Mobile point-of-sale platform Square is bringing a handful of new employee management tools to Canada, designed to help small and mid-size merchants track multiple locations and staff as they grow their businesses.
Square says the new features, which launched in the U.S. in mid-July, will help small businesses increase security and sales efficiency as they expand their operations.
“Square isn’t just for small business anymore,” said Jenny He, Square Canada communications manager. “Our continual commitment to delivering new tools to sellers has caught on with larger businesses who are making the switch. Square products are built to scale, so sellers can stay with us over the life of their businesses.”
The new features, which officially launch next Tuesday, will come at a relatively low premium of US$5 per employee per month.
The update adds the ability to create multiple employee accounts, with varying levels of access for cashiers, accountants and managers. Like traditional POS systems, Square employee accounts have unique pass codes that can be tied to clock-ins, timecards, commissions and tips, employee performance and sales incentives. The accounts are synced across devices, so an employee can log in from any register at any store or event location, and their activities will be fed back to Square’s online dashboard for management and reporting.
Another new feature lets managers create multiple store profiles on a single account, and import settings and inventory catalogs from an existing store to a new location. From the Square dashboard, they can customize inventory and set different prices at each location.
Since before its entry into Canada in 2012, Square has been working to broaden its Square Register POS system beyond simple mobile payments to become a full store management and analytics dashboard. In contrast to competitors in the mobile POS space targeted at larger retailers, Square’s pricing model is based on a free subscription and 2.75% transaction fee. It also charges for some add-on services like the new employee management system.
Square says it has signed up 200,000 Canadian merchants since it began operating in this country.
