Square for Retail

Pros

The ease of use for this product is amazing. I love how you can make a sale with the virtual terminal by either swiping a card or sending an invoice.

Cons

The fees per use can be cumbersome. However all pay portals have some sort of fee to use their product.

Pros

Easy to use! Download the App and get setup. I just recently bought their Square Register and it is awesome. Customer service will help you get the right APP for your business.

Cons

Been using their credit card device for well over a year and have never had any issues. There isn’t one thing i don’t like.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Choosing Square for Retail

Switched From

Reasons for Switching to Square for Retail

Pros

Square pretty much takes all the leg work out of setting up a POS system for any business, but I'll speak specifically as a small business owner.
-If you're a first time small business owner, save yourself the headache and just go with Square; you might be able to get a lower merchant fees rate with another service, but then you have to deal with the hassle of setting up a separate POS register, possibly a separate app you'd have to setup on an iPad if that's what you plan to use, setting up the merchant account, etc. With Square, it's all wrapped into one easy setup.
-Easy to setup on an iPad, create a catalog of items to sell and process payments
-The item catalog screen is very user friendly and customizable
-Doing refunds is easy
-Reports are incredibly easy to run
-Square integrates with QuickBooks online, so it's been seamless to link all my Square sales to my accounting books and makes my tax filings much more accurate
-Creating invoices is also easy and gives a professional look to my invoice emails
-Ability to create forms that require signature, so no need for another digital signature service (unless you need more details, see Cons below)

Cons

-I wish you could have the same virtual terminal on the iPad on desktop as well. There have been times when my iPad crapped out and had to use my laptop, and it's not the same experience.
-If you're using the signature service for forms that you need to send out, it only records the signature itself and nothing else. Either it's a user error on my part, or they need to update it, but it needs more customization.

Pros

People understand how to use it, so it's widely accepted as a valid method of payment and no one is nervous about using it (they should be!)

Cons

Square permits fraudulent chargebacks against your company. A client purchased multiple packages totally thousands of dollars from my company, received the services, and then disputed the charges as 'unrecognized'. I provided the following to square:
Her signed contracts, with an anti-chargeback clause
Photos of us performing the services at the event, with her in the photos
A chain of her emails, including an email after her event thanking us for job well done
Despite this proof and legally binding contract, Square sided with her and removed the funds from my account. I had to sit with my bank to file a dispute with Square, put a hold on all charges by Square, and start using an entirely different payment processor just to avoid Square stealing my money.

Absolute fraud.

Pros

I love how convenient it is to have this POS system for our business. We're able to set it up on the go and really able to make our customers feel comfortable giving us their credit/debit cards for processing payments. It's fast and great for our business

Cons

You need an internet connection for this POS system and it's not super cheap. However, the pros definitely out way any cons about this POS system.