Square is the new sum at Starbucks
In this ever evolving era of technology, Starbucks has announced collaboration with Square to process credit card payments. Square app which has been in use for quite some time now has proved to be useful to small and big store owners as well as people who shop from such stores. The app comes with a swipe dongle for store owners who use iPads as registers. In addition the app provides inventory tracking, rewards to different categories of customers, business reports and receipt generation. Square provides a free card reader although each transaction costs 2.75%.
Starbucks plans to install Square in its 7,000 stores across United States. Starbucks has no plans of replacement of registers. Starbucks intends to keep the old cash-registers and Starbucks app and compliment it with Square. The advantage CEO Howard Schultz sees in adding Square is the huge market of iOS and Android phone which use Square as a payment method and the low interchange cost. Starbucks does not, however, intend to invest heavily into buying iPads for Square.
As Starbucks app, Square will also show Starbucks shops in the vicinity, but they have to be complete shops, not counters in malls. A unique feature, using GPS, Square tells the salesperson at the counter, who is entering the shop, provided the customer also has Square installed. The customer can identify themselves at the sales-counter in the shop and upon a match can place an order.
The deal between Starbucks, a leader in the coffee industry and Square is being seen with anticipation by most. The way payments are made will totally be changed if this integration goes as planned and there are no hiccups. However, innovation has its own way of getting acceptance by the public in general. This will also mean a wider market for iOS and Android.
