ShopKeep Review

• ShopKeep History
• How does it work?
• What are the features?
  • Inventory Management
  • Employee Management
  • Customer Relationship Management
  • Real-Time Data
  • QuickBooks Compatibility
• ShopKeep Capital
• What equipment do I need to use ShopKeep?
• What does Shopkeep cost?
• Is there a contract?
• Reviews
  • ShopKeep at the Better Business Bureau
  • ShopKeep according to ShopKeep customers

ShopKeep History

ShopKeep started in New York in 2008 when founder Jason Richelson wanted a cloud-based point of sale system for his own businesses and couldn’t find one. ShopKeep is great for retail and food service businesses, including full and quick service restaurants, bars, coffee shops, food trucks, and more.

How does it work?

ShopKeep lets you turn your iPad into a fully-functional cash register using cloud-based software and traditional point of sale hardware. Unlike some software solutions, you can choose to process card payments directly through ShopKeep, meaning you won’t need a merchant account with a separate processor. ShopKeep lets you take all major credit and debit cards, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. Check out this video for the quick introduction to ShopKeep:

What are the features?

ShopKeep is designed specifically to address the needs of businesses, so the available features reflect that. You’ll find a number of helpful features, including inventory management, employee management, reporting capabilities, and even compatibility with QuickBooks.

Inventory Management

Easily track inventory and set reorder alerts for when you quantities of particular items are running low. The inventory management feature includes barcode scanner integration so you can quickly ring out customers.

Employee Management

A built-in time clock lets you easily track employee hours and make staffing decisions. You can view information like average sales on a particular weekday or by hour so that you can staff accordingly for your busiest days and times. You can even set access levels individually so your team only has access to the functions they need for their job.

Customer Relationship Management

Collect helpful information on customers at the time of purchase, including name and contact info, so that you can easily keep in touch and plan marketing to encourage repeat customers.

Real-Time Data

ShopKeep provides real-time sales data convenient business management. Need to break down sales by department? ShopKeep can do that. Want to track your best selling items? ShopKeep does that, too. Not in the store or restaurant? You can get your data on your phone or online.

QuickBooks Compatibility

There’s nothing worse than wanting to use popular programs that you’re familiar with only to find out they aren’t compatible with your other business programs. ShopKeep is compatible with QuickBooks, so there’s no need to change your accounting software if you don’t want to.

ShopKeep Capital

In late summer 2017, ShopKeep announced a merchant cash advance program, ShopKeep Capital. Like all merchant cash advances, there is no fixed repayment amount or time. Instead, you’ll repay the advance through a percentage of your daily credit card sales. Eligible businesses will be able to request funds for business expenses, including advertising, marketing, purchasing inventory, and more.

At the time of launch, Pymnts.com reported that 24,000 businesses using ShopKeep POS are eligible for ShopKeep Capital.

Related article: Should You Get a Merchant Cash Advance?

What equipment do I need to use ShopKeep?

At minimum, you’ll need an iPad or iPad Mini with iOS version 7.0 or later, a compatible Android device, or a compatible Clover system. 

You can also choose to add other hardware and accessories, such as iPad enclosures, credit card readers, printers, cash registers, barcode scanners, produce scales, and more. ShopKeep sells a lot of this equipment through their own equipment store. Purchasing through ShopKeep directly helps ensure compatibility.

If you purchase equipment from the ShopKeep equipment store, you can get free shipping and a 1 year normal-use warranty. ShopKeep also offers free returns and exchanges within 30 days of purchase.

What does Shopkeep cost?

For ShopKeep POS, you can expect to be charged $49/month per register. Have a lot of registers? You can get a discount if you’re using ShopKeep on 4 or more registers. Keep in mind that the monthly charge for ShopKeep POS doesn’t include the costs of accepting credit cards. 

ShopKeep doesn’t publish rates and fees for credit card processing on their website, but will place quotes for businesses through the CardFellow marketplace. Don’t have an account yet? Sign up for free in less than 5 minutes. You’ll be able to review your ShopKeep quote right from your account. It’s free, private, and there’s no obligation.

Is there a contract?

ShopKeep states that there is no long-term contract, instead offering a month-to-month agreement with no cancellation fees. As always, be sure to read any application documents or set up paperwork before you sign them so you know exactly what you’re getting.

Reviews

ShopKeep has been around long enough where if there were a lot of unhappy customers, they’d be showing up in negtive reviews online by now. Instead, ShopKeep generally has a good reputation, with minimal complaints at the Better Business Bureau, no negative reports in the Ripoff Report directory, and no negative reviews at Yelp. ShopKeep also provides customer testimonials on their site.

ShopKeep at the Better Business Bureau

The Better Business Bureau gives ShopKeep an A+ rating, noting that they’ve been accredited since 2011. ShopKeep has only had 5 complaints lodged with the BBB in the past 3 years; a very low number in the credit card processing world.

Complaints allege difficulties getting promised refunds on equipment, and trouble with credit card processing funds being deposited. It’s worth noting that the complaint referring to credit card processing is for ShopKeep with BridgePay processing, not integrated ShopKeep processing, and that multiple parties may have been involved in any glitches.

1 complaint is listed as resolved to the customer’s satisfaction. The other 4 complaints are not listed as resolved, but the BBB notes that ShopKeep addressed the complaint and the customer either wasn’t satisfied, or didn’t reply. The BBB indicates that ShopKeep actively replies to complaints and attempts to resolve issues.

ShopKeep According to ShopKeep Customers

ShopKeep provides a section of their website for reviews and testimonials. Many reviews praise ShopKeep’s ease of use, claiming the intuitive system requires minimal training and sets up quickly. Others applaud ShopKeep for low costs, no contracts, great customer service, and helpful reporting. Testimonials on the ShopKeep site include the reviewer’s first name and business name for authenticity.

Do you use ShopKeep? Leave a review!