Shopify POS is a retail-first point-of-sale that some New Zealand restaurants and cafés try, but it lacks hospitality essentials — no kitchen display system, no table layout, no built-in bookings or no-show flags, and limited modifier handling. SmakSpace is NZ-built hospitality software that combines self-order kiosks, table management, KDS, online ordering, bookings and customer loyalty in one flat NZD subscription. A staff counter till runs on a tablet — staff ring up walk-up and phone orders, take cash with the change due, or mark the order paid on the venue’s own terminal — but SmakSpace has no cash drawer, no docket printing and no card-present payment through it, so venues that need a drawer and printed dockets keep a till while kiosk-led and order-ahead venues run on SmakSpace alone. Bring your own iPad, Android tablet or laptop — no NZ$649+ hardware bundle required — and leave your existing EFTPOS terminal exactly as it is, operating independently on the counter. Free menu setup from our CSV template or a photo of the printed menu; concierge customer migration assistance for restaurants moving from Shopify.
Why isn't Shopify POS great for hospitality?
Shopify POS is built for retail — selling physical goods at a counter, with online/in-store inventory sync. It does not have a native kitchen display system, no table layout, no built-in bookings, no no-show flags, and only basic product variants (not hospitality-grade modifier groups like sizes, milks, extras and allergens). Restaurants and cafés that try Shopify POS usually end up bolting on third-party apps to fill those gaps — which becomes expensive, brittle, and worse than a hospitality-native POS like SmakSpace built into the same platform.
Your menu, mapped to hospitality.
A Shopify product export does not import directly. Fill in our CSV template and we load the items for you, then build your variants into modifier groups with you. Or send a photo of the printed menu — the AI maps that into draft menu items for you to approve.
- ✓ Menu items — we load them for you from our CSV template or a photo of the printed menu (names, descriptions, prices, categories); a Shopify product export does not import directly
- ✓ Menu modifiers — we build your Shopify product variants into hospitality-style modifier groups with you
- ✓ Categories & menus — we set up your SmakSpace menus and categories with you
- ✓ Customer list — concierge setup (we add it by hand from your Shopify customer export, on request)
- ✓ Hours, location info, branding — set up together during onboarding
Built for retail vs built for hospitality.
From Shopify POS to SmakSpace in about a week.
Export from Shopify
Fill in our menu CSV template, or photograph the printed menu. If you want us to load your customer list, export your Customers CSV in your Shopify admin (Customers → Export).
Send us the files
Start your migration from the contact form — our onboarding team replies the same day with where to send your menu template or photo and your customer export. Mention your venue type (café, restaurant, bar) so we can set the account up correctly.
We load the menu
We load your menu items into SmakSpace, set up your product variants as modifier groups with you, and stand up your account. You receive a verification link to spot-check the data.
Set up hospo essentials
Together we configure table layout, KDS station routing and opening hours — none of which exists in Shopify POS, so this is where the real value shows up. Your EFTPOS terminal needs nothing; it keeps operating independently on the counter.
Soft launch
Run SmakSpace alongside Shopify POS while staff get comfortable. Test orders, bookings, and the kitchen display flow during a quiet shift before fully cutting over.
Full cutover
Move ordering, bookings, KDS and loyalty onto SmakSpace. If you are kiosk-led or order-ahead you can drop Shopify POS entirely; if you need a counter till for walk-ups and cash, keep it and run SmakSpace around it. Your Shopify online store can stay running either way, for retail or gift cards.