On-Demand Delivery with Square Online
Square has made delivering orders simple and easy for your business. With On-Demand Delivery, a courier from a reliable delivery service provider will be dispatched automatically to your business' location to fulfill the delivery. Customers can sign up for text alerts, which link to a live map for real-time order tracking.
With 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 delivery costs on to your customers, or cover delivery for orders over a certain amount (e.g. free delivery for orders over $50).
| Already have your own delivery staff? Try In-House Delivery. |
Enable Delivery Location
You will first need to enable delivery for your locations. To do this:
Go to your Square Online Overview page > Settings > Pickup & Delivery.
Choose a location and toggle on Accept delivery orders.
Select On-Demand Delivery.
Finish setting up all other delivery features and select Save.
The Location display name for your business should be descriptive of your location.
Note: By selecting On-Demand Delivery as your delivery option and proceeding, you agree to the On-Demand Delivery Terms of Service.
Set Up Location
Next, you’ll need to set up a few delivery settings for your location:
Set prep times for different items, allow customers to schedule their orders for a time of their choosing, and even limit the number of pick up orders allowed to not overwhelm your business.
Note: It is common to charge customers a service fee for the convenience of delivery, and we would recommend implementing a service fee that helps you cover the increased fees of doing business online.
Update Item Fulfillment
Your location is now ready to accept pickup and delivery orders, but your items might not be available for pickup or delivery. To make all of your items available for shipping, pickup, or delivery so customers can start placing orders:
Select Shipping, Pickup, and/or Delivery.
Toggle the switch to apply these settings to all future items.
Click Save.
Note: You can edit fulfillment for individual items at any time in Items.
How to Manage and Fulfill an Order
You can manage your on-demand delivery orders though the online Square Dashboard, Square Online Overview page, POS app, and printed order tickets.
Square Online Overview
To view, track, and fulfill orders in your Square Online Overview page:
Go to your Square Online Overview page > Orders.
New orders will have an order type of Delivery, and a status of Pending.
Select an order to view more details.
To accept the order, select Mark as in progress in the top right corner.
Mark as ready when the items are available for pickup.
Mark as complete once the order has been picked up.
Square Dashboard
To view, track, and fulfill orders in your online Square Dashboard:
Go to your online Square Dashboard > Orders. In this area, new orders will show a status of New.
Select an order to view more details.
To accept the order, select Mark as in progress in the top right corner.
Mark as ready when the items are available for pickup.
Mark as complete once the order has been picked up.
You can also filter pickup or delivery orders using the Type drop down filter at the top of the page.
Order Manager
You can use the Order Manager in the Square POS app on iPad, Android tablet/phone, as well as Square Register:
Tap the three-horizontal lines to open the menu, and select Orders.
Using the Active filter, new orders will show a status of New.
Tap on an order to view more details.
To accept the order, select Mark as in progress in the top right corner, or bottom of the order pop-up.
Mark as ready when the items are available for pickup.
Mark as complete once the order has been picked up.
Orders scheduled for future delivery can be viewed using the Upcoming filter.
Learn more in our Orders in Square POS Setup Guide.
Printed tickets
Turn on Order Tickets for the printer station(s) you want to print order tickets. Order Tickets will display Postmates Pickup [Time] or DoorDash Pickup [Time], as well as any delivery notes, including the Delivery ID, provided by the courier.
To enable Order Tickets:
Navigate to Settings > Hardware > Printers.
Toggle on the automatic order ticket printing functionality. New orders will automatically print when they come in.
Select an order, and click Print in the order details.
Learn more about setting up printed tickets for orders in your setup guide for Orders in Square POS.
Refund Responsibility
| Cancellation Period | Cancellation Fee | Delivery Fee Refund | Tip Refund |
|---|---|---|---|
| Order Placement to Dispatch | None | Refunded | Refunded |
| Dispatch to Pickup |
Postmates: $5.00 charged to your business DoorDash: None |
Refunded | Refunded |
| Pickup to Delivery | None | No Refund | Refunded |
| Post-Delivery | None | No Refund | No Refund |
Note: All fees that are refunded to you will be credited to and reflected in your Square account within 31 days of a successful appeal. You will receive an email from Square when the credit has been processed. In the event of a cancellation, it is solely your responsibility to determine and pay out the appropriate refund amounts agreed upon between you and your customer per your business’ refund and cancellation policy.
Learn more about the On-Demand Delivery Terms of Service.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you have questions about your onboarding status with an On-Demand Delivery service provider, you may follow up with them directly.
- DoorDash: please email them at merchant-drive-support@doordash.com.
Square charges a $1.50 dispatch fee to your business for orders placed through On-Demand Delivery.
The Delivery Fee charged to your customer is a variable fee charged by the delivery service provider, based on delivery distance and other factors.
- Postmates: $4.20 + $0.75/km rate fee (Postmates measures in km).
- DoorDash: $6.99 fixed fee for up to 5 mile radius (DoorDash does not support deliveries outside of a 5 mile range).
Note: you will still be charged a processing fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction for Square Online purchases.
To view the exact details of the delivery fees for each order, you can export a full delivery fee breakdown report by following the directions below:
- Go to your Square Online Overview page > Orders > Export Orders.
- For Report Type, choose Delivery fee breakdown report.
- When finished, select Export.
We’ll then send you an email with a download link as soon as your export file is ready, which is sent to the email address associated with your Square Online account. If you don’t receive the download link within ten minutes, please be sure you’re checking the right email address and/or its spam folder.
The Delivery Fee is a variable fee charged by the delivery service provider, based on delivery distance and other factors.
- Postmates: $4.20 + $0.75/km rate fee (Postmates measures in km).
- DoorDash: $6.99 fixed fee for up to 5 mile radius (DoorDash does not support deliveries outside of a 5 mile range).
If there is an issue after the order is picked up, or with the order delivery, you can escalate the issue to the service provider.
- Postmates: Call 1 (866) 570-6466. Order information, such as the API Delivery Token Order and Order Number, are available in the delivery notes.
- DoorDash: Call 1 (855) 599-7066. Be sure to state that it’s a DoorDash Drive Delivery, and provide the Store Name, Customer Name, Customer Phone Number, and Delivery ID.
Yes, your customers have the ability to contact the courier directly via the phone number listed on their receipt.
Note: Customer’s must call using the phone number they listed on their order.
You can contact the service provider to request more information on when the courier will arrive and/or request a re-dispatch.
Postmates: Call 1 (866) 570-6466
DoorDash: Call 1 (855) 599-7066
In the event that no courier arrives to pick up the order, please contact the service provider to request a re-dispatch.
Postmates: Call 1 (866) 570-6466. Order information, such as the API Delivery Token Order and Order Number, are available in the delivery notes.
DoorDash: Call 1 (855) 599-7066. Be sure to state that it’s a DoorDash Drive Delivery, and provide the Store Name, Customer Name, Customer Phone Number, and Delivery ID.
When a courier cancels their participation in an On-Demand Deliver order, a new courier will be automatically dispatched. This can sometimes occur in the event that they have too many deliveries, and the order wasn’t ready for delivery when the courier arrived.
If a delivery order is canceled before the courier is dispatched to your location, there is no cancellation fee, and all money will be refunded to the customer.
If a delivery order is canceled after the courier is dispatched but before the order is picked up, the service provider may charge a cancellation fee. If you refund the order in full to the buyer, you will still be responsible for this cancellation fee.
If a delivery order is canceled after the courier has picked up the order from your location, the service provider will not refund the calculated delivery fee for that order. If you refund the order in full to the buyer, you will still be responsible for this delivery fee.
At this time, On-Demand Delivery does not allow orders to be placed for delivery in the future. You can look for updates on new features in our Seller Community.
- Have the items ready for pickup, as delays are much more likely to result in a late delivery.
- Have a designated pickup area where the service provider can easily locate the order. This will help reduce disruption to your in-store business.
- Label all orders, and ensure the courier is picking up the correct order.
- Include pickup and dropoff instructions.
For the most streamlined experience, it is best you manage your On-Demand Delivery orders in your Square account. However, you do have additional options.
- DoorDash: You can find the DoorDash Drive Portal at doordash.com/drive. The Drive Portal can help you manage your Drive account, including managing your orders and reviewing your order history. The Drive Portal is separate from the DoorDash merchant portal.
- If you’re having trouble accessing the Drive Portal, you may be logged into another DoorDash merchant account that is not associated with Drive. Try navigating to doordash.com, and refreshing the Drive Portal page.
- If you have an email address and password from DoorDash, but when you go to doordash.com/drive, you don’t see where to log in, it is due to the DoorDash cookies placed on your browser from the DoorDash merchant portal. To resolve, delete the Doordash cookie from your browser, and go back to doordash.com/drive. You should now see the standard Doordash Drive login page.
- Alternatively, you can access the Drive Portal from an incognito window in your browser. However, if you’re still experiencing issues logging into the Drive Portal, feel free to reach out to merchant-drive-support@doordash.com.
- To rate your Dashers, you can open the applicable order delivery in your Drive Portal’s Order History.
- Your customers can also easily track order deliveries on their smartphones, which helps reduce Dasher wait times upon arriving. DoorDash can disable these notifications at the business level. Please notify your Partner Manager to disable.
No, there is no separate contract that is signed. You can edit your delivery settings, or disable On-Demand Delivery, at any time.
- If your service provider is Postmates, by agreeing to use our Services, you agree to Postmates’ standard API Terms of Use.
- If your service provider is DoorDash, by agreeing to use our Services, you agree to DoorDash’s Terms of Service.
Yes, you will still be charged a processing fee of 2.9% + 30¢ per transaction for Square Online purchases.
No. Since Square is the intermediary between your buyer and the delivery service provider, we cannot support third party payment providers like Paypal.
You can file an appeal with one of our On-Demand Delivery service providers below.
Postmates: Appeal form
DoorDash: Email merchant-drive-support@doordash.com
Note: If an appeal with Postmates or DoorDash is successful, the disputed amount will be credited back to your Square account within 31 days. Appeals through Postmates must be submitted within 72 hours of the Pickup Time for the order in question.
You can file an appeal with one of our On-Demand Delivery partners below.
Postmates: Appeal form
DoorDash: Email merchant-drive-support@doordash.com