New biannual release bundles products, tools, and partnerships to unlock growth for all sellers, from restaurants to retailers and health & beauty to professional services
All-new Square Handheld packs complete commerce capabilities into a sleek, pocket-sized device to serve tables, manage inventory, and close sales anywhere
Square debuted Square Releases a new biannual product launch that delivers the most important new features and tools, all at once. Born out of feedback from the Square seller community, Square Releases gives businesses a simple, consistent way to discover what’s new, understand what’s next, and take action to grow, all found at squareup.com/releases.
Powering Local Economies with New Hardware and Software
For 16 years, Square has been the catalyst for local businesses, transforming operations and growth for millions of sellers, while connecting them more deeply to their communities. In a world where sellers must navigate rising supply costs, unpredictable customer demand, and countless new challenges that arise every week, Square Releases now brings a reliable rhythm to innovation, making it easier to plan, adopt, and stay ahead.
Square Handheld joins Square’s industry-leading hardware lineup, as Square’s most powerful, portable point-of-sale device yet. Built to power payments and manage operations across industries, Square Handheld combines a sleek, durable design with comprehensive, versatile software. It’s built for fast-moving and operationally complex businesses. Read more about Square Handheld’s advanced features here, which include:
- A barcode scanner for speedy checkouts and inventory management
- A camera for capturing photos of newly stocked items
- A spill- and splash-resistant 6.2″ Gorilla Glass touchscreen and an IP54 rating, which means it can stand up to accidental drops, water, and dust
- A long-lasting battery designed to power through a whole day
Next-generation Square Point of Sale software now unites all of Square’s deep vertical-specific commerce and payments functionality into a single, unified app. With seven industry-specific modes, sellers can more easily discover and use the features designed for their business, and add modes to expand their sales capabilities with no limitations on growth or future evolution. Out of the box, Square Handheld runs the new Square Point of Sale, which you can read more about here.
“If I walk out of my house without my phone, I’ll go back because I need it. And that’s what Square is. I need it. It’s a partner with us. It’s Chef Charles, myself, and Square that run this organization, that’s helping us build Charles Pan-Fried Chicken,” said Chef Quie Slobert, Chief Operating Officer of Charles Pan-Fried Chicken in New York City, adding: “I worked at different restaurants, so I’ve seen every POS machine, every operational tool out there. And Square was just the one that was everything in one. I keep track of employees; keep track of my vendor list; keep track of sales and what sells more, what sells less; keep track of my food. And we can give back to the community because of the efficiencies Square provides us.”
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Combining Industry Breadth and Depth as Only Square Can
As part of Square Releases, the company continues its commitment to building features purpose-built for specific industries, with new innovations for key verticals including:
Food & Beverage:
Hundreds of thousands of restaurants trust Square to run and grow their businesses. In addition to three dedicated Square Point of Sale modes, Square continues to add features and go even deeper to make its powerful restaurant tech refreshingly easy to use. Read more about innovations for Food & Beverage businesses here, which include:
- Bar tab preauthorization eliminates the need for physical card storage.
- Fractional item splitting delights diners and ensures precise check management.
- QR code-based Scan to Pay functionality on diner checks enables faster table turnover.
- Major delivery platform improvements — including real-time menu syncing across delivery platforms, a consolidated orders tab for one view of all sales channels, and a new competitive delivery pricing structure with no per-order dispatch fees — makes it easier to expand into new order fulfillment options.
- Order management innovations, such as modifier enhancements and combo creation tools, drive greater accuracy and revenue per sale.
Retail:
With more than 700,000 retail sellers, continued investment in inventory management helps retailers, and Square, continue growing and selling together.
- Revamped Stock Overview hub offers centralized inventory control, with aging inventory reporting providing greater insights into what’s selling (and what’s not), and improved bulk tooling enabling faster online setup and selling.
- Simplified inventory management with the new features on Square Handheld makes it faster to get new product ready to sell in-person and online.
- Enhanced transfer order tracking between locations helps reduce a common stressor of scaling.
- Flexible unlinked refund processing gives sellers more freedom to delight and retain customers.
Services:
Square solutions deliver ease and confidence to the 900,000+ Services businesses who run on our platform, with 77% of sent invoices being paid by customers within one day.
- With the ability to send invoices up to $1 million, sellers can consolidate payments for large projects into a single invoice, accept installment payments from customers, and keep growing with Square.
- With tighter integration between Square Invoices and Square Checking, sellers pay $0 in processing fees for invoices paid via ACH bank transfer directly into a Square Checking account, and can access and spend funds faster.
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Health & Beauty:
Over 15 million appointments are booked monthly through Square, keeping business booming for the health & beauty sellers who partner with Square to power operations.
- New wait list automation features, including the option to fill cancellation openings automatically, reduce time needed on calendar admin and increase bookings and earnings.
- New customizability across booking sites and client forms ensure every client touchpoint reflects a seller’s brand.
- Custom service packages and bundles drive client loyalty and retention.
- Improved commission tracking makes it easier for large businesses to manage and pay salon staff for services, while automating processes and reporting.
“The breadth and depth of product innovation in this Square Release mark a transformative new chapter for Square,” said Willem Ave, Head of Product, Square. “With Square Handheld joining our industry-leading hardware lineup, and a feature-rich, next-generation point-of-sale app that unlocks new capabilities for sellers, we’ve shown that Square’s hardware and software are a powerful combination that frees businesses to sell their way, and removes limits to how we grow together. We put sellers at the center of our product strategy — as we uplevel our offerings, we still focus on maintaining the simplicity sellers expect from Square. This is how we’ll continue to grow and evolve together: by turning our sellers’ biggest challenges into opportunities for growth.”
An Expansive, Integrated Platform to Drive Seller Success
Partnerships and Banking continue to be key to powering growth for both Square and its sellers. Square is now a preferred point-of-sale partner with WooCommerce to eliminate seams between online and offline operations. Square has also deepened its partnerships with key food & beverage technology providers, including deeper integrations with DoorDash and Uber Eats, and adding Resy to its stable of reservation partners. To set sellers up for cash flow success, all new Square sellers now receive a Square Checking account by default, making it easier to tap into the value of Square’s banking ecosystem across Checking, Savings, and Loans.
To further improve the seller software experience, Square has also upgraded the Square Dashboard app, providing a complete view of all back-end business operations features, including payroll, team management, banking and lending, and sales analytics into an all-in-one package that allows sellers to run and manage their businesses more efficiently from anywhere.
“Square sellers are increasingly complex, and Square Releases is our response to their feedback for predictable product launches that give them new tools and innovations at the right time for their business,” said Lindsey Irvine, Head of Marketing, Square. “At the heart of every product we ship is a desire to make running a business as streamlined and simple as possible, and to turn every transaction into a connection that strengthens local neighborhoods and economies. As they always do, we expect sellers will inspire us with the ways they use our new products to grow, expand, and succeed.”
