Square KDS now available in Canada as standalone product

Square’s kitchen display system is now widely available for restaurants of all types and sizes

Today, Square KDS is launching as a standalone subscription in Canada and across the globe, making the powerful kitchen display software available to all restaurant sellers — including those that don’t require taking orders on a POS or advanced functionality, and simply need a KDS to manage and fulfil orders from online ordering and delivery partners.

Square first announced the availability of Square KDS software, that helps restaurants display and organize incoming orders, last November as part of its Square for Restaurants Plus package. While Square KDS combined with Square for Restaurants Plus is a powerful solution for any restaurant that experiences high order volume across multiple channels, Square KDS as a standalone solution is especially useful for delivery-only kitchens — often referred to as ghost or cloud kitchens. The concept has become increasingly popular in Canada and globally in recent years, especially as the restaurant industry has had to adapt and innovate in light of the past year’s COVID-19 government restrictions.

Burgerism, a restaurant based in Salford, U.K., started with delivery-only orders and recently expanded to include pickup when they saw a trend of customers parking outside their kitchen addresses. “I’m an independent restaurant owner that recently opened a single location ghost kitchen to save on rent and labour costs during the pandemic,” said John O’Reilly, owner of Burgerism. “Since my business runs on online and pickup orders, all of my physical space is dedicated to driving kitchen efficiency. I don’t really need a POS system, and Square KDS can manage everything I need — from order acceptance, to item routing, to fulfilment.”

Square KDS was built to quickly and easily enhance communication between cooks and customers, ultimately improving order efficiency and cutting costs. Restaurants can fulfil orders however a customer prefers, whether that’s physically in the dining room, or via takeout, delivery, or curbside pickup. Square KDS seamlessly integrates orders from the point of sale, Square Online, and third-party online ordering & delivery platforms, providing restaurants with one, central place to manage orders from.

Ignite Group of Brands, an Ontario-based company that specializes in the creation of restaurants, markets, breweries and retail products, uses Square KDS as a centralized ordering location across its fleet of food trucks, and plans to adopt it for their brick and mortar locations. “We selected Square KDS based on it’s overall ease of setup and use, as well as its practicality. It allows our customers to order and receive their food efficiently,” said Quentin Lewonas, Operations Director. “With Square KDS, we’re able to control the pace of ordering and fulfilment exceptionally well, which gives our customers the best experience possible.”

Restaurants can enable Square KDS within minutes with no long-term commitments or professional installation costs, allowing operators to keep staff training time to a minimum. Canadian sellers can get started with a special introductory price of $10/month per device through the remainder of 2021. Square for Restaurants Plus subscribers can access unlimited Square KDS devices at no additional cost.

Every business has different needs, and with Square, sellers can fulfil orders however it makes the most sense for their business — whether that’s via curbside pickup, local delivery, on-demand delivery through delivery partners or self-serve ordering through QR codes.