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Set up delivery options with Square Online

Who is this article for?
  • Sellers with the orders permission to manage orders.
  • Set permissions in Square Dashboard.
  • Square Online subscribers
  • About delivery for Square Online orders

    With Square Online, you can sell prepared food and beverage items online, and offer nearby customers a way to have their orders delivered ― by your own couriers or delivery staff or by a courier from a reliable local delivery service provider, such as DoorDash.

    Before you begin

    Before you can set up delivery options for online orders, you need a way to take orders online. Learn how to set up different options to take online orders:

    You have two options for delivery with Square Online orders:

    In-house delivery

    You won’t have to pay commissions; just a flat fee of $0.50 per order. You can choose to cover the fee, pass the local delivery costs on to your customers, or cover local delivery for orders over a certain amount (e.g. free delivery for orders over $50). The fee will be deducted from the total for each local delivery order you receive in addition to the usual transaction fee.

    Note: Waive the fee by upgrading to a Square Online Premium subscription.

    On-demand delivery

    You won’t have to pay commissions; just a flat fee of $1.50 per order. You can choose to cover the fee, pass the local delivery costs on to your customers, or cover local delivery for orders over a certain amount (e.g. free delivery for orders over $50). The fee will be deducted from the total for each local delivery order you receive in addition to the usual transaction fee.

    On-demand delivery orders are fulfilled by:

    • Postmates: If your service provider is Postmates, by agreeing to use our services, you also agree to the Postmates API Terms of Use.
    • DoorDash: If your service provider is DoorDash, by agreeing to use our services, you also agree to the DoorDash Terms of Service. If you have questions about your onboarding status with an On-Demand Delivery service provider, you may follow up with them directly at merchant-drive-support@doordash.com.
    Alcohol delivery is only available with on-demand delivery via DoorDash at this time. We don’t currently support age verification for tobacco and CBD products.

    You can set up delivery options from your Square Dashboard. During set up, you can customize the following Square Online order delivery options:

    • Delivery settings: Outline delivery timeframes and charges including service fees and fallback fees, if applicable. Introduce a minimum order for delivery eligibility, and give customers the choice of no-contact deliveries for additional instructions

      • In-house delivery: Specify your delivery area with postal codes or a radius from your business. Postal codes suit highly-populated areas, whereas a radius serves best for local deliveries.

      • On-demand delivery: Apply delivery and service charges to balance out expenses. To handle delivery charges, select one: make your customer pay, cover it yourself, or share the cost in a set ratio or amount. Apply a service fee as a fixed amount or a portion of the order total. Automatic delivery times cannot be turned off for On-Demand Delivery. On-Demand Delivery couriers must be scheduled at the point of checkout, which requires an accurate estimate of courier pickup and dropoff times.

    • Timing: For manual delivery time calculation, provide a brief description and detailed instructions for customer expectations. This information is shown throughout the order cycle. For automatic calculation, setup involves questions about delivery hours, earliest delivery, order preparation time, advance order placement, future delivery scheduling, and order-limiter. These factors define delivery timeframes and guidelines, from same-day to a year ahead, with limits on simultaneous deliveries.

    • Workflow: Instantly notify customers of order readiness by marking delivery orders as Ready and as Complete when done. Choose the ideal time for order ticket printouts. Opt for immediate ticket printing when orders are placed, or base it on pickup and delivery time.

    • Fulfillment hours: Choose deliverable days, specify time frames and exclude hours as needed. Customers can place orders anytime and choose delivery during your business hours. Hours listed on your Square Online site are purely informational and won't alter delivery settings.

    • Restricted dates: Set restricted dates for unavailable delivery days, including one-time or yearly repeating holidays.

    • Location details: Adjust your location details, contact info or display name. The map function allows you to reset your pickup area by adjusting the marker. Changes made here won't update your Square account's location settings.

    • Site visibility: Choose what websites the location should be visible on. Your customer will be able to buy items from your location on the sites you select.

    Option 1: Set up in-house delivery

    1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Settings > Account & Settings.

    2. Click Fulfillment > Pickup & Delivery

    3. Select Set up location by the location you want to enable delivery on.

    4. Indicate that you want to offer delivery by selecting Yes.

    5. Select My own couriers.

    6. Decide if you'll calculate and assign delivery times automatically.

    7. Select your Delivery settings preferences.

    8. Select your Timing preferences. You can test if our calculations match your operations by using the provided Fulfillment Calculator. What’s shown in the calculator is what’ll be shown to customers at checkout.

    9. Select your Workflow preferences.

    10. Select your Fulfillment hours.

    11. If applicable, add Restricted dates.

    12. Click Save when finished or move on to the steps below.

    Option 2: Set up on-demand delivery

    1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Settings > Account & Settings.

    2. Click Fulfillment > Pickup & Delivery

    3. Select Set up location by the location you want to enable delivery on.

    4. Indicate that you want to offer delivery by selecting Yes.

    5. Select On-Demand Delivery.

    6. Choose which courier services to use. 

    7. If you plan to deliver alcohol, select and accept the DoorDash alcohol delivery terms of service.

    8. Select your Delivery settings preferences. You can enter an address to see quotes for actual delivery fees.

    9. Select your Timing preferences. You can test if our calculations match your operations by using the provided Fulfillment Calculator. What’s shown in the calculator is what’ll be shown to customers at checkout.

    10. Select your Workflow preferences.

    11. Select your Fulfillment hours.

    12. If applicable, add Restricted dates.

    13. Click Save when finished or move on to the steps below.

    By selecting On-Demand Delivery as your local delivery option and proceeding, you agree to the On-Demand Delivery Terms of Service.

    Step 1: Review your location details

    1. From your location's Pickup & Delivery settings, click Location details. You may need to click Edit to open your settings.

    2. Edit your delivery location name, address, and phone number.

    3. Use the map to adjust the location used to determine your pickup area. Dragging the marker to a new position won’t change the address you’ve entered.

    4. Click Save or move on to the step below.

    This will only affect your delivery locations on your Square Online site and will not affect your locations added in Square.

    Step 2: Set your site visibility

    If you have multiple Square Online sites, you can set up visibility for each.

    1. From your location's Pickup & Delivery settings, click Site visibility. You may need to click Edit to open your settings.

    2. Select your online site(s) where you want customers to be able to buy from on this location.

    3. Click Save.

    Step 3: Adjust advanced settings (optional)

    After your main setup is complete, you can also configure other advanced settings that will apply to every location you've enabled for pickup.

    1. Sign in to your Square Dashboard and click Settings > Account & Settings.

    2. Click Fulfillment > Pickup & Delivery

    3. Click Advanced settings in the top right corner.

    4. Under Large order settings, toggle ON Set a quantity limit for pickup and delivery orders.

    5. Enter a quantity limit to prevent unexpected large pickup orders, and include an optional custom message explaining how to place orders that are over the quantity limit.

    6. Under On-POS arrival alerts, toggle ON Allow customers to reply HERE via text to announce they've arrived if you prefer your customers text instead of call.

    7. Click Save.

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