Square announced revamped versions of Square Online Store and Square for Retail on March 20, 2019, connecting a shop’s web sales to its point-of-sale system. Retailers using both products could link their catalog and let customers buy online for collection in store. For staff maintaining stock and prices, the change put the website and shop on shared product records. [S3]
Square said the connection would synchronize items, inventory, prices and data across online and in-person sales. It also redesigned the retail point-of-sale app to manage online orders alongside the physical shop. The operational benefit is specific: keeping the online offer aligned with the store’s records. That is not a measured improvement in the time staff need to prepare orders; the launch announcement provides no such comparison. [S3]
The new connection came after Square’s 2018 purchase of website-builder Weebly. When reporting that acquisition, Square identified integration and the expected benefits as risks, not assured outcomes. The March 2019 release described the revamped store and retail tools as its first products fully integrated with Weebly—an announced integration milestone, rather than proof of how much work it saved merchants. [S3][S4]
Restaurants received a different pickup workflow. Square Online Store offered ordering through a restaurant’s website, customized pickup times across multiple locations and payment ahead of collection. A restaurant could take payment with the online order instead of at pickup. The shared catalog was described specifically for Square for Retail; the announcement did not extend that same inventory connection to every Square restaurant product. [S3]
Source documents
- Square Expands Omnichannel Offerings with New Square Online Store and a Revamped Square for Retailhttps://squareup.com/us/en/press/online-store
- Square Updates Second Quarter and Full Year 2018 Guidancehttps://squareup.com/us/en/press/square-updates-second-quarter-and-full-year-2018-guidance