate when someone pays with a debit/credit card (cartes de crédit/debit) through your payment gateway.

What Shopify POS hardware can I buy in France?

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Sadly, there is no support for Shopify's own hardware in France yet, which means you cannot enjoy the benefits of buying directly from their hardware store. What you'll need to do is to acquire the devices you need through a third-party supplier and verify whether or not they are compatible with the Shopify POS system. If you already own certain hardware like cash drawers, barcode scanners, receipt printers, card readers, or more from your previous shopping processing system, you can still add them to your POS system as long as they're supported.

How does Shopify integrate with the POS?

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Shopify automatically syncs all your account's data (such as inventory, products, etc) with your POS app. It also provides an easy-to-use and well-designed interface that allows you to start selling online and at your brick-and-mortar store at the same time. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that, as mentioned before, if you don't have the proper hardware devices, the payment methods you can accept when selling directly from it will be limited. So, if your store doesn't have any additional hardware, you'll only be able to accept cash payments.

Does Shopify cost money?

Let's start by saying that no matter your Shopify subscription plan, you can try the POS PRO features thanks to the 14-day free trial. This way you'll see the best of the POS system before actually subscribing to it. Having that said, Shopify offers a different pricing structure for your main Shopify Store and the POS system. These costs are calculated in USD as the main currency regardless of the country your store is located. The POS app is included in every subscription plan a Shopify user may have, even the Basic Shopify plan.

As an eCommerce platform, the main subscription plans offered by Shopify, as current users may be aware, are Advanced, Shopify, and Basic. Here's a more detailed  cost description (including the Shopify transaction fee):

Pricing & Subscriptions

On the other hand, the Shopify POS app has its own subscription prices. The plans are Shopify POS Lite and Shopify POS Pro. The differences between them are displayed in the following table:

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