Thrift and vintage shops
A thrift or vintage shop sells second-hand pieces, one of each and sold once. Volunteers are on its rota.
Clothing boutiques and gift shops
Magpie counts every size and colour you stock, and sells them online. It starts each supplier's order and plans the rota too.
The shop and its staff work in one Magpie team. Sales in the shop and online come out of the same stock.
Get started free
This combination of four Magpie areas fits a boutique or gift shop.
- Store
- Store counts every size and colour, sells them online and starts each supplier's order.
- Social Media
- Social Media starts a post for a new arrival, with its photos and its link.
- Newsletter
- Newsletter emails new arrivals and the sale to customers who asked for news.
- Staff Scheduling
- Staff Scheduling plans the shop floor's rota, and shows each person their own shifts.
Store counts every size and colour, and orders more from your suppliers.
Store gives each size and colour its own stock, price and barcode. You can see what each location has on hand, held for checkout and on order. A transfer moves stock from the back room to the shop floor.
A purchase order lists the sizes you need and their cost. It goes to the supplier as a PDF. When a size falls to its reorder point, Magpie will email you. You can then add every low size to the next order at once.
You post each new arrival to Instagram and your other accounts.
Social Media starts a post from a live product, with its name and first four photos. You can add photos of the other colours, up to 20 for Instagram. Magpie crops each one for Instagram around the point you choose.
Posts to Bluesky, Mastodon and LinkedIn will be published at the time you choose. For Instagram and X, Magpie will email you a reminder. On your phone, Magpie copies the text and opens the share sheet with the images.
Customers who ask for news will get your new arrivals and the sale by email.
Newsletter keeps the list of customers who asked for news and offers. Checkout can show an unticked box for it. A buyer who ticks it will join once their order is paid. A QR code on the counter can open your signup page.
You can send yourself a test of each email. You send it at once, or schedule it for the morning the sale starts. Each email's page counts the copies delivered. You can share its web copy in a social post.
You plan the shop floor's rota, and each person sees their own shifts.
Staff Scheduling gives the shop its rota, with starter positions such as Cashier and Sales. You add each person by name, as an employee, casual or seasonal worker. After their last day, they get no more shifts.
People you invite will see their published shifts. They can swap them, ask for cover and ask for time off. A blackout period, such as a holiday rush, marks any time off asked for in it. Magpie checks every change against your rules.
Six more areas cover opening checks, photos, the website, the books, hiring and supplies.
- Daily Operations
- Daily Operations gives the shop its opening and closing checklists. Opening asks whether prices match the current promotion. Closing begins by returning items from the fitting rooms.
- Image Converter
- Image Converter gives a batch of product photos one maximum size, crop and format. It saves every result to your images, for listings and posts.
- Websites
- Websites gives the shop a website. One section lists your published products, with their photos and current prices. Each links to the product in your online shop.
- Accounting
- Accounting can enter a received purchase order as the supplier's bill. Each sale moves its cost to Cost of goods sold. Paid orders and Stripe's fees are added to the books.
- Hiring
- Hiring puts seasonal jobs on your public job board. You can add someone you hire to the rota from their page.
- Inventory
- Inventory counts the shop's own supplies, such as carrier bags, tissue paper and gift boxes. When one falls below its minimum, you can start its supplier's order.
Deliveries, sales in the shop and sales online all change one stock count.
Each size and colour has one stock count, and the next order starts from it.
The delivery arrives
You receive the purchase order at the back room or the shop floor. The sizes will be added to stock at their cost.
New in, online
You make the style live online. A collection of recently published products will list it as new in. You can start its social post from the product.
Sold in the shop
You record the sale, paid in cash or on your own card terminal. Its items leave the stock at the location you choose.
Sold online
The buyer pays on Stripe's checkout page without signing up first. Checkout holds the size until they have paid.
Running low
When a size falls to its reorder point, Magpie will email you. You can put it on the next purchase order with the other low sizes.
In the books
You can enter the received order as the supplier's bill. Each sale moves its cost to Cost of goods sold.
Setting up takes five steps.
Make a team for the shop
You create a team and invite whoever runs the shop with you. Help: Personal and team work.
Open the online shop and connect Stripe
You name the online shop and add its contact email and local pickup. Then you connect Stripe. Help: Set up and publish a Store.
Add each style with its sizes and colours
You add the sizes and colours, then each one's price, barcode and stock. You can import a CSV file instead. Help: Create products, options, and inventory.
Add your suppliers and locations
You add each supplier with its lead time. A location can be the back room or a second shop. Help: Suppliers and purchase orders.
Put the staff on the rota
You choose the Shop business type and add each person by name. Then you publish a first week. Help: Plan and publish a staff schedule.
Plans
A shop with staff is a team. The Team plan is one price for the whole team, with 25 member places. A free team has 3. Someone on the rota takes a place only after accepting an invitation to see their shifts.
Magpie adds no fee to online sales. Stripe's processing fee is taken from each card payment.
Other businesses similar to a boutique or gift shop have pages of their own.
Bookshops, record shops and game shops
A bookshop sells books, records or games. People RSVP to its readings and launches on a public calendar.
Online stores and direct-to-consumer brands
An online store sells its own brand at its own domain, with no shop floor.
Plant nurseries and garden centres
A plant nursery sells plants and garden supplies that change with the seasons. People sign up for its workshops.
Makers with a shop
A maker with a shop sells what they make, from their own materials and batches. Its stock is not bought from other brands.
Questions boutique owners ask
Can we sell the same stock in the shop and online?
Each size and colour has one stock count. An online checkout holds what it takes until the buyer has paid. A size that reaches zero stops selling online. A sale in the shop takes its items from the location you choose.
How do we record a card payment at the till?
You record the sale as a new order, paid by Card, outside Stripe. That option is for a payment on your own card terminal. The order is created as paid, and its items leave stock. The books hold the money in Undeposited funds until you record the deposit. Cash sales work the same way.
Can customers see which sizes are in stock?
Yes. Each size and colour has its own stock. One that reaches zero cannot be bought, unless you let it sell on back order. Shoppers can filter your online shop by an option such as size. They can also tick In stock only.
Can a customer be told when their size is back?
Yes. When a size with tracked stock sells out, its page asks for an email address. Magpie will send one email when it can be bought again. You see how many people are waiting for each sold-out size. Their addresses are used for that one email only.
How do we run an end-of-season sale?
An automatic discount takes a percentage or an amount off a collection or chosen products. It runs between the start and end times you set. It applies to every cart it fits. A size with a compare-at price above its price counts as on sale. A collection with the Is on sale rule will list it.
Can we offer gift wrapping and a gift message?
Yes. Personalisation fields on a product ask for them when it is bought. A choice from a list, such as Gift wrap, can add to the price. A long text field takes the message. What the customer entered is shown on the order, the packing slip and the order emails.
Can customers order online and collect from the shop?
Yes. You add local pickup with the shop's address, pickup times and instructions. Buyers who choose it are not asked for a shipping address. When you mark the order ready, Magpie will email them.
Can customers return something they bought online?
You choose how long after shipping customers can ask: 14, 30, 60 or 90 days. They ask from their order page. You approve the return, record what arrived and choose where it goes back into stock. You refund it the way they paid, or as store credit. Store credit is a gift card emailed to them.
Can we see what sells and what we make on it?
Reports show sales, Stripe fees, margins and stock for any dates. Each table downloads as a CSV file. Margins use each size's cost per item. Receiving a purchase order keeps that at the average cost. A weekly summary can be emailed to you.
How do we count the stock?
Setting a size's stock to what you counted is recorded as a stock count correction. You can also add stock received, or remove damaged, lost or returned items. Each change is in the stock history, with who made it.
Can we reward our regular customers?
Yes, with a discount code only they can use. A customer segment saves a filter, such as a number of orders or an amount spent. You can limit a discount code to that segment. Checkout checks each buyer's email address against it.
Can we sell gift cards?
Yes. A gift card sells fixed amounts and, if you choose, a custom amount in a range. The buyer can have it emailed to someone on a date they choose. It pays for items and shipping in your online shop. A bought card never expires and carries no fee.
Can we show a size chart and what a piece is made of?
Yes. You can paste a size chart from a spreadsheet. It is shown under its own heading on the product page. Specifications such as Material: linen are listed as name and value pairs. Shoppers can filter by product type, brand and tags.
Can we suggest pieces that go together?
Yes. Each product can list up to 8 products that go with it. Its page shows up to 4 of them that are live. The cart suggests the ones chosen for the products in it.
Can our products appear on Instagram and Google Shopping?
Yes. Magpie gives you feed addresses for Google Merchant Center and a Meta catalog. Facebook and Instagram shopping use the Meta catalog. Each live size and colour with an image and a price is listed, with its availability. The feeds update as your products change.
Can someone take deliveries without seeing our sales figures?
Yes. You give them only the Manage stock permission. It covers stock counts, received stock, suppliers and purchase orders. Reports, refunds and products are separate permissions. Only you and any other admins see the payment account and payouts.
Where do staff see their shifts?
Each person sees their published shifts under My shifts on the website. Magpie will email them about changes. Their shifts also appear on their personal calendar in Magpie. A subscription address works with Google Calendar, Apple Calendar and Outlook.
Can customers buy online without signing up first?
Yes. Buyers pay on Stripe's checkout page and get a private link to their order by email. A buyer signed in to Magpie can keep the order under Your orders. They can also reuse a saved address and save products to a wishlist.
Set up your shop.
Create a Magpie account and make a team for the shop.