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How Square powers this hybrid business
Among Cremorne’s design studios and converted warehouses sits Suupaa, a fast-casual eatery and convenience store inspired by the Japanese konbini culture. Konbini are fun, accessible and impossible to miss in Japan. You can buy instant noodles, iced coffee, socks and batteries, all with ease from the very same store. Suupaa takes that spirit and adapts it for Melbourne, blending dine-in ramen and katsu, fridges stocked with grab-and-go meals, and shelves displaying quirky goods.
This hybrid venue does the work of a restaurant, a takeaway outlet and a retail store – all while maintaining the thoughtful design and hospitality that are central to its identity. Below, co-owners Stefanie Breschi and Alex Boffa, alongside floor supervisor Taylor and bar manager Nicholas, share how they keep everything running Suupaa-smoothly with Square. For the backstory, read how Suupaa began and the inspirations behind its unique konbini-style concept.
On the counter
Suupaa’s space is designed for flow and efficiency. Customers can either dine in or grab takeaway and retail items without bumping into one another. That variety means the point-of-sale system needs to adapt just as easily.
At the front, two Square Register devices keep transactions quick and simple across takeaway food, snacks, drinks and knick-knacks. Taylor, who oversees day-to-day floor operations, appreciates the system’s user-friendly and accessible on-screen design, making it easy for staff to quickly process orders. “You just ‘click, click, pay,’ and the order has gone through,” she says.
Dine-in is supported by QR code ordering and Square Online. This allows customers to scan the QR code at their table, browse the digital menu, place their order and pay instantly without needing to wait for staff. “It’s really easy for the customers,” Taylor notes, “and it’s more efficient for us as well. Having the QR code system makes it really easy and convenient.”
Diners can also sign up for ‘Konbini Coins’ while ordering and start earning loyalty points on the spot. Powered by Square Loyalty, Stef says it encourages customers to return, whether they’re local regulars, nearby workers or weekend visitors. “What we’ve noticed is that people who are subscribed to Konbini Coins tend to spend more than non-subscribers,” she says.
A third register, Square Stand, adds even more flexibility. Typically set on the counter in the dine-in area, staff can slide out the iPad and take it mobile. Integrated with SevenRooms, it’s especially handy on busy weekends: hosts can bring the iPad to the door to check guests in and manage the waitlist efficiently.
However, not everyone has the time for a sit-down meal. Many stop in to get takeaway food – and might leave with something extra from Suupaa’s shelves. Branded products like yuzukosho and habanero hot sauce and cup ramen sit alongside canned cold brew coffee and novelty hats embroidered with the eatery’s Fugu pufferfish mascot. Little finds like this are a treat for customers that can add a helpful revenue lift: a 2025 Square report found that more than half of Aussies (52%) said they bought a retail item from a local restaurant in the past year.
The whole experience is easy and intuitive, not only for customers but also for staff.
In a venue like ours, where there are multiple ways to take the order, to condense it into one process… and have it completely customisable and modified to our needs, [Square] solves all our issues, and it makes everything tick along quite nicely.”
Nicholas Currie → Bar manager
Behind the counter
Square for Restaurants keeps everything coordinated in the kitchen. Orders – whether placed via the counter or tableside QR code – flow directly to the correct kitchen station, with dockets clearly labelled as dine-in or takeaway. This instant routing eliminates mistakes and ensures each item is sent where it needs to go: the deep fryer, the bar, the pass and so on. These small efficiencies make a big difference for a high-volume operation, helping Suupaa’s kitchen team stay on top of service.
“Square makes my day easier,” says Nick. “At the end of the day, I have all my dockets on a spike, and I look at that and go, ‘Well, that was easy.’ It’s a smoother process than I’ve had to deal with in the past with other point-of-sale systems.”
The team also uses Square Dashboard to break down sales performance, including which items are most popular, what times are busiest and what’s underperforming. “Using Square’s data, we were able to identify quickly which items we were wasting and which items we weren’t selling enough of, versus what we were producing,” Stef explains. “That allowed us to course-correct, and either replace the item completely or reduce the quantity that we were producing on a daily basis to minimise wastage.”
Square helps us focus on the patterns and trends and operate more strategically.”
Stefanie Breschi → Co-owner
“That’s really important for a business like ours, because we plan to grow. If we don’t have that centralised data to understand or recognise patterns and trends as they’re occurring, we are not going to be able to improve or grow our offering. So, it allows us to be more strategic in our decision-making around what’s working and what’s not.”
Stock management is also streamlined with Square for Retail. As new retail products arrive daily – from umbrellas and magazines to homewares – staff scan them straight into the system to update inventory instantly. The same barcode system also enables staff to scan items at checkout when customers purchase an item, ensuring stock records stay accurate across the business.
For deeper detail, the team integrates Square with MarketMan, which tracks every ingredient and supply cost, from the sauce that appears in multiple dishes to the packaging used for takeaway. Pairing MarketMan’s granular cost tracking with sales data from Square Dashboard gives Suupaa a full picture of its cost structure.
Design has always been a priority at Suupaa, and the team wanted the look and feel of their digital presence to match the physical space. Initially, they tried to integrate QR code ordering with a highly customised third-party ordering system, but operational issues soon surfaced: orders were dropping out, dishes weren’t making it to the kitchen, and getting developer support was proving difficult.
Six weeks in, they switched to Square Online. “Ultimately, we realised that, operationally, we just need a system that works,” says Alex. “We were actually able to replicate a lot of the website design… and it’s been running seamlessly since then.”
This latest move means Suupaa now utilises the full Square stack, with all operations running under one ecosystem. “Square brings everything together, which is so critical, particularly because we’ve got a hybrid model with different aspects,” says Stef. “The fact that we have this centralised data source that can respond to all functions of the business is super important in streamlining day-to-day operations.”
With tech handling everything in the background, the founders can focus on experimenting and growing with new ideas. It’s a setup that mirrors the konbini spirit: simple for the customer on the surface, but smart and organised behind the scenes.
