Square for Retail

Pros

I love how it’s so easy to use and very user friendly. I have the Square Register which has a large screen for me and a small screen in the front for the customers transaction. It is easy to add inventory by name and barcode with the barcode scanner. You can set up alerts, and I can still use it for cash transactions. I have the cash drawer accessory so it opens as soon as soon as you complete cash sale. It is basically a very advanced and convenient cash register that isn’t large and bulky.

Cons

The price is a little steep for small businesses. You can get the system that requires an iPad but I didn’t see the point. If you don’t have an iPad you have to purchase that in addition. I settled for the standalone register.

Pros

How simple it is to set up. You know exactly how much you are being charged. There is no hidden extra add ons. Square updated the os, so now if your customer wants to return 1 item and they purchased two, you just pull up the item and hit return.

Cons

Just make sure you do all the updates for square and os system for any pad you are using. We use an Ipad and it works great! Not much to not like.

Pros

The fee structure is lower than some, and they send first time users a free mag strip reader. That's really the only benefit I can see.

Cons

-You can't manage your account from your phone. Most options are grayed out and say "desktop required."
-Once I got to my desktop, the site was really buggy and hard to use. For instance, little black dialogue boxes telling what kind of info to put in each field hover over the space you actually need to type in when you do your account set-up. When you hit the "X" in the corner of the dialogue box that is blocking your view of the typing area, a full-screen pop-up asks "Are you sure you want to leave setup?" No, I don't want to leave setup, I just need this box out of the way. My first form that I filled out was full of typos, because I couldn't see the field to type in through the black dialogue boxes.
-Their customer service is REALLY bad. When I had trouble signing up for the free card reader, I used the WORST customer service bot I've ever seen. It just kept sending bursts of 3-5 messages with links to broken pages on their website based on key words before I could even fully type my question. Then the human customer service rep I chatted with wanted to add things to my cart for me and kept trying to assume the sale before actually addressing my problem.

Alternatives Considered

Pros

I enjoy easily keeping track of my customer's info, including the ability to create my own custom fields and also group customers. These features make it easy for me to note a history with a customer, aside from just their purchases. Grouping customers allows me to enter a location, find the group of customers there, and know everyones name as a result of this reference

Cons

I wish it were easier to transfer my client lest from other software, but thats the nature of software I guess.

Pros

The software is very easy to install. The pairing of the software with either the magstripe or the contactless reader is quite fast. Processing payments is a breeze and both readers can be used on the go or a set location.

Cons

I don’t have any problems with the software itself. It would be nice to have a better rate for card processing.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Square for Retail

Reasons for Switching to Square for Retail