Odoo for Retail & eCommerce in Australia

The biggest headache for Australian retailers isn't selling — it's keeping everything in sync. Your POS says you have 12 units, Shopify says 15, and the actual count is 10. A customer buys online and wants to return in-store, but your systems don't talk to each other. Your accountant is reconciling three different payment processors manually every week.

Odoo solves this by putting POS, eCommerce, inventory, and accounting into one system with a single inventory pool. Sell in-store, sell online, sell at a market — stock levels update everywhere instantly.

Point of Sale

Odoo's POS module runs in a web browser — no special hardware required beyond a tablet, receipt printer, and payment terminal:

• Fast checkout — Product search, barcode scanning, and quick-add buttons for high-volume items.
• Payment methods — Cash, card (via Linkly EFTPOS for Australian terminals), split payments, and layby.
• Customer tracking — Link sales to customer profiles for purchase history, loyalty points, and targeted marketing.
• Multi-store — Each store is a separate POS config with its own pricing, payment methods, and receipt layout, but all sharing the same inventory and customer database.
• Offline mode — POS continues working if your internet drops. Transactions sync when connectivity returns.
• Returns and exchanges — Process returns against original transactions. Refund to original payment method or store credit.

eCommerce integration

You have two options for online selling with Odoo:

• Odoo's built-in eCommerce — A fully integrated online store with product catalogue, shopping cart, checkout, and payment processing. Best for B2B portals or simple B2C stores where deep integration with Odoo matters more than design flexibility.
• Shopify / WooCommerce integration — Use Shopify for your customer-facing store and Odoo for everything behind it. Orders sync into Odoo, inventory pushes from Odoo to Shopify, and fulfilment status syncs back. Best for serious B2C retail where Shopify's themes, apps, and checkout conversion matter.

Most Australian retailers we work with choose the Shopify + Odoo combination. They get Shopify's best-in-class storefront with Odoo's best-in-class backend.

Unified inventory

This is the core value proposition for retail. One inventory pool serves all channels:

• A sale on Shopify immediately reduces available stock across POS and all other channels.
• A sale at your Melbourne store immediately updates availability on your online store.
• Reorder rules work across the total business demand, not per channel.
• Inter-store transfers are tracked — move 20 units from your warehouse to your Sydney store with full visibility.
• Stocktakes reconcile the single truth — not three different inventory counts across three systems.

Omnichannel scenarios Odoo handles

• Buy online, pick up in store (BOPIS) — Customer orders online, selects a store for pickup. Store receives a picking order and notifies the customer when ready.
• Buy in-store, ship to address — Customer is in your Melbourne store but wants the item shipped to Brisbane. POS creates a delivery order from your warehouse.
• Return anywhere — Customer bought online but returns in-store. POS processes the return against the original online order.
• Endless aisle — Product is out of stock in-store. Sales associate creates an order in POS that ships from the warehouse or another store.

Loyalty and gift cards

• Loyalty programs — Points-based rewards configurable by spending amount. Points redeemable for discounts or free products across POS and eCommerce.
• Gift cards — Sell and redeem gift cards in-store and online. Gift card balances tracked centrally.
• Promotions — Buy-one-get-one, percentage discounts, bundle pricing, and happy hour pricing — all configurable per POS and/or online store.

Accounting for retail

• Daily POS sessions close and post to accounting automatically — cash counted, card payments reconciled, discrepancies flagged.
• Shopify payments reconcile through a clearing journal against bank payouts.
• GST is handled automatically across all channels — inclusive pricing for B2C, exclusive for B2B.
• Cost of goods sold updates with every sale based on your chosen valuation method.
• Bank feeds via Basiq reconcile all incoming payments — EFTPOS settlements, Shopify payouts, and direct transfers.

Implementation for retailers

• Typical modules — POS, Inventory, Sales, Accounting, Barcode. Optional: eCommerce or Shopify connector, Loyalty, Website.
• Timeline — 6–10 weeks. Product catalogue setup and POS configuration are the biggest time investments.
• Budget — $25,000–$70,000 depending on store count, product catalogue size, and eCommerce requirements.
• Hardware — iPad or Android tablet, receipt printer, cash drawer, and Linkly-compatible EFTPOS terminal per store. No proprietary POS hardware required.

If you're tired of running your retail business across disconnected systems, get in touch. We'll show you how Odoo brings it all together.