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Square Pushes Further Into the Cash Register Business With the Square Stand

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Apr 12, 2001
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Credit card processing company Square has added another product to its growing repertoire of small business solutions, today announcing the Square Stand -- a $299 iPad stand with a built-in credit card swiper and USB ports to add peripherals like a cash drawer, receipt printer and barcode scanner.

The stand is meant to pair with the Register checkout app that the company unveiled last year to give retail stores a cheaper option than pricey full-featured point-of-sale systems. Square updated its Register app with barcode scanning last month.

squarestand.png
Though existing Square customers can purchase other stands, or simply use a free-floating iPad with Square's card swiper, AllThingsD spoke to Square CEO Jack Dorsey about the unserved market that he believes the Square Stand serves:
But that, Dorsey said, is where the point of the product comes in. There's basically two areas being served by POS systems right now -- the very small merchants, who use the company's existing card reader software out there (or ones from competitors like PayPal or Intuit), and the big, cumbersome (and rather ugly) POS systems used by restaurants and others that cost somewhere in the area of ten grand or more. For Square's setup, you could slap a $500 iPad on a $300 stand and, perhaps buy one or two of the ticket-printing peripherals to go with it, and be set up for under a grand.
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The stand is available for $299, with a USB-compatible cash drawer ($199), receipt printer ($199), and barcode scanner ($99) available as add-ons. Retailers can add an entry-level iPad 2 and have a full register setup for under $1,200.

The Square Stand is available for preorder now, shipping July 8th.

Article Link: Square Pushes Further Into the Cash Register Business With the Square Stand
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2013/05/14/square-pushes-further-into-the-cash-register-business-with-the-square-stand/
I wonder if they take the iPad home at the end of the day.
People steal Point of Sale computers for the hard drive and they can find credit card numbers in the Windows Page file. That iPad would be a clear target too.
 
What about a Chip Card Reader? People expect those in stores these days (and basically every that's not microscopic has them). At least that's how it is up here in Canada...
 
jlgolson said:
I suspect you do not run a retail store. These aren't $0.99 apps that you're downloading!
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If you do run a retail store that's not just a mom-and-pop-shop, Square slams you on the rake. Believe it or not their percentage "take" on each swipe is pretty terrible if you have any kind of scale.

The barebones register looks pretty nice though. Better than most 3rd party clunky solutions.
 
The stand looks spiffy, but Square missed the opportunity by offering add-ons that do not match the aesthetics of the iPad and the stand.

configure-counter-7dc4881c9aa248e1c0bca54905eb9b6a.jpg
 
CBJammin103 said:
If you do run a retail store that's not just a mom-and-pop-shop, Square slams you on the rake. Believe it or not their percentage "take" on each swipe is pretty terrible if you have any kind of scale.

The barebones register looks pretty nice though. Better than most 3rd party clunky solutions.
Click to expand...
Yeah, the 2.75% isn't as good if you have decent volume, but they do have a good option for businesses who handle $250k per year in swipes.

They're aiming for (what they view as) the underserved small to medium-size market.
 
Does that not seem awfully pricey to anyone else? Not the add ons so much as the $300 stand? How much could it possibly cost them to make each one... $60?
 
ArtOfWarfare said:
Does that not seem awfully pricey to anyone else? Not the add ons so much as the $300 stand? How much could it possibly cost them to make each one... $60?
Click to expand...

I assume you've never looked into how much it costs to own and operate point of sale systems in a retail store. These are very affordable offerings aimed at small businesses who would like cheaper alternatives.
 
$300 for the basic card reader stand with usb ports? This pricing seems atrocious! Doesn't this seem ridiculously over priced?
 
I use Square for my business. The one thing that has continued to annoy me is the location of the "finished signing" button. I let my customers use a stylus, as the vast majority of people are more comfortable signing their name with something like a pen than with their finger, and if you're using a stylus that button is right where your hand is likely to bump the screen. I've had quite a few customers just start signing (barely more than the first stroke of their signature) only to have the button bumped and on it goes.

I brought this up with Square when it first came up, years ago now, and to date, through numerous updates, they have done nothing about it. Is it so hard to move the button to the top of the screen? Is there really a compelling reason to have it at the bottom the supersedes this glaring UI issue?
 
jlgolson said:
Yeah, the 2.75% isn't as good if you have decent volume, but they do have a good option for businesses who handle $250k per year in swipes.

They're aiming for (what they view as) the underserved small to medium-size market.
Click to expand...

2.75% and no monthly fees is not bad for someone who does very, very low volume - like 20-30 transactions that are under $100 each per month. If you start doing more, almost any merchant will offer you much better rates. Bank of America for example offered me 2.0-2.25% swipes (Visa/MC, Amex) with $20/month, no setup fees. That was based on a $5000/mo volume. If you do more, they put you below the 2%.

Walmart, I believe, pays 0.5% or less per swipe.


Square is going to fail when businesses realize their competition is getting better and offering rates based on volume for iOS/Android devices.

I left square when my volume increased to the point where paying 1.85% and $20 per month was cheaper than paying 2.75%. Losing revenue shouldn't be part of anyone's business plan and Square seems to only cater to those people who sell shoes from the trunk of their car.

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great commercial by the way
 
"Retailers can add an entry-level iPad 2 and have a full register setup for under $1,200."

No way. The iPad 2 doesn't have a retina display. :)
 
tthip said:
$300 for the basic card reader stand with usb ports? This pricing seems atrocious! Doesn't this seem ridiculously over priced?
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I swear you could make an app that turns crap into gold and someone would moan it was overpriced at $15.

In the real world, stuff costs money. If that stuff is going to help you run a profit-making business expect it to cost a lot of money.
 
These things probably cost more due to the durability of the product (just like all restaurant furniture). There was a wooden one launched on KickStarter the other day that looks a lot better to me, but it would depend on which store you were buying them for.
 
Snowy_River said:
I use Square for my business. The one thing that has continued to annoy me is the location of the "finished signing" button. I let my customers use a stylus, as the vast majority of people are more comfortable signing their name with something like a pen than with their finger, and if you're using a stylus that button is right where your hand is likely to bump the screen. I've had quite a few customers just start signing (barely more than the first stroke of their signature) only to have the button bumped and on it goes.

I brought this up with Square when it first came up, years ago now, and to date, through numerous updates, they have done nothing about it. Is it so hard to move the button to the top of the screen? Is there really a compelling reason to have it at the bottom the supersedes this glaring UI issue?
Click to expand...

Square must be expecting customers to use a finger rather than a stylus, in which case you are unlikely to inadvertently touch the "Finished Signing" button. Having it at the bottom right of the screen puts it exactly where your finger will be when you finish signing.
 
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