BusinessInABox
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Square updates Register app with a focus on restaurants
Millions of merchants across the US have embraced the Square Register app to accept credit card payments without the need for a merchant account, expensive equipment or high fees. Now Square has updated the free Register app with new features that target a fast-growing segment of Square's business -- restaurants. As you'll recall from a previous TUAW post, Square now sells a full point-of-sale system called "Business in a Box for Square Register" that includes a cash drawer, a couple of Square card readers and an iPad stand. A receipt printer is extra. Now the new update to the app allows order modifiers that make taking orders and serving food in restaurants a lot more efficient. Those order modifiers can be used to make a custom meal order for a customer. Want to hold the mayo and have extra bacon on that BLT? That's not a problem for the app to handle, and by placing a receipt printer into the kitchen the cooking staff sees the special order immediately. Restaurants are a huge and growing market for Square. The company says that the number of food-related businesses using Square has just about tripled and the amount of money processed by those establishments has more than quadrupled.
Daily Update for February 20, 2013
It's the TUAW Daily Update, your source for Apple news in a convenient audio format. You'll get all the top Apple stories of the day in three to five minutes for a quick review of what's happening in the Apple world. You can listen to today's Apple stories by clicking the inline player (requires Flash) or the non-Flash link below. To subscribe to the podcast for daily listening through iTunes, click here. No Flash? Click here to listen. Subscribe via RSS
Square offering $299 'Business in a Box' point of sale hardware bundle
Square today announced an inexpensive way for merchants to set up a point-of-sale system built around the company's Square Register app. Business in a Box for Square Register, starting at US$299, bundles two Square readers, an iPad stand and a cash drawer to give any business an affordable and easy to set up point-of-sale system. Basically, all store owners need to do is provide a network and an iPad, and sign up for the Square service. The $299 "paperless" point of sale system doesn't include a receipt printer (receipts are emailed to customers), but one can be added to the system for an additional $300. As the name implies, the entire system comes in a box complete with setup instructions. There's a 30-day return period, the software's free and Square only takes a 2.75 percent cut for letting you accept credit cards. If you have a larger storefront and take a lot of credit cards, your business can pay $275 per month for no card swipe fee. Square pioneered the use of iOS devices to accept credit cards for payment; now they're making it easy for brick-and-mortar businesses to take advantage of their system with sleek and modern point of sale hardware.
