Getting Started with Square for Retail on Mobile
Overview
With Square for Retail on Mobile, you can accept payments and run your retail business from beyond the counter and straight from the palm of your hand. By using the app with any compatible iPhone, you’ll have the opportunity to meet your customers where they are – and add in extra points of sale when things get busy. Once you’ve installed Square for Retail on Mobile, you can:
Provide your team members with device codes to have them take payments from their personal devices when your line gets too long.
Take payments on-the-go from anywhere in the country and track your business’s transactions with a few simple taps.
Create and manage customers, discounts and items, whether you’re at your primary business location or in the comfort of your own home.
Free up your main point of sale to take care of your customers and receive stock on your phone to ensure your inventory is accurate and up to date.
Manage your inventory directly from the Inventory section of your app, and take various actions on received stock and purchase orders.
Features
Take a look at the table below to view the differences between Square for Retail on Mobile vs Square for Retail on an iPad or Square Register.
| iPad | Register | iPhone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Checkout | |||
| Search customers | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Smart Favourites | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Auto-Calculated Taxes | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| Item Options | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Auto Discounts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Add Customer to Basket | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Customer Profiles | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Capture Emails | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Saved Baskets | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Customer Cheat Sheet | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Transactions | |||
| Issue Refunds | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Issue Exchanges (Plus Only) | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Print New Receipt | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Search Transaction by Receipt, Card and Customer | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Search by Scanning Barcode | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Orders | |||
| Create Orders | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Manage Orders | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Cross-Location Inventory Search | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Cross Location Pickup | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Print Postage Labels | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Items | |||
| View Inventory Counts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Edit Product Options | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Adjust Inventory | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Inventory Management | |||
| Transfer stock | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Receive Stock | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Add Cost Upon Receipt | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Add Vendor Upon Receipt | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Receive Purchase Orders | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| View Purchase Order Details | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Search for Purchase Orders | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Create Purchase Orders | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Print Barcode Labels | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Low Stock Alerts | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Reporting | |||
| Cash Drawer Management | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Item Sales Report | ✔️ | ✔️ | |
| Loyalty Report | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Invoices | |||
| Create Invoice | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| View Outstanding Invoices | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| View Paid Invoices | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Settings | |||
| Add Favourites | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Card Readers | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Square Stand | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Printers | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Cash Drawers | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Barcode Scanners | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Orders – Quick Actions | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Orders - Alerts | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Orders - Print Online Order Tickets | ✔️ | ✔️ | – |
| Team Management | |||
| Team Passcodes | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Payment Types | |||
| Partial Payments | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Split Bill | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Physical Gift Cards | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| eGift Cards | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Instalments | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
| Accept Deposits | ✔️ | ✔️ | ✔️ |
Getting Started
To get started on an iPhone, download the Square for Retail app and enter your email and password or create a device code to log in to start taking payments.
Setup Guide
Once you sign up for a Square for Retail account and sign in to the app, you can access the Setup Guide. If you haven’t completed the primary setup steps, you can do so through the Setup Guide, as well as explore guided walkthroughs, tutorials and advanced setup steps. You’ll also see a tracker at the top of the Setup Guide and/or Checkout screen that shows your setup progress.
To dismiss the Setup Guide, tap the “⋯” icon in the top-right corner of the guide, and select Dismiss Setup Guide. This will remove the Setup Guide tracker from your Checkout screen, but you can easily access it any time after you dismiss it. If you’re using Square for Retail on your iPhone, tap the Menu icon at the bottom right side of the app screen, and tap Support > Tutorials > Setup Guide. If you’re using Square for Retail on your iPad, tap the Menu icon at the bottom left side of the app screen, and tap Support > Tours and Tutorials > Setup Guide.
Note: Setup Guide is not currently available for Square Register, but you can access the same checklist directly from your online Square Dashboard.
Frequently Asked Questions
At this time, Square for Retail on Mobile is only available with Apple iPhones running iOS 12 or higher. Keep an eye out for updates in our Seller Community.
No. Once you’ve downloaded the app to your iPhone, you can sign in with either your email address and password or device code. Your account information, including customer directory and item library, will be available upon logging in.
Depending on whether you’re subscribed to Square for Retail Free or Square for Retail Plus, there may be some minor differences in the features available to you. Some features may only be available in your online Square Dashboard. Learn more about the differences between Square for Retail Free and Square for Retail Plus.
Yes! If your line starts to get too long or you need an extra set of hands to help out with selling, team members can log in to Square for Retail on Mobile on their personal iPhone and take payments on your behalf.