Square for Retail review: complete, but simple, POS system with many extras

What is Square for Retail?

Square for Retail is a very user-friendly point of sale (POS) system that works on iPad, iPhone, Square Register and Square Handheld.

It’s a more advanced system than the free Point of Sale app that’s more general than retail-specific. The features of Square Retail POS are just relevant to retail, whether selling in person or online.

The only payment system that works with it is Square’s. You can use the software directly with Square’s EFTPOS machines and standard POS equipment, and various online selling tools are available free in a browser dashboard or via the checkout app.

The software can manage multiple locations, stock, vendors, teams of staff and more. Regardless of the sales channel, transactions are always synced in the account through the cloud.

Our opinion: smooth system for multichannel sales

Square for Retail is an inexpensive POS system suitable for multiple locations and busy, but small, shops.

The POS app is easy and without superfluous features. But larger stores requiring specific inventory features would want to compare with other retail POS systems, as Square may not have everything needed.

The app would also be a hindrance for cash-strapped shops who’d prefer a cheap Android register, since it only works on iPad, iPhone and certain Square devices.

“Square for Retail has a cleaver layout to facilitate fast customer interactions and easy order processing. I think it looks similar to Shopify POS for its search layout and multi-channel features, but I trust Square more with my money.”

– Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor, Mobile Transaction

Nevertheless, in a world where many retailers depend on an online presence, Square for Retail has a big advantage with its online selling features.

The software is curated to include the most valuable features for selling across sales channels (online and in store). Managing orders for pickup and delivery is smoothly done from the register or Dashboard, and the range of available payment methods for remote and in-person transactions is wide.

In the end, the right choice of retail POS software depends on how you prefer to handle shop operations, and details like your size of team and complexity of inventory. Integrating with other software can open up worlds of complex tools.

Still, the POS software is what it is, so we recommend trying the trial before committing long-term.

Pricing: very reasonable

Square for Retail pricing is simple: you subscribe to one of two plans, a Free tier (no monthly cost) or Plus tier for $109 (including GST) monthly per shop location. This can be cancelled any time, as there is no contractual commitment.

New users can get a 30-day free trial of Plus before subscribing to a plan.

The Premium plan with custom pricing has the same features as Plus, but with lower costs to suit businesses processing over $250k annually.

Businesses on the Free plan can accept any Visa, Mastercard, eftpos, JCB and American Express card (including Apple Pay, Google Pay and Samsung Pay) for 1.6% per transaction.

Payments through Square Online, payment links or email invoices cost 2.2%.

All other keyed transactions are 2.2% as well, including for cardholder-not-present transactions in the Virtual Terminal and keyed in at the POS checkout.

Standard settlement in your bank account the next day (weekends too) is free. Unlike other POS providers in Australia, instant transfers are available for an extra 1.5% fee through Square.

Chargebacks are free to process, but refunds cost the transaction fee originally paid. There is no minimum monthly turnover requirement.

Square Reader that connects with the POS software costs just $39. If you want a portable EFTPOS terminal with a barcode scanner, we recommend Square Handheld for $299. All these prices include GST.

Checkout and payments: really efficient

Square for Retail can be used on Square Register, Square Handheld, iPad and iPhone. It is better experienced on iPad or Square Register as the screen size makes a big difference to usability.

Square’s expertise in user experience comes across in the product: the buttons are large to minimise typing errors (surprisingly many POS systems have small buttons), the layout is intuitive and the interface isn’t cluttered with unimportant features.

We found it so simple that we believe anyone can learn to use the system quickly.

Image: Mobile Transaction

The Square for Retail app is very accessible with its big buttons and high-contrast text.

While other POS systems tend to dedicate most of the POS interface with a product grid layout, Square for Retail shows a narrower column on the left with an intuitive search function, your choice of “favourite” buttons, and quick access to categorised items, customer profiles, discounts and saved baskets.

You can save the current bill, attach a customer to the basket, create orders, sell gift cards, redeem vouchers and add custom amounts where needed.

Photo: Mobile Transaction

The quick search makes it easy to add items from a large product library or search for other things.

The payment screen gives options to accept cash, card (via card reading or keyed in), gift cards or certificates, invoice, card on file, cheque or other payment types confirmed manually.

After a completed transaction, you can send an email or SMS receipt, or print one off from a connected printer.

Inventory management: important features there

Retailers need a robust inventory system for managing stock, and Square for Retail does that well.

The Free and Plus subscriptions can bulk-import items from an Excel spreadsheet, and categories, options, modifiers, units (e.g. grams, litres, inches, square feet) and stock counts can be added to individual items.

You can also receive email reminders for low stock or out-of-stock items, and scan barcodes from the camera of iPad, iPhone or Square Handheld EFTPOS terminal.

The Plus subscription includes the following extra features:

• Bulk stock transfers across locations
• Inventory counting tool
• Automatic purchase orders
• Vendor management
• Barcode printing
• Cost of goods sold (COGS) tracking
• Advanced stock forecasts and inventory history

So if you want any purchase order and vendor management features, and to transfer stock between locations or generate barcodes, a Plus subscription is required.

Employee access and permissions

Every free Square account can add unlimited users with a 4-digit passcode for logging in and out of the POS app.

This allows staff to clock in and out of shifts, and the admin can track team breaks, hours worked, view overtime reports and export timecards to a payroll system. The Free tier only has a predefined permissions set.

On Plus, you get the Team Plus subscription (normally $35/month per location) included in the Retail package. This allows you to set detailed permissions for an unlimited number of roles, set different wage rates, add timecard notes, view break violation reports, activity logs by members and detailed staff analytics.

Customer loyalty tools

Even on the Free Retail subscription, you can create a detailed customer directory. These customer profiles can be attached to orders and transactions, making it possible to manage orders for collection or delivery smoothly. Customer profiles can be auto-created from payment cards, and segments created to distinguish defined groups of customers.

Having these profiles is an invaluable way to track their purchase history, which is useful for personalising your service to individuals. Square even gives actionable guidance based on the data. You can direct-message customers from Square, and add card details to profiles (requires permission from the cardholder) for processing repeat payments expected by the customer.

You can also subscribe to Square Loyalty starting at $45 per month. This allows you to set up a customer loyalty programme encouraging more sales.

Reports and sales analytics

The Square for Retail Free subscription has detailed sales analytics, but Retail Plus really stands out with its in-depth inventory analytics

While Free provides great sales reports and an overview of stock moved between locations, a Plus account has reports for:

• Inventory adjustments
• Supplier sales
• Cost of goods sold

You can edit historical unit costs, where updates are subsequently reflected in the reports, and filter reports in different ways.

On Plus, you also get labour vs sales reports that help forecast labour costs so you can schedule shifts accordingly.

Hardware for the point of sale

Square for Retail works best on iPad or Square Register. Some features are missing in the iPhone app, but not that many any more.

Currently, the iPhone app doesn’t connect with a cash drawer, but it can now transfer stock between locations, handle purchase orders and scan barcodes – previously missing. The barcode scanning is really useful for stock counts on the shop floor or in your stock room.

The best portable device to use with the software is Square Handheld, a touchscreen EFTPOS terminal using the Retail app. It scans barcodes, making it ideal for price checks and queue-busting. For accepting cards, you can also link Square Reader to your iPad app.

The most professional setup is Square Register ($699 incl. GST), a purpose-built touchscreen register that only uses Square software. It has a detachable touchscreen card terminal facing the customer.

With iPad, you can use it with Square Stand for $99 (incl. GST).

Photo: Mobile Transaction

Square Register can be set up in different ways to suit your counter arrangement.

Square Terminal only has general point of sale features, not the Retail app. Still, you can use it as a portable device for transactions with transactions synced in the cloud.

You can connect the POS system on iPad with compatible barcode scanners, receipt printers and cash drawers.

Free Square for Retail vs Square POS

You might wonder what the difference is between the Free Square for Retail plan and Square Point of Sale app, since they are both free to use indefinitely. Firstly, they are two different apps.

Secondly, Point of Sale works on iOS and Android tablets and smartphones, whereas the Retail app only works on iPad and iPhone.

Both can track stock across locations and set alerts for low or out-of-stock items. You can add tips and several different discounts, itemise refunds and save baskets (‘open orders’) for later.

While Point of Sale works with a physical barcode scanner, the Square for Retail app has a barcode scanning function for your mobile device so you don’t need a separate scanner.

The other significant difference is the checkout layout. In Point of Sale, you can switch between viewing products in a large grid or a list view with a search field. The Retail app shows a smaller list of products (‘favourites’) and search field, but the interface is also better at quick searches through different categories.

Square Online and other integrations

Not only is the software connected to Square’s own online store builder – it also includes payment links. You can generate these for individual products, embed them on an existing website or use them for taking donations.

You get a free online store allowing you to sell on social media, offer eGift cards, sync inventory across sales channels and set up ordering for collection or delivery. Advanced ecommerce features require an upgrade to a paid plan.

“I love the fact you can take an order and manage click-and-collect or shipments directly in the Retail POS app. So if I’m at the register in a small shop alone, I could process orders then and there without hassle.”

– Emily Sorensen, Senior Editor, Mobile Transaction

Other integrations can be found in the Square App Marketplace. For example, sync your QuickBooks accounting software with Square or use advanced inventory management software like DEAR Systems and Trunk.

Service and reviews: a bit mixed, but not bad

Square customer service is only available on business days between 9 PM and 5 PM (AEST).

Whereas Square for Restaurants includes 24/7 support on the paid plan, there is no extension of support hours on Retail Plus.

Alternatively, you can email Square, which would yield a reply within 24-48 hours, or tweet the Square Support Australia account (@SqSupportAU) on X.

The online help section has many articles with step-by-step guidance, explanations of features and much more. There’s also a user forum where you can post and search for questions submitted by other merchants.

Square generally gets good reviews in Australia by its users, as does Square for Retail. We have tested the Retail Plus plan and can personally say that all the features worked well.