POS UI Extensions: How They Work and Examples

Most point of sale (POS) systems simply process payments. But a truly powerful POS system is one you can customize to be the command center of your retail business—where custom apps and UI extensions let you build exactly the tools your brand needs, directly into your checkout experience.

Shopify’s POS UI extensions let you add custom functionality to Shopify POS, like easy access to loyalty rewards, offering custom discounts experiences, and managing retail staff schedules—all from the POS interface your retail team is already familiar with.

So, how do these POS app extensions work? And how can you use them to take your retail business to the next level? This guide shares the answers, complete with ready-to-use Shopify POS compatible apps to get you up and running.

What are POS UI extensions?

POS UI extensions are developer tools that allow you to add custom functionality to your Shopify point-of-sale system. UI extensions help you manage various and unique aspects of retail operations, like collecting customer data and scheduling pickups, all seamlessly integrated into your existing POS interface, whether you're installing pre-built apps or creating custom solutions.

How POS UI extensions work

The smart grid is the home screen on the Shopify POS app where you can add different tiles representing frequently accessed products, collections, features, and third-party retail apps from vetted partners.

The smart grid acts as a quick and powerful shortcut to access your most-used functions. It’s fully dynamic and can respond to changes in the cart. For example, a discount app could apply 50% off a purchase when a customer buys five items. The tile could detect the five items in the cart and go from a disabled state to an enabled state, displaying 50% off available. 

The smart grid is one of the surfaces that you can add POS UI extensions to Shopify POS. Custom built workflows unique to your business needs that are deeply embedded into the smart grid. Staff can easily tap the UI extension tile to perform a specific action in the POS app. 

There are a wide range of prebuilt extensions available from the Shopify App Store. These apps work by synchronizing data configured in your Shopify admin, alongside any POS hardware (think barcode scanners, receipt printers, card readers, etc.), giving you a highly customizable POS setup that works for your physical retail stores.

Benefits of POS UI extensions

Not every POS system will have all of the functionality you need right out of the box. Third-party apps that are compatible with your POS interface mean you can expand functionality without implementing a brand new system. Shopify POS is built to flex to your business’s needs, however they evolve. 

Shopify POS UI extensions also provide benefits like:

• Quick to implement and customize: Whether you're using pre-built apps or creating custom extensions, you can expand your POS functionality rapidly. Pre-built apps can be implemented immediately, while custom extensions can be built and launched in as little as 5 days, making it fast and efficient to adapt your system to changing business needs.
• Improve checkout speed: Long checkout lines deter shoppers from buying in-store. With POS UI extensions, sales associates can easily find the functionality they’re looking for, whether that’s applying discounts or redeeming loyalty points, without signing into different apps and delaying the checkout process.
• Reduce time spent on staff training: UI extensions let your retail employees seamlessly move between native POS features and third-party apps from the same interface they’re already trained on.
• Offer a seamless customer experience: POS UI extensions, particularly those that integrate with customer-facing displays, let customers experience different things within a single POS system. For example, they can see bundles that’ve been applied to their order or any applicable discounts before paying for their order.

Installing pre-built POS UI extensions

To customize your Shopify POS system and add UI extensions from the Shopify app store, find POS compatible apps and install them in your Shopify admin. Each app will have its own setup process, which you can manage from your Shopify dashboard.

To display the new app or a specific feature on your Shopify smart grid:

1. Sign into the Shopify POS app
2. Press “Add tile”
3. Choose the extension you want to add
4. Select “Done”
5. Optional: Apply the same changes to all POS locations by saving the new smart grid layout as “Default”

Keep in mind that only store owners, or staff with a POS user permission that lets them customize the smart grid, can alter the POS interface. 

Examples of POS UI extensions available in the Shopify app store

Inventory management

Inventory management apps like Stocky by Shopify help you track real-time inventory levels wherever you’re selling: multiple stores, your online website, and social media storefronts included. With the POS extension (which is already available in all Shopify POS Pro plans), Stocky lets you do the following inventory management-related tasks directly from your POS interface:

• Track and adjust inventory levels
• Forecast demand and see recommendations for products to restock
• Draft purchase orders to replenish stock
• Run inventory reports, like an ABC analysis to show top- and worst-performing SKUs

Partner apps like Stoq and Ordersify also help to mitigate the financial loss of stockouts. If a product isn’t in stock when a customer visits (and they’re not willing to pay in-store and have the item delivered to their home), retailers can use the POS UI extension to collect their information and reach back out to the customer when the product they expressed interest in is back in stock.

POS loyalty program

Repeat customers are any retailer’s lifeline. They ease the constant pressure to find new customers by encouraging existing customers to shop again. 

A POS loyalty program lets retail employees enroll customers into your loyalty program, updates their customer profile when they earn points or rewards, and lets your retail team apply discounts at checkout. 

The beauty of this type of POS UI extension is that it lets you manage these loyalty programs directly from your familiar Shopify POS interface. It offers a seamless shopping experience—sales associates don’t need to switch between multiple apps to see what existing customers can redeem points on. Shoppers can also see their rewards applied to the total purchase price on the customer-facing display. 

Apps like Smile.io and Marsello are popular POS loyalty extensions among Shopify retailers. They’re omnichannel, meaning that customers can redeem and spend rewards wherever they shop—online, offline, and any in between.

“Exchanging or returning items and redeeming rewards in-store or online is seamless with Shopify,” says Gosia Piatek, founder of KowTow. “Knowing that our customers can be rewarded for their loyalty regardless of which channel they use to shop gives me confidence that we’re achieving our mission of unifying our customer experience.” 

Pickup and delivery scheduling

The logistical hassle of managing BOPIS, curbside pickup, and local delivery orders can feel like enough of a deterrent to avoid offering alternative fulfillment options altogether. 

Apps like Zapiet and Stellar Delivery Date & Pickup take the hassle out of arranging delivery. Customers can visit your online store to view inventory, pay for their order, and arrange a delivery or in-store pickup date, as opposed to turning up out of the blue. 

Displaying this information on your POS interface gives your retail team enough warning to confirm inventory is available and prepare their order for collection. 

“We get a huge amount of in-store pickups, and now our sales associates know they don’t have to utilize a bunch of different resources,” says Rasheed Sulaiman, co-founder and CEO of Honey Hair Co. “Once they package and fulfill the order, they hit the button, the customer is notified via text or email, and they can continue on with their other in-store duties.”

Product bundling and discounts

Product bundles and discounts are powerful marketing tools that retailers use to increase basket size and improve the overall shopping experience. If customers have a specific pain point or goal in mind, a combination of products might be what they need to solve it. 

Product bundles can take many forms:

• Mix-and-match
• Volume discounts (e.g. buy two, get one free)
• Sample packs

Apps like Bundler and Simple Bundles & Kits are compatible with Shopify POS, meaning you can customize the POS interface and auto-apply bundles or discounts at checkout. Retail employees just need to click the appropriate bundle and the inventory is automatically added to the cart alongside the bundle's price, ready for payment.

📌Pro tip: Shopify has its own native discounting tool to apply discounts from your POS dashboard—no third-party apps needed. Coupons automatically sync across your online store and retail locations to ensure omnichannel consistency. 

Team management

Without your team, you can’t serve customers, keep the store safe, or process payments. In other words: Retail employees are essential to the day-to-day running of your retail stores.

The difficulty lies, however, within managing retail staff shifts, particularly if you’re operating multiple locations. Each team member has a specific set of skills and responsibilities, contracted working hours, and salary—not to mention your labor budgets that need to be considered when planning staff shifts.

Apps like EasyTeam and Sling let you add a UI extension to your Shopify POS system to:

• Create shifts and manage schedules
• Track working hours by clocking in and out from the POS
• Attribute commission to sales associates
• Approve timesheets
• Import data into your payroll software for accurate, timely payouts

Examples of custom built POS UI extensions from retailers

Tecovas

Tecovas, a western-wear retailer with 30+ locations, implemented Shopify POS UI extensions to enhance their clienteling capabilities. The brand, known for its cowboy boots and "radical hospitality" approach, needed to equip store staff with real-time customer information to deliver personalized shopping experiences. 

Using custom UI extensions in their POS system, Tecovas surfaces customer information to store staff directly at checkout and integrates RFID inventory data, achieving 99.5% inventory accuracy across their stores. This type of integration can enable features like personalized product recommendations, effective upselling, and loyalty program tracking across channels

With POS UI extensions, we’re now able to integrate [clienteling] information natively, right into the POS.

Tomilson’s 

Tomlinson's, a Texas-based pet supply retailer with 18 locations since 1946, leveraged Shopify POS to enhance their Pet Club Annual Membership program. Facing limitations with their previous POS system's discount functionality, they switched to Shopify POS and developed a custom discount app using Shopify Functions. 

Working with a web agency, they created a system that automatically tracks membership SKUs, manages tags, and applies appropriate discounts. This solution ensures seamless omnichannel membership discounts across both online and in-store purchases.

📚 Read: Shopify POS Customization: 3 Use Cases from Top Retailers

Transform your retail experience with limitless POS customization

Shopify POS is more than just a point-of-sale system. It's your gateway to unlimited retail possibilities. 

Through powerful UI extensions, you can craft the exact interface your business demands. The core POS functionality serves as your foundation, while the vast ecosystem of Shopify App Store integrations and customizations lets you build a truly personalized retail command center.

Want to reward loyal customers? Need a streamlined pickup system? Dream up any retail scenario, and you can bring it to life. By customizing your smart grid, every feature is right at your team's fingertips, seamlessly integrated into the POS system they use every day.