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Selling in person with Squarespace point of sale

If you sell products in person at markets or craft fairs in the United States, use our integration with Square to take cash or card payments that integrate with your online store. Using the Squarespace app with a supported Square Reader, sales you make in person update your inventory, display in the Orders panel, and factor into your sales analytics. Square processes the payments, and the funds go to the bank account linked to your Square account.

Squarespace point of sale is only available in the US and only on iOS. It's not available in the Android Squarespace app.
Note: Test mode isn't available for point of sale. To make a test order, complete the transaction and issue a refund.

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What's the difference between Squarespace and Square?

Squarespace and Square sound alike, but are different companies. We're Squarespace, and we sell websites, domains, and other tools to help you run your online store. Square makes credit card readers that connect to your smartphone, and other point of sale devices for accepting payments in person. You might have seen Square's card readers in cafes and shops in your neighborhood.

Eligibility

You can use point of sale if you:

  • Sell physical or service products in the US.
  • Are on Squarespace's Commerce Basic or Advanced, or the most recent legacy Commerce plan
  • Have site owner or administrator permissions
  • Have an iPhone or iPad with the Squarespace app version 1.48.0 or higher
  • Have a Square account
  • Have a Square Reader for magstripe, or contactless and chip transactions

Squarespace point of sale doesn't work with:

  • Square Register, Stand, or Terminal
  • Subscription products

If you already use Square for inventory management, this integration is separate from your Square inventory. Point of sale connects in-person sales to your Squarespace inventory.

Selling in person on an Android device

Squarespace point of sale is only available on the iOS Squarespace app, but Android users can make in-person sales with a Square Reader using the Square app for Android. We recommend connecting to the Trunk or inFlow Cloud extensions to sync your inventory between Square and Squarespace automatically.

Accepting payment

You can accept cards with a magstripe or chip from these services:

  • American Express
  • Discover
  • JCB
  • MasterCard
  • UnionPay
  • Visa

You can also accept Apple Pay.

Get a Square Reader and create a Square account

Note: If you already have a Square account and supported reader, skip ahead in this guide.

You can accept card payments with a Square Reader for magstripe, contactless, and chip transactions. These small credit card readers connect to your smartphone via your headphone jack, Lightning connector, or bluetooth. Here's what they look like:

Square_Readers.png

  1. Visit Square to get a card reader.
  2. When you order a reader, you'll create a Square account. Square asks for details about your business and other information they need to verify your identity.
  3. To accept credit card payments, link your bank account to Square.
  4. Wait for your Square Reader to arrive in the mail.

If you have a second-hand Square reader and no Square account, sign up for a Square account here.

Note: This integration doesn't support Square Register, Stand, or Terminal, the countertop point of sale devices.

Set up point of sale

When you have a Square account and a supported reader, you can set up point of sale in the Squarespace app.

  1. Open the Squarespace app.
  2. If prompted, log in or select your site.
  3. Tap the Commerce tab.
  4. Tap Sell now at the top of the screen, then tap Get started.
  5. Accept all three permissions. The app needs microphone permissions to accept the card reader for magstripe, which plugs into your headphone jack.

If prompted, tap Get started and follow the steps on the screen to connect your Square account, choose a location, and connect a card reader. If there's no prompt, follow these steps to finish setting up point of sale:

Step 1 - Connect a Square account

  1. Tap the Settings icon.
  2. Tap Payment.
  3. Tap Connect Square Account.
  4. Enter your Square credentials and allow the permissions.

Step 2 - Connect a Square reader

  1. In settings, tap Payment.
  2. Tap Square account.
  3. Tap Card readers.
  4. Tap Connect a reader.
  5. Follow the prompts on the screen to connect a bluetooth reader, or plug a magstripe reader into your headphone jack.

Step 3 - Start selling on the products screen

To return to the products screen:

  1. Tap X.
  2. Tap Payment.
  3. Tap Back.

Make an in-person sale

Note: To make a sale, you must connect a Square account.

Before you sell, keep in mind:

  • On the products screen, products display alphabetically
  • Point of sale displays up to 500 of your most recent physical and service products
  • Subscription products don't display
  • Sold-out products don't display unless you enable the option in your settings

To make a sale:

  1. Plug the magstripe card reader into your headphone jack, or check your bluetooth card reader connection.
  2. On the products screen, search or scroll for the item you want to sell. If you're selling a product or add-on that isn't in your Squarespace inventory, you can also choose Custom amount.
  3. If applicable, select a variant and set the quantity.
  4. Tap Add to bag.
  5. Continue adding products to the bag, or tap Bag to check out.
  6. Review the order details. Tap Edit below an item to change the variant or quantity, or tap Clear to remove all items from the bag.
  7. (Optional) Set a one-time discount or adjust the taxes.
  8. When you're ready to check out, tap Charge.
  9. Ask your customer to swipe, insert, or tap their phones using the Square Reader. To manually enter the credit card number, tap Manual credit card entry. To accept cash, tap Cash.
  10. After the transaction, the app prompts your customer to enter their email address to receive a receipt. If they don't want a receipt, tap Skip.
  11. The app prompts your customer to sign up for your newsletter. If they don't want to, tap Done.
  12. When you finish the transaction, the order automatically displays as Fulfilled in the Orders panel in the main Squarespace app and on the computer.
Note: It's not possible to collect signatures in Squarespace point of sale.

Create a one-time discount

If you negotiate bulk pricing or offer spur-of-the-moment discounts, you can create a one-time discount for your customer.

  1. On the Bag screen, tap Discount.
  2. Toggle between Percent and Amount.
  3. Set the discount.
  4. Tap Add discount.

If items in the bag are eligible for an existing discount, tap Existing and choose the discount to apply. Automatic discounts aren't supported.

Adjust taxes

Point of sale uses your location and your existing tax rules in Squarespace to apply the local tax rate to orders. If the app displays a tax rule for the wrong location, you can apply a different tax rule to the sale:

  1. On the Bag screen, tap Edit below the current tax rule.
  2. Drag the pin on the map, or tap your location.
  3. Enter a new postal code and choose from the suggested locations.
  4. Tap Bag in the top-left corner.

If you don't have a tax rule for the new location, the tax rate for that city displays as 0%. Tap the arrow to log into your Squarespace site and create a new tax rule. To learn more, visit Setting up taxes in Squarespace.

Accept cash

You can accept cash through point of sale without a card reader, but you still need a Square account to connect the transaction to your Squarespace store.

To accept cash at checkout:

  1. On the checkout screen, tap Cash.
  2. Enter the amount the customer gives you.
  3. Tap Tender.
  4. The app displays the change due.

Redeem gift cards

You can't accept gift cards in point of sale, but you can redeem some or all of a gift card's balance in the iOS Squarespace app. To redeem a gift card balance in combination with making a sale, you'll need to switch between point of sale and the Discounts panel of the iOS app. This feature isn't available in the Android Squarespace app.

To apply a gift card balance to a point of sale transaction:

  1. In the iOS Squarespace app, tap Commerce, then tap the tag icon in the top-right corner.
  2. Tap + in the top-right corner, then tap Redeem a gift card.
  3. Enter the gift card code to view the balance and confirm with the customer how much will apply to the sale.
  4. Open point of sale.
  5. Add a one-time discount for the amount the customer wants to redeem.
  6. After the transaction, go back to the Discounts panel and redeem the gift card for the amount of the discount.

Send receipts

After each sale, the app asks for the customer's email address to send a receipt. Tap Skip if they don't want a receipt.

You'll receive a merchant's receipt of the transaction via email. You can also view the order from the Orders tab in the Squarespace app or the Orders panel on the computer.

Tip: Customers may receive an Automatic Receipt from Square, even if they decline a receipt from your Squarespace store. They can unsubscribe from Automatic Square Receipts in their Square settings.

Collect newsletter subscriptions

After each sale, customers can subscribe to a mailing list. If you've already added a newsletter subscribe option to checkout, point of sale subscribers are added to that list. Otherwise, customers are added to a placeholder mailing list in Squarespace Email Campaigns called Default. To learn more about using Email Campaigns with your online store, visit Using Email Campaigns with Squarespace Commerce.

View sales

Tap the settings icon in the top-right corner of point of sale for an overview of how much you've sold today. This resets every day.

In-person sales display in the Orders tab of Commerce, and are automatically marked as fulfilled. You can review which orders were made via point of sale, and how the customer paid. Customers who share their email addresses in point of sale also display in the Customers tab.

Visit sales analytics to compare in-person sales to online sales.

To view transactions in Square, visit your Square sales summary. To learn more, visit Square's documentation.

Note: Purchases made through Squarespace point of sale don't display in a customer's account.

Refund an in-person payment

To refund a purchase in the Squarespace app:

  1. Exit point of sale.
  2. Tap Commerce.
  3. In the Orders tab, tap the drop-down menu and choose Fulfilled.
  4. Tap the order.
  5. Tap Manage.
  6. Tap Issue refund.
  7. Enter the refund amount.
  8. Tap Ok.
  9. On the confirmation message, tap Refund.

The items return to your inventory, just like refunds for online sales. Refunds include the Square processing fee. Tap Sell now to return to point of sale.

Connect a Square account

To connect a Square account:

  1. In point of sale, tap the settings icon in the top-right corner.
  2. Tap Payment.
  3. Tap Connect Square account.
  4. Enter your Square credentials and allow the permissions.

You can also connect Square in your Payments settings on a computer.

To disconnect the Square account, tap the account on the payment settings screen, then tap Disconnect account.

Check your card reader connection

Check your card reader connection in the point of sale settings:

  1. In point of sale, tap the settings icon in the top-right corner.
  2. Tap Payment.
  3. Tap Square account.
  4. Tap Card readers.
  5. Connected readers display a Ready status.
  6. To connect a magstripe reader, plug it into your headphone jack.
  7. To connect a bluetooth reader for contactless and chip transactions, tap Connect a reader and follow the steps on the screen.

When the reader is connected, return to the products screen to start selling.

Point of sale settings

To change your point of sale settings and view how much you've sold today, tap the settings icon in the top-right corner of point of sale.

  • Payment o ptions - Switch the Square account, location, and card reader connected to point of sale.
  • Display o ptions- Choose between a grid and list layout on the products screen, and whether to display stock levels and sold-out items.
  • Mailing list signup - Enable or disable the newsletter signup prompt at checkout, and change the connected mailing list.
  • Taxes - Change the location the app uses to choose which sales tax rules to apply, or create new tax rules. To learn more about taxes, visit Setting up automatic tax rates in the US.
  • Exit point of sale - Return to the main Squarespace app.

Exit point of sale

To exit point of sale:

  1. Tap the settings icon in the top-right corner.
  2. Tap Exit point of sale.

You'll return to the Orders tab of the Squarespace app.

Who to contact for support

For payment failures, contact Square. The Squarespace Customer Support team can help you with using the Squarespace app and connecting a Square account to your store.

View Square's documentation for help with:

  • Setting up your Square account
  • Linking and editing the bank account connected to Square
  • Square Chip Card Reader errors
  • Square Magstripe Reader errors

FAQ

What's a business location?

In Square, you can create multiple business locations for a single account to manage revenue coming from different shops. A default location is created for you automatically in Square based on your business information. You don't need to create multiple business locations in Square to use this integration.

Can I use point of sale on multiple devices at the same time?

Yes. You can process payments using multiple devices at the same time. This is a good option if you have more than one salesperson working with shoppers.

Why isn't the credit card option appearing?

If the credit card option isn't appearing in Squarespace point of sale, it means your Square account isn't connected, or fully set up. To resolve this, connect your Square account and link your bank account to Square.

What are the transaction fees?

Square's processing fees vary based on how the payment is made. Visit Square's documentation to learn more.

Keep in mind, Square processing fees aren't included if you export sales data from your Squarespace site. To find processing fee amounts for products you sell, log into your Square account.

Why did my customer receive a receipt from Square?

Square may send automatic receipts to customers who make purchases through point of sale. If a customer opts to receive a receipt from your store at checkout, they may receive two emails summarizing the transaction, one from your store and one from Square. Customers can unsubscribe from Automatic Receipts in their Square settings.

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