If you've ever spent a day swiping credit cards with a Square reader, though, that long track will look mighty attractive...
The market for this: trendy premium SF coffee shops.
"The integrated card reader keeps information secure from swipe to payment."
That means integrated encryption in to the stand. There are probably some other details. How to mount the thing to the table, how to connect devices.
Edit: disclaimer, former square here. Details matter.
Not that Square isn't disruptive in other ways.
(The old link does not redirect, and we got an email asking us to update it.)
Square charges 2.75% + $0.00, so the transaction amount breakeven point is $15.80 and Groupon is cheaper for amounts > 15.80, but Square is cheaper for amounts < 15.80
1.) The fact that Breadcrumb has a "Pro" option and requires me to schedule a demo, suggests that it's more of a complex system than Square.
2.) Breadcrumb looks to be targeted specifically toward restaurants.
3.) I bet Square will be around for a heck of a lot longer than Groupon will.
And this a bad thing? Cleanliness of retail stores especially food/beverage is quite a deciding factor for both new and returning customers I would imagine. To take you're point further though, which I think you may have implied, once a white macbook gets a scratch/stain, it's likely permanent and looks nasty. Let's hope they've chosen a resilient material for this stand atleast.
However, a $300 kiosk is probably out of the realm of possibility for many one-man operations. At the same time, the business demographic to which they are appealing with this (larger established businesses that need a physically-integrated register solution) is already competed over by a plethora of companies.
The whole point of Square was to occupy the niche of hyper-small operations and forsake the market for large businesses. Not only are they competing with the established companies like Verafone, but also with the dozen or so other companies that target larger businesses with iPad register solutions. I'm not sure if they will be able to compete.
That's not to say that this will be unsuccessful. Obviously, Square has had some success in penetrating the large-business market. I don't know. Maybe Starbucks will buy 10,000 of them or something. It just seems like a more volatile and crowded market...
They do this DESPITE the inconvenience of using the standard plug-in square reader. DESPITE the technological know-how and inconvenience needed to hook up a receipt printer (they will email receipt to you ONLY, some customers don't like this, too bad).
Despite all those downsides, they do it cause Square's 2.9% is less than they get charged from other processors; and a typical PoS system costs so much more and is STILL crappy. They do it despite the other inconveniences.
So this is part of Square recognizing that they are in fact a hair's breadth away from taking over the small business physical storefront PoS market too, they just need to smooth down a few more edges.
One thing though: while e-mailing myself receipts for business dinners is a nice-to-have feature, I am curious to know more about the privacy implications (probably wouldn't take but a moment to find out).
https://squareup.com/legal/privacy
https://squareup.com/legal/seller-agreement
The Stand appears to be an entry in the niche of minimal POS (Point-of-Sale) setups, perhaps as an answer to an upgrade desire: "I like Square, but I need something more like a cash register."
It does seem to solve a security issue by tethering the iPad to the counter, which anyone whose phone has been stolen can readily appreciate.
I am surprised that the signature process is not done by tilting the device toward the customer and letting the screen display rotate. Perhaps Square is aiming more toward upscale retailers with great expanses of customer-facing counter space (who would also be more likely to pay the 2.75% transaction fee.) Perhaps the choice of white hardware is based on the same approach.
Square = tracking/profiling of customers without their direct permission = scam-artists. Jack, please reply.
When I show people the square dongle on my phone, the first thing most people ask is... "OK, that's cool, but how can it accept cash"?
If their communication is not really simple & clear about how they can be a "total" solution for a small business (which yes, must also take cash + CC's), then they will not get to mass market. Having more hardware (which is far harder to scale than software) will not be the best path.
That said, I'm still impressed with Square, as it's very hard to compete in a non-level playing field with huge entrenched players (Visa/MC/AMEX + big POS players), and the ecosystem needs successful upstarts to freshen the ecosystem for consumers.
I'm not sure exactly how much clearer they can be. Scroll down the linked page, and they have a nice picture showing the Square Stand with a cash box and a receipt printer. Yes, they are add-ons, but nothing wrong with that and they do make it a complete solution for cheaper than a normal POS system.
http://www.zimbio.com/Credit+Cards/articles/wqJ31IbmC13/New+...
(Visa & Mastercard are the biggest CC companies here. Hardly anyone has Amex, and Interac is a debit card thing that Square doesn't support.)
I don't live in a big city, but I travel a fair amount across the U.S. I have never seen a chip reader.
So, I'd assume you print the receipt to a receipt printer that you connect to the stand.
Square is for morons who love Facebook profiling coz it's free.
I welcome to see the data that Square is tracking purchases, and if it is, how is this any different to XYZ Supermarket's loyalty program/card, and how are they doing this without breaking any laws.
(Oh, and they've handled $15bn in transactions, sans Starbucks, I doubt they need the moolah!)
As for comparing Square to loyalty cards, I have to give actual consent to the card issuer, with Square, they track me as a customer without permission or consent just because the merchant has done a deal with them.
