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Square Seeks to Revolutionize Retail Sales With 'Square Register' for iPad and 'Card Case'
Square, the company that has brought the ability to accept credit cards for transactions to individuals and small businesses with a card reader dongle for iOS devices, today announced its next venture: "Square Register" for iPad. Seeking to replace traditional cash registers with iPads equipped with the new Square Register application, Square notes that the app will allow businesses to easily customize the register interface with their full list of products.
Analytics tools will allow businesses to see up-the-minute details on sales performance, broken down by any number of metrics to help businesses study sales trends. The Square Register functionality comes as an update to the iPad version of the company's universal App Store app.
From the customer perspective, Square is rolling out "Card Case", virtual business cards that allow customers to view details on their favorite businesses, directly accessing live-updated menus and product listings from the card as well as transaction histories with item-level detail.
Replacing loyalty cards and credit card payment methods, Square Cards will allow a customer to establish a relationship with a business and pay for goods without having to carry a wallet, a mechanism Square CEO Jack Dorsey likens to having a permanent tab opened with the business. Transaction confirmations and receipts are pushed to users' phones for record-tracking. Users can initiate a payment by activating the business's Square Card on their phone when within range of the business and then simply giving their name at the register to have the purchase charged to their account.
Square Register and Square Cards are rolling out now through 50 merchants located in New York City, San Francisco, Washington DC, St. Louis, and Los Angeles, with further expansion coming soon.
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108 months ago
This is awesome news! I LOVE my Square app on my iPhone4. It has been great for everyday life and the occasional yard sale.
When everyone in the office wants to order lunch or flowers for a sick coworker, I can be the one that places the order and I can take debit/credit cards from the other workers for their share of the total and the same goes for office lunch. I always make sure that I tell them to add on a buck or so for the hit I take from the percentage Square takes but for the convenience no one has objected.
And you wouldn't believe the looks I get from people who are going around to the yard sales and come to ours and see that I can take a credit card! We have sold a lot more objects and some bigger ticket items because of this option. People are much more apt to spend $50 for TV on their credit card than to have $50 in cash extra on their person.
When everyone in the office wants to order lunch or flowers for a sick coworker, I can be the one that places the order and I can take debit/credit cards from the other workers for their share of the total and the same goes for office lunch. I always make sure that I tell them to add on a buck or so for the hit I take from the percentage Square takes but for the convenience no one has objected.
And you wouldn't believe the looks I get from people who are going around to the yard sales and come to ours and see that I can take a credit card! We have sold a lot more objects and some bigger ticket items because of this option. People are much more apt to spend $50 for TV on their credit card than to have $50 in cash extra on their person.
108 months ago
Wow talk about out of date technology. Transactions are now declined by banks if the card are swiped like this image suggests. Surely they have an updated device supporting chip reader (and PIN entry)?
Not in the US - which is why this system wont work outside of it.
108 months ago
Having worked with various retail POS systems from IBM et al I hope this finally allows a departure from the draconian interfaces which look as if design and operator usability were not allowed to be discussed in the development phase.
108 months ago
Heh. This thread has unintentionally revealed how ass-backwards U.S. credit card security is compared to Europe.
108 months ago
No. But my imac can. Via the Delicious Library App. So I am sure the ipad 2 can scan bar codes if someone was to write a little software to do it.
Ah, of course. The iPad (and iPhone) can do it that way through software (using a camera), but it's nowhere near as efficient as using a dedicated barcode scanner.
Sales staff in supermarkets are rated on how many items they can scan per minute.
It would be MUCH lower with an iPad. i.e. slower
It would be difficult to have useful data on the screen at the same time that the camera was being used to line up a barcode scan.
108 months ago
Users can initiate a payment by activating the business's Square Card on their phone when within range of the business and then simply giving their name at the register to have the purchase charged to their account.
Maybe I'm old-fashioned, but that sounds much more inconvenient than simply handing over cash or credit card. And since it still involves a 3rd party having control over my payment data, I'm not sure if it's any more secure than CC usage, either.
108 months ago
I envision the day when the iPad will be used for everything. Can you imagine how speedy the checkout lines will be at WalMart on Saturday afternoon with iPads instead of cash registers?
Why on earth do you think that?
I don't see how an iPad can replace an EPOS used by a company like WalMart.
Does the iPad weigh fruit?
Does the iPad scan barcodes?
Does the iPad have a cash drawer?
Is it Linked to a Conveyor Belt?
There isn't any convenience or benefit in using a tiny, portable device at a station where you're being served by someone who is sitting or standing in the exact same place.
The market Square is targeting is very different.
108 months ago
Why on earth do you think that?
I don't see how an iPad can replace an EPOS used by a company like WalMart.
Does the iPad weigh fruit?
Does the iPad scan barcodes?
Does the iPad have a cash drawer?
Is it Linked to a Conveyor Belt?
There isn't any convenience or benefit in using a tiny, portable device at a station where you're being served by someone who is sitting or standing in the exact same place.
The market Square is targeting is very different.
That's exactly what I was going to say. An Ipad is only good for table service where you could use it for input. But even the iPad is a little to big for that. You'd have to connect it to a computer to host the Cash drawer receipt printer etc etc. It's just not logical even for a small business. How are they supposed to print their receipts, use barcode scanner and cash drawer. Plus, in a few years their making it a requirement that all merchants are going to need to use chip enabled devices. It wouldn't work on an ipad
108 months ago
Heh. This thread has unintentionally revealed how ass-backwards U.S. credit card security is compared to Europe.
Hahah, a hundred times this. Funny seeing the confusion.
In the UK, we use a chip and PIN system. The card has a chip in it and we enter a 4 digit PIN code into the POS device to make the transaction.
It's been widespread for a few years now, my local pub was one of the last places to use the old style and thankfully they've recently upgraded.
There's no signature required for credit cards.
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