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Shopify vs. eTailPet: Which pet store POS is right for you?

Shopify is the platform you reach for when your business starts online — for themes, checkout, the app store, and brand recognition. It's the safe pick for anyone who needs a website that sells.

eTailPet was built for a different job: running an independent pet store, where Astro Loyalty, grooming appointments, and a catalog of thousands of pet products are part of every day.

Here's how the two stack up when the storefront isn't the main event.

Last updated: June 2026

*The $750 setup fee covers data migration and configuration, and is rebated in full after you go live and process payments.

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shopify vs etailpet

At a glance:
Shopify vs. eTailPet

An e-commerce platform that added a POS

Shopify

Shopify is the world's best-known e-commerce platform.

The online store is excellent, and the POS is competent. But Shopify POS Pro is a separate $89/month per location, and the pet workflows you need — Astro Loyalty, grooming, expiration tracking, special orders — live in the app store at additional monthly cost each.

The deeper you go into pet retail, the more the bill stacks up.

Purpose-built POS for independent pet retailers

eTailPet

eTailPet was designed for pet stores from the ground up.

Astro Loyalty syncs automatically at the register. A 160,000+ product catalog comes pre-loaded with current manufacturer pricing. Grooming and service booking are part of the POS.

The Startup plan at $99/month already includes the website, e-commerce, and unlimited support — with no app marketplace to assemble.

Shopify: Pricing

Hardware

Shopify designs its own hardware, covering the basics for a small retail counter.

The Tap & Chip Card Reader is $49 standalone, or $89 with the charging dock. The POS Terminal costs $349 and accepts tap, chip, and swipe payments.

A tablet stand (Bouncepad Eddy) runs $149, the POS Terminal Dock is $89, and the POS Hub for wired connectivity is $69.

Some third-party peripherals work, but the system is designed around Shopify-branded devices.

Software

Shopify sells its plans on an e-commerce subscription, with POS layered on top.

Basic is $39/month ($29 billed yearly). Grow is $105/month ($79 yearly). Advanced is $399/month ($299 yearly). Shopify Plus starts at $2,300/month.

Every paid plan includes Shopify POS Lite at no extra charge, which handles casual mobile selling and basic checkout. Real retail features — staff permissions, inventory management, analytics — need POS Pro at $89/mo per location.

Pet workflows (loyalty, grooming, expiration, special orders) come from the App Store, each at its own monthly cost.

Payment processing

Shopify Payments is the default, and pricing scales by tier. Basic is 2.9% + $0.30 online and 2.6% + $0.10 in-person.

Grow is 2.7% + $0.30 online and 2.5% + $0.10 in-person. Advanced drops to 2.5% + $0.30 online, with in-person lower again.

The catch: Shopify adds a platform fee on third-party processors — 2.0% on Basic, 1.0% on Grow, 0.6% on Advanced, 0.2% on Plus — on top of whatever that processor charges.

eTailPet: Pricing

Hardware

Bring-your-own-hardware is supported.

Existing pet store hardware can usually be reused, and we recommend purchasing through our premier vendor, POS Guys, for hardware service and support.

Software

Startup $99/mo includes POS, native website, e-commerce, the 160,000+ catalog, unlimited support, and unlimited users.

Core adds grooming, Astro auto-sync, QuickBooks, and promotional tools.

Plus adds multi-location, memberships, and commission tracking. Core and Plus are quote-based.

Payment processing

eTailPet Payments is included on all plans and is the only supported option. Flat pricing with competitive rates.

Rates are competitive. Same-day funding (including weekends and holidays) is included.

What a pet store owner actually pays

Shopify's $39 entry price looks affordable until you build the stack a pet store needs.

POS Lite can't run a real shop — you're on POS Pro the moment you need staff permissions or inventory management:

  • Shopify Basic: $39/mo
  • POS Pro: $89/mo per location
  • Astro Loyalty app (Growth tier): $99/mo
  • Grooming app: $20–$50/mo
  • Expiration tracking app: $20–$40/mo
  • Pet product catalog: doesn't exist — manual entry

That's $267+/month for one location before marketing or reporting apps — and the catalog still isn't there at any price.

eTailPet's Startup plan is $99/month, with the catalog, website, e-commerce, and support included. Astro Loyalty and grooming are on the Core plan. One bill for the pet store, not one per workflow.

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Shopify vs. eTailPet
Full feature comparison

*If you encounter inaccuracies or require updates, please contact us.

Shopify_Logo
header-logo-etailpet
Astro Loyalty integration
No
Yes
Product catalog
No
Yes
Grooming and service scheduling
No
Yes
E-commerce & online store
Yes
Yes
Expiration tracking
No
Yes
Vendor credits & pet-specific refunds
No
Yes
Special order tracking
No
Yes
Subscriptions (recurring orders)
No
Yes
Multilocation & franchise management
Yes
Yes
Native pet profiles
No
Yes
Shopify_Logo
header-logo-etailpet
Astro Loyalty integration
No
Yes
Product catalog
No
Yes
Grooming and service scheduling
No
Yes
E-commerce & online store
Yes
Yes
Expiration tracking
No
Yes
Vendor credits & pet-specific refunds
No
Yes
Special order tracking
No
Yes
Subscriptions (recurring orders)
No
Yes
Multilocation & franchise management
Yes
Yes
Native pet profiles
No
Yes

The features that matter

Four features decide most Shopify vs eTailPet comparisons. Here's where the difference actually shows up:

Astro Loyalty

Shopify has an Astro integration, but it's an App Store app maintained by Astro, not native to the POS.

The Basic tier ($29/month) handles online sync; full POS features — frequent-buyer redemption, offers, the in-store rewards dashboard — need the Growth tier at $99/month.

Because it runs through the app layer, when something breaks, the support path goes through the app, not Shopify. 

eTailPet syncs Astro at the register on Core, as part of the POS itself — and the team you call is the one that built it.

The product catalog

Shopify gives you a flexible product library with CSV import and unlimited SKUs, but no pre-loaded pet catalog and no distributor integration.

Every food brand, treat line, and supplement formula is entered by hand and goes stale when vendors change pricing until someone fixes it.

eTailPet ships with 160,000+ pet products pre-loaded, priced, and described by the manufacturers, updating as vendors add stock — days of entry skipped on day one, hours saved every month after.

 

Grooming & service scheduling

Shopify has no native grooming. Booking comes from general App Store apps (BookThatApp, Tipo, ~$20–$50/month) built for service businesses, not pet grooming — no multi-pet family booking, groomer assignment, breed pricing, or waitlist automation.

Grooming revenue sits in one system, retail in another, and reconciling the total is manual.

eTailPet books grooming in the POS on Core, handles multi-pet families in a single transaction with different groomers assigned at once, and auto-fills waitlist cancellations.

 

One place Shopify genuinely wins: the storefront

If direct-to-consumer e-commerce is your primary channel — subscriptions for premium food, nationwide shipping, a branded site competing with Chewy — Shopify's storefront builder is the best in the business, and no pet-specific POS offers the same theme depth.

eTailPet includes a native, inventory-synced website on every plan, built around pet retail out of the box; it covers most independent stores well, but it won't match Shopify for deep custom design. If the website is the business, that's a real point for Shopify. If the website serves the store, eTailPet's included site does the job without the extra subscriptions.

Onboarding & support

Switching POS systems can feel overwhelming. The right support shortens the learning curve and gets you back to selling faster.

shopify support

Shopify

Setup is built for self-service. The interface is famously approachable, and you can be taking transactions on day one.

But configuring Shopify for a pet retail counter (vendor relationships, product imports, app installation and setup, the Astro app, the booking app) is a project, and it's a project that's on you.

Support is 24/7 by chat on paid plans, with phone on higher tiers, from a team handling every kind of Shopify merchant — so pet-specific expertise isn't part of the deal.

etailpet support

eTailPet

eTailPet runs the migration and setup directly.

The $750 fee (rebated once you go live) covers importing your inventory, configuring the catalog, setting up grooming, connecting Astro, and training your staff. Phone and email support is included on every plan — no tiered cutoff.

For owners coming from Shopify, the difference is who does the work. Instead of installing and configuring apps and managing six vendor relationships, eTailPet's team — people who set up pet stores every day — handles the technical side while you keep running the store.

Which POS system is right for your pet store?

Shopify is built to sell things online, and it does that better than anyone. eTailPet is built to run a pet store. The right answer depends on which part of your day is bigger.

Shopify makes sense if you:

  • Run a pet brand where direct-to-consumer e-commerce is the primary channel
  • Want the deepest possible storefront customization and theme library
  • Already have a Shopify online store and want to add a basic in-person POS
  • Have the in-house time (or a developer) to manage app installs and integrations
  • Are comfortable assembling pet-specific functionality — loyalty, grooming, autoship — from the App Store

eTailPet makes sense if you:

  • Run an independent pet store where Astro Loyalty depth, grooming, and vendor workflows matter daily
  • Want a pre-loaded catalog of 160,000+ pet products instead of importing everything by hand
  • Need grooming, vendor credits, special orders, and autoship included rather than stacked from apps
  • Prefer one monthly software bill for the pet store, not one per workflow
  • Want a pet-specialized support team instead of a general help desk routing you between Shopify and app developers

Want to see the difference?

The only way to know if a POS works for your store is to see it handle your products, your grooming schedule, and your day-to-day.

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Your questions, answered

Does Shopify POS work for pet stores?

Shopify POS runs basic pet store transactions out of the box, but it wasn't designed for pet retail. The features that matter most — Astro Loyalty depth, a preloaded pet catalog, grooming, vendor credits, special orders, and native autoship — either don't exist natively or are available in the App Store as separate paid subscriptions.

eTailPet includes those workflows as part of the platform, with Astro and grooming on Core.

Does Shopify integrate with Astro Loyalty?

Yes, but through a paid app, not natively. The Astro Loyalty Shopify app is $29/month for the Basic tier (online sync, limited POS connectivity) or $99/month for the Growth tier, which is required for full POS features such as frequent-buyer redemption.

eTailPet auto-syncs Astro at the register on the Core plan, with no separate subscription.

How much does Shopify actually cost for a pet store with one location?

The Basic plan is $39/month, but most pet stores can't run on POS Lite alone — you'll need POS Pro at $89/month per location for staff permissions, in-store inventory, and retail analytics. Add the Astro Growth app ($99/month) and a grooming app ($20–$50/month), and you're at $247–$277/month before any marketing or reporting apps.

eTailPet's Startup plan is $99/month and includes a website, e-commerce, and unlimited support.

Can I keep my existing Shopify online store and switch to eTailPet for in-store?

eTailPet includes a native e-commerce website on every plan, so most pet stores migrate their online store as part of the move.

If you have a Shopify storefront with a custom design you want to keep, eTailPet's team can talk through which workflows move and which stay.

What's the third-party processor fee Shopify charges?

Shopify Payments is the default, and Shopify adds a platform fee on top of any third-party processor you bring instead — 2.0% on Basic, down to 0.2% on Plus, on top of whatever that processor charges.

eTailPet Payments is included on every plan and is the only supported option; third-party processors aren't allowed.