Square announces QR-based, self-serve ordering feature for restaurants using Square Online

Enables buyers to place orders through their mobile device, preventing unnecessary physical contact with staff, at no additional charge to the business

Today, more than ever, every sale matters for businesses of all types and sizes. This is especially true for restaurants who face additional challenges like thin margins, reduced capacity limits, and new stricter regulations. Now, with self-serve ordering, Square Online sellers can limit in-person contact, increase safety, improve order accuracy, and adapt to changing consumer preferences - all helping to ensure that they never miss a sale.

Jeff Krupman, owner of Pizzahacker, a restaurant in Mill Valley, California, said that self-serve ordering helped him continue serving customers during recent months: “Self-serve ordering on Square Online has made it easy for guests to safely, and seamlessly place orders using just their mobile phone and a QR code. In addition to keeping our staff and customers safe, the feature also helps improve efficiency by making it easier to perform tasks like flagging down a waiter, paying the bill, splitting a check, or even just reordering a drink.”

Consumers visiting a restaurant simply scan the QR code with their personal device and place the order via the seller’s mobile-optimized ordering page. Once the buyer completes their order, it is received at the seller’s point of sale and relayed to their kitchen printers just as if the order was inputted directly by a server. Once the order is ready, a food runner looks for the table identifier on the order ticket and brings out the food.

In addition to giving customers and staff peace of mind by limiting unnecessary interactions and shared surfaces, self-serve ordering can also increase efficiency, and improve a restaurant’s bottom line. By removing wait times and improving the process for handling payment between waiters and patrons, self-serve ordering can improve table turn times and reduce labor costs. The feature can also improve order accuracy when customers are in control of the ordering process since no requests are lost in a game of telephone between the customer and the point of sale.

Self-serve ordering also enables sellers to collect customer information on sales and foster deeper relationships with buyers through Square Loyalty and Square Marketing. Buyers can collect and redeem loyalty points on purchases made through Square Online just as they would at a Square point-of-sale.

Self-serve ordering is available now for Square Online sellers in the US, UK, Canada, and Australia. This is just the latest feature we’ve built to help sellers continue serving their customers in this challenging new business environment. Every business has different needs, and using Square Online, restaurants can engage with their customers in the way that best suits their business - whether that’s via curbside pickup, delivery, or self-serve ordering.

To hear more from Square about additional resources and updates on Square products, please reference our COVID-19 resource hub