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Square POS

Square POS

Overview

What is Square POS?

Square POS is a point-of-sale software solution with features such as accept credit cards with your iPhone, Android, and iPad along with the flexibility to accept credit card payments anywhere, from Square headquartered in San Francisco, California.

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Recent Reviews

TrustRadius Insights

Square POS has proven to be an invaluable tool for a wide range of businesses and organizations. Users rely on Square POS to handle …
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Easy to Use

9 out of 10
March 29, 2022
Incentivized
Square POS is used when we are taking orders from someone directly, in person. It solves the problem of needing a payment system to accept …
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Easy to use system

8 out of 10
March 24, 2022
Incentivized
Square POS is used for Company fundraising events and physical store sales. In addition Square is used for invoicing for other services to …
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Awards

Products that are considered exceptional by their customers based on a variety of criteria win TrustRadius awards. Learn more about the types of TrustRadius awards to make the best purchase decision. More about TrustRadius Awards

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Pricing

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Each Transaction

2.6% + $0.10

On Premise
per transaction

Square Reader for magstripe

$10

On Premise
per each additional reader; first reader free

Square Stand for contactless and chip

$16

On Premise
per month

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services
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Product Details

What is Square POS?

Square POS Video

The TrustRadius team goes over some of the best free POS software and services, which includes Square POS.

Square POS Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsMac
Mobile ApplicationNo

Frequently Asked Questions

Square POS is a point-of-sale software solution with features such as accept credit cards with your iPhone, Android, and iPad along with the flexibility to accept credit card payments anywhere, from Square headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Reviewers rate Usability highest, with a score of 9.6.

The most common users of Square POS are from Small Businesses (1-50 employees).
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Comparisons

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Reviews and Ratings

(90)

Community Insights

TrustRadius Insights are summaries of user sentiment data from TrustRadius reviews and, when necessary, 3rd-party data sources. Have feedback on this content? Let us know!

Square POS has proven to be an invaluable tool for a wide range of businesses and organizations. Users rely on Square POS to handle transactions on the go, whether it's at festivals, events, or remote locations. It has simplified the process of accepting payments and making sales at various venues such as cash bars, concerts, weddings, and sporting events. The reliability and convenience of Square POS have made it a preferred choice for on-site payments.

Additionally, Square POS has been utilized by digital marketing agencies for charging clients, saving card information, and authorizing monthly payments. Retail businesses find it beneficial for accepting credit card payments, tracking sales and inventory, and issuing receipts. Independent stylists and makeup artists have also found value in Square POS for appointments, invoicing, inventory management, and sales.

Organizations and departments use Square POS for events, fairs, and merchandise fees. With its intuitive customer database and marketing strategies, Square POS helps analyze store traffic, manage inventory, and improve bookkeeping and accounting tasks. Moreover, Square POS is being used for online credit card payments on e-commerce sites as well as in-person sales using the Square reader for iPhones.

Business owners from various industries appreciate the ease of processing payments, availability of data for reporting and tax accounting, and the user-friendly interface of Square POS. Whether it's selling clothing and branded merchandise or collecting dues for organizations, users have found that Square POS streamlines their transactions, manages inventory effectively, and generates comprehensive reports. Additionally, Square POS caters to therapists collecting credit card payments easily without delays while providing a secure solution for fundraising events.

Clean and Intuitive Interface: Many users have praised Square POS for its clean and intuitive interface, stating that it is easy to use and navigate. Customers appreciate the simplicity of the user interface, which is clearly laid out and familiar to anyone with experience using smartphones, computers, or tablets.

Real-Time Sales Tracking: Numerous reviewers have found Square POS's real-time updates on tickets sold and revenue made to be invaluable. This feature allows businesses to easily track their sales performance and analyze their business metrics. Users appreciate having up-to-date information at their fingertips, enabling them to make informed decisions about their operations.

Customizable Options: Several customers have expressed appreciation for the variety of customizable options offered by Square POS. They like being able to tailor the system to their specific needs and business requirements. This flexibility allows them to adapt the software to their unique business models, making it a versatile solution for different types of businesses.

Clunky hardware design: Some users have found the hardware of Square POS to be clunky, particularly the chip reader when paired with phones. This has led to difficulties in using the device effectively and may impact the overall user experience.

Limited sales reporting flexibility: The software lacks flexible categorization in sales reports, making it challenging for users to drill down into their data and gain specific insights. Users have expressed frustration with this limitation as it hinders their ability to analyze sales performance thoroughly.

Inconvenient access to sales summaries: Users have reported difficulty accessing sales summaries on the phone app and are required to download an additional app, Square Dashboard, which adds an extra step and can cause inconvenience. This issue has been mentioned by several reviewers and may disrupt the seamless workflow for some users.

Attribute Ratings

Reviews

(1-2 of 2)
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Nathan Bowman | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 9 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
Incentivized
I use Square POS for almost all of my merchandising sales—it's quick, fast, and easy to set up and since we're constantly on the go from festival to festival, job to job, I love that it's mobile-friendly. It's tough to find something that allows us to be up and running quickly since my team is often just a few people, and we can handle transactions while we're still in the process of loading in/out.
  • Mobile transactions (not like from a phone, but in terms of the ability to physically relocate rapidly).
  • Simple setup.
  • Generally uncomplicated pricing.
  • Widespread customer familiarity: because it's so regularly in use in our industry (musicians/entertainment professionals), people know and trust it in a way that you might not with a different provider.
  • I'm not a fan of some of their hardware (it's a little clunky in design).
  • Another hardware thing is that it can be hard to pair the chip reader with phones. If some of my team members like to use their own phones rather than my provided devices, that can complicate things a little.
  • I would like a little more flexible categorization in their sales reports, sometimes I want to really drill down into the data and I have to do it with a different set of tools.
I think that Square POS is pretty much the best thing going in terms of short term, pop up sales, or event marketing type situations. If you need to process payments quickly, assure customers that their data is being handled appropriately, and find a way to move your merchandise, Square is pretty great. I wouldn't think it would be as appropriate for a larger retailer—anything where you're handling hundreds of transactions at a time, or a day, I would look for something a little less 'start-upy'— if that makes sense.

But for my use case, as an entertainment professional, where I'm frequently handling 20-50 transactions an evening, moving locations rapidly, and needing to be able to grab analytic data without resorting to a pen and paper—square is pretty much perfect.
  • Being able to accept multiple types of payment options has allowed us access to a lot more impulse purchasing customers.
  • Being able to offer a variety of payment options means that a lot of the time, these purchases are meant as a show of support, and this allows our followers/customers a lot more ways to help us!
  • I have seen people take cash out, notice that we take Square, and then choose to pay with a card instead, which means that we're then hit with those processing fees— that's a potential downside to the convenience factor.
  • With COVID though, being able to avoid cash altogether has been a HUGE benefit.
The only other real competitor that we looked at was PayPal Here and we went with Square because the fee structure felt fairer, and because our customers were much more familiar with the Square hardware and ecosystem, rather than trying to convince them that Paypal was a viable option. In general, Square seemed to be what most people use and trust, and we wanted to maintain that level of comfort for our customers.
I haven't had to use much support from Square—the set up was pretty painless—and what questions I did have were answered by their documentation. I don't know that I can speak much to their in-person support because I haven't had to experience that yet. In general, we were able to pretty easily set up our system without much hassle.
This is where Square really shines—the usability is top-notch. It's very easy to train up my team, which is frequently made up of volunteers or temporary staff, and the back end is very easy to understand and use as well. It's clear they put a lot of time and thought into the UI, but not just on the customer side, but on the owner/manager/retailer side as well. I have zero concerns about how useable Square is.
They are mostly the people front facing the customer, plus myself, using the data generated to plan new products/merchandise.
1
Honestly, the in house support for Square is pretty much general IT support—anybody that can make sure the network is connected and the power is on, the cables are plugged in, etc.—that's essentially all we've required. For the most part, it's a pretty turn-key operation, and the parts have generally worked together without needing much more internal support.
  • Customer Transactions: obviously the most used situation.
  • Sales analytics: 2nd most used case.
  • Some contracting payments: we don't do this much, but sometimes we'll take payment for services as well as merchandise through Square.
I don't really foresee anything being able to dislodge Square from our organization—we're not evangelists or anything like that—it's just the best solution we've found for our use case. Being able to quickly handle transactions from customers and then track all of those sales for analysis/bookkeeping later on.
Lori Scarmardo | TrustRadius Reviewer
Score 10 out of 10
Vetted Review
Verified User
I am an independent Hairstylist & Makeup Artist. I use Square for all of my business needs - appointments, contacts, inventory, invoicing, sales, etc. It provides dynamic reporting & is easily accessible from anywhere, so I can take care of business whether I am in the salon, at home, or on the road.
  • It keeps track of my earnings & expenses & offers me a variety of ways to view & track the data.
  • Provides an easily customizable scheduling interface, which allows me the ability to update my hours from day to day or week to week, see scheduled appointments, & accept or reject potential appointments.
  • Provides both text & email appointment confirmation/reminders to my clients, automatically, saving me time.
  • I think the menu (both on the app & the online version) is a little disorganized & could stand to be improved/streamlined.
  • Would like to see the ability to add more customization to the scheduling website (ie: ability to customize text, insert breaks/paragraphs in service descriptions, etc.)
  • Ability to quickly add custom line items to a client's visit when checking out, rather than needing to choose from a pre-set list. Occasionally I need to add on a service or retail item that has not yet been entered into the list. Currently, I am unable to simply add this within the transaction. Instead, I have to go out of the transaction & into my retail or service list, create a new item (adding description, etc.,) save it, then return to the transaction to add it to the ticket.
I think it is great for small businesses & particularly independent contractors (like stylists, MUAs, artists, etc) who need an easy, inexpensive way to handle their business & take it with them on the go. Very useful for anyone who does business "on location" & needs to be able to quickly & easily complete transactions.
  • ROI is perfect!
  • Ease of transactions & scheduling has been great for me & for my clients. Clients love being able to log in to the scheduling portal & select their appointment time, without the need to call or email & wait for someone to get back to them. They can also view their previous appointments & transactions, which has been quite helpful for many.
  • The client database allows me to keep up with important notes about client color, allergies, birthdays, or anything else I need to remember. I can easily access this information at each visit & recall their preferences.
I've looked at other salon-specific POS & found that they lacked in different areas, compared to Square POS. None were quite as dynamic. Or where one might offer a feature I really liked (like specific areas in the client database geared towards stylists - color cards, etc.,) they were not as great at transactions or providing clear reports, etc.
1
I am the sole user, as I am the owner & sole employee of the business. I handle all aspects of the business including marketing, finances, customer service, hair, makeup, inventory, etc.
1
No special skills needed, although I do have some background in marketing, webdesign, & basic IT. It is a very user-friendly application.
  • Scheduling
  • Financial Reporting
  • Completing Transactions
  • Client Management
  • Inventory Tracking
  • Client Retention
  • Additional reporting as I grow my business
  • Additional marketing functions as I grow my business
It has been a great investment for me thus far, so I have no reason to look elsewhere.
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