Understanding Shopify POS staff management

You can create staff with Shopify POS access to process in-person sales. All staff have a unique PIN to log in to the POS app.

If you're on the POS Pro plan, then before you add staff, you can create custom POS roles that give your Point of Sale staff a unique set of permissions to POS app activities. Predefined user roles are created for all POS staff, but you can create customized POS roles to manage POS staff for your unique business needs.

Types of POS staff

POS staff can be granted access across multiple stores with a single user profile. You can have the following types of staff with access to Shopify POS:

• Staff that have both POS app access and Shopify admin access, including the Point of Sale channel. These staff members can log in to both POS Pro and POS Lite locations on the POS app, as well as access your Shopify admin.
• POS app only staff that have access to the Shopify POS app, but don't have access to your Shopify admin or Point of Sale channel. POS app only staff are only available to merchants using Shopify POS Pro and can only log in to POS Pro locations.

Every staff member with POS access gets assigned a unique PIN, so they can access the POS app. Learn more about how to create staff with POS and admin access, and POS only staff.

Managing POS staff by location

You can assign specific retail locations to staff members based on whether they're added through the Shopify POS app or Shopify admin. Regardless of their assigned location, staff members can view product inventory and orders for all locations within the POS app. With administrative access, they also have insights into analytics and location details.

Assigning POS locations to staff

You can assign specific retail locations to each staff member, so that they can access only those locations using their staff PIN. The default locations a staff member is assigned depends on whether you add them through the Shopify POS app or in your Shopify admin. Keep the following considerations in mind when you choose where to add staff:

• If you add the staff member through the Shopify POS app, then they only have POS access and are assigned only to the location of that POS device.
• If you add them in your Shopify admin, then you can also give them admin access and they're assigned to all locations unless you un-assign them from specific locations.

Considerations for POS location access

When you assign retail locations to a staff member, this only restricts where they can use their PIN to access the POS app. It doesn't impact their ability to view data for all locations, such as product inventory. They'll be restricted to viewing orders for the current location, unless they have the Manage orders at all locations permission. If they have access to the admin, then they can also view analytics in the admin and location details in the Point of Sale channel for all locations.

For example, if you have locations in New York City, San Francisco, and Portland, and you assign a staff member to your New York location, then the staff member can use their staff PIN to access only the New York location on the POS app, but they can still view inventory levels and orders for the San Francisco and Portland locations.

Shopify POS staff roles

If your POS locations are on the POS Pro subscription, then POS staff access can be customized using POS roles. POS roles are a named set of permissions that allow you to decide which staff members can perform which actions on your POS app, such as processing returns, adding discounts, or cash tracking.

Roles make it easier for you to assign the same permission set to multiple staff members. You can't assign individual permissions to Point of Sale staff, you need to assign a role. Each Point of Sale staff needs an assigned role.

If a staff member can PIN in to both POS Pro and POS Lite locations, then their POS role only applies when they use their PIN to access POS Pro locations. For example, if you've given a staff member access to both POS Pro and POS Lite locations, and you've assigned the staff member a POS role that denies permission to process returns, then the staff member won't be able to process returns when logged into POS Pro locations, but will be able to process returns when logged into POS Lite locations.

All admin users with POS access use their PIN to access POS Lite locations, with full access, because POS roles don't apply. You can't restrict admin users with POS access from accessing Lite locations.

Example of POS roles and permissions

Tina owns retail stores in New York, San Francisco, and Portland. Tina uses POS roles to define the types of staff members in her stores:

• Managers
• Senior POS staff
• Junior POS staff

Each role has its own set of permissions, so those staff members can perform tasks appropriate to their role in the business.

Tina's based in her flagship store in New York where she handles the Shopify admin operations. Tina gives the Manager role access to both the Shopify admin and POS app, so the managers in her San Francisco and Portland stores can assist customers on POS and perform admin operations, such as counting inventory, performing transfers, and adding new staff accounts when they hire new staff.

The Senior POS and Junior POS staff are POS only staff members, because they don't need to perform any admin operations. The Senior POS staff role has permissions to perform sensitive POS operations such as returns and exchanges.

Tina's Junior POS staff are seasonal staff members, so their POS role is set up to require Manager Approval before processing returns and exchanges. Manager Approval is given by a Manager or Senior POS staff by inputting their PIN number to allow the Junior POS staff to process a return or exchange.

Tina also has the ability to suspend or deactivate season Junior POS staff accounts without deleting them. When peak season returns, Tina can reactivate their accounts.

Auditing staff actions on Shopify POS

High-risk register actions taken on Shopify POS, such as voids, refunds, manual discounts, and customer record access, are attributed to the staff member who performed them. To investigate these actions, you can view the activity log for Shopify POS in your Shopify admin.