Ed Barry knows the ingredients that make a successful coffee shop. He opened his first outlet in London’s Earls Court in 2017 and steadily built his brand, Over Under Coffee, into a thriving nine-shop operation, which he sold to an American coffee chain in 2024. But while his hospitality journey had a happy ending, he experienced his fair share of frustrations along the way.
“The biggest pain point running my business wasn’t trying to create an amazing customer experience,” Barry explains, “it was managing the myriad operational complexities.” This first-hand experience led him to create Edify, a data-driven hospitality management platform specialising in inventory management and reporting for the coffee sector.
Now, through a partnership with Square, Edify is helping coffee shop operators across the UK overcome the same challenges Barry once faced.
Square x Edify: The formula for coffee shop success
The integration between Square and Edify addresses three critical areas that coffee shop owners struggle with daily: operational complexity, time management and sustainable growth.
Simple, user-friendly integration
For coffee shop owners, complexity is the enemy of efficiency. The Square and Edify integration tackles this head-on by creating a seamless connection between front-of-house sales and back-office inventory management.
“Square are revolutionising the front of house while we help revolutionise the back of house,” Barry says. The integration synchronises sales data from Square directly into Edify’s inventory management system, helping owners make informed planning and budgeting decisions.
The integration is simple to implement and easy for staff to pick up, without the need for time-consuming training sessions. “Coffee shops have unique ways of working,” says Barry, and the integration is designed specifically for café operators’ needs. In an industry with high staff turnover, having systems that new team members can quickly learn is invaluable.
Time-saving automation
Coffee shop owners are losing countless hours poring over spreadsheets and manually tracking inventory – time that could be spent improving customer experience or developing new offerings.
The automated data flow between Square and Edify eliminates this burden. Sales and inventory information is organised into visual reports that give owners immediate insights. Time spent gathering and interpreting data can now be spent making critical day-to-day decisions.
Like Square, Edify continually invests in its technology to make daily operations easier for businesses. Barry’s excited about new analytics and insights features in development that will save owners even more time. “It will be like having a digital ops manager in your hand,” he says.
Tools for business growth
Armed with streamlined operations and data-driven insights, coffee shop owners can focus on what truly matters: growth. The Square and Edify partnership provides the technological foundation needed to scale efficiently.
Barry emphasises that operational efficiency becomes even more critical during expansion: “Streamline the core operations – things only get more complicated as you scale. Implement great technology!”
With sales and inventory data from multiple locations all in one place, the Square and Edify partnership helps owners maintain consistency as they expand, both in their offerings and their customer experience.
Advice for scalable success
For coffee shop owners seeking to grow their businesses, Barry shares this advice: “Be super clear on why people are coming to visit your shop. What is it about your business that keeps your customers coming back? Find that, understand it and scale it.” With Square and Edify handling the operational complexities, that goal becomes much more achievable.
