Favourite product
- Square Register As a not-for-profit that trains staff with learning disabilities, the customer-facing display on the Square Register has made everything easier and their customers comment on it, too.
Favourite feature
- Analytics The founder and CEO of Fairshot, Bianca, looks at it every day to monitor gross sales and donations in real time. General Manager, Kanice, uses Reporting to compare YoY sales and for forecasting around special dates such as bank holidays.
“Square is a core element of our business functioning the way that we want and need it to.”
– Bianca Tavella, Founder and CEO, Fair Shot
The number of transactions processed through Square to date: 50,000+
CEO and Founder, Bianca first discovered Square in the business planning stage. Square was in the running alongside two other payment providers but chose Square due to its interface and impressive features such as being able to add pictures to the menu. With trainees working in the cafe who have disabilities and/or autism, this was an important deciding factor. “It was the simplest most accessible tool” Bianca tells us. The look and the feel and the intuitiveness of it all made it the best fit for Fair Shot.
Key challenges and how Square offered solutions:
- Simple and illustrative interface The main challenge they were experiencing with payment hardware on the market was a simple interface that accommodated trainees who can’t read. Their hardware needs to be accessible and easy enough to use for all trainees. Every trainee was able to use it including those who are non-verbal and dyslexic.
- Customer-facing ordering screen With so much more transparency, customers and trainees can view orders which assist with communication. In a previous cafe, they had a PoS system that didn’t have a customer-facing screen and this proved a pain point.
Implementation & Training
Fair Shot staff and trainees were able to get started, straight out of the box with no complications. There was no requirement for training sessions, saving valuable time and described Square products as “simple and accessible”.
Having previously used another provider, in comparison they said Square was 3x times faster to get up and running with, took less time to get used to and overall was more clear.
Square’s Impact on Business as Told by Fair Shot
1. Boosts trainee’s confidence and eases customer interactions
Square helped trainees feel like they can do anything. It also facilitates and eases customer interaction – customers and trainees can view orders which assists with communication. Bianca went on to say “The Square system is very much a support to the trainees instead of making it more difficult”.
2. Square enables a quicker service
Due to the added features of Square products such as the customer-facing display on the register and the use of product images, Square enables a quick service that is a big win for Fair Shot. “It facilitates our trainees, the training program, and the service, all in one. It just makes it a lot easier” Bianca adds.
“Squares accelerated our service as much as can be”.
– Bianca Tavella, Founder and CEO, Fair Shot
3. Create sales and monthly profit and loss reports
Alba, Cafe Manager at Fair Shot said this is super easy to do with Square. She also uses the reports to analyse the number of products that are sold, and the most popular flavours to make informed inventory and menu decisions.
Another way in which they use Square for inventory is by monitoring when stock is running low. Alba benefits from the email alert that is sent to her from Square.
“It’s super easy to create an analysis between the different items, the products, and also the different days, and times of the day. It’s super easy to analyse the data.”
– Alba Bagüeste, Cafe Manager, Fair Shot
4. Modify opening hours to boost trade
Fair Shot uses sales data alongside their sale time to understand busy transaction periods. They used to be open till 7pm Monday to Friday and they now close at 6pm due to Square sales data which identified 6-7pm as a much quieter period.
5. Encourage donations to their charity
Square hardware has made it easy to add the donations option at the end of a transaction; it conveniently comes up on the customer’s screen. Fair Shot has found this has encouraged generosity with 35-40% of customers donating to their charity.
6. Minimal to zero training investment
The business area Square has helped in the most is the training and the upskilling of staff. Bianca shared that without Square they’d spend more time supporting the trainees behind the register which would lead to having to hire more staff. They also might not have been able to accommodate non-verbal and trainees who can’t read. The register has opened up the accessibility of their trainee program.
Fair Shot also leans on a relief team who comes in when their trainees are away and on holiday. Speaking about this Bianca highlighted that no training is needed for this team which releases any extra pressure this would have put on the day-to-day. Saving time and the risk of losing customers.
Fair Shot’s story is a great example of how a business can use its tools to create an inclusive environment and make a genuine impact on people’s lives. To see how other Square sellers foster inclusivity in their businesses, head on over to the Square Seller Community.
More about Fair Shot
Fair Shot is a social enterprise cafe and a registered UK charity that aims to transform the lives of young adults with learning disabilities and/or autism through learning on-the-job skills at their cafe in Covent Garden, London. Since opening in December 2021, Fair Shot has supported 21 young people out of the unemployment cycle, with 100% of those being job-ready after completing their 12-month trainee program in employment. Bianca’s vision for Fair Shot rightly challenges barriers around young women in business and people with disabilities in the workplace. Their success is based on the impact they have on their trainees. You can support them, here:
