Square rolls out sophisticated new payments software to help retailers on their road to recovery

Today Square announced that it is rolling out Square for Retail, its custom-built point of sale system designed specifically for the complex needs of the retail industry, in Australia.

Square for Retail is a sophisticated industry-specific software solution that enables retailers to simply and efficiently manage in-store and online sales all in one place. Importantly, the software enables them to sync all their items, including inventory, prices and sales data instantly, across online and offline channels. Square for Retail makes running a business quick and intuitive, with a full suite of tools including stock and vendor management, margin reporting and more.

“Square for Retail has everything retailers need to work more streamlined as they get back to business as usual this year,” said Alyssa Henry, Seller Lead at Square. “After a really tough 2020, navigating forced closures and trading restrictions, Australia’s retail sector needs reliable technology platforms to help it recover.”

The software is heavily search focused, enabling businesses to quickly and easily find customer profiles and items using a unified search bar at the top of the interface. It also supports barcode scanning for building out a customer’s cart at checkout. Using Square’s dashboard tools, businesses can also maintain and browse a smart customer directory, that tracks sales and builds profiles of shoppers.

A number of businesses have been using Square for Retail as part of a public trial that has been running since October, including fine wine store, Le Pont, in South Melbourne.

“Square for Retail has completely changed the way that we run our business and has given us the tools to improve the way our customers experience the wine-buying process,” said Paul Green, Store Manager at Le Pont.

“Right now, it’s critically important that we have the technology to stay nimble. We operate as both a fine wine store and a bar, so having the ability to add new products - like selling wine by the glass - to our system and track the sales immediately is hugely valuable, and means we can create an experience that our customers love and can keep coming back for.”

Business Development Lead for Square Australia, Colin Birney, says Square for Retail is a very welcome addition to the ecosystem of Square products now available to Australian businesses.

“Square has traditionally been a great fit for smaller market traders and boutiques, but we haven’t always been able to meet the needs of larger retailers,” said Birney. “Square for Retail enables us to scale depending on the needs of our sellers, so we can serve any retailer from a one-location shop to those with multiple locations, online channels and lots of inventory to track.”

“Retail has been one of our strongest growth sectors since we started offering payments to the Australian market. Over the past five years, our Australian retailer base has increased by an average of 78% annually, with the number of larger multi-location retailers increasing 122% annually over the same period,” said Birney.

From today, Square for Retail is available with a no cost starter plan, as well as a plus plan for $109 (incl GST) per month. The software works seamlessly with Square’s growing ecosystem of products and services that includes inventory management, data analytics, and more. Please visit our website to learn more square.com.