Square Register Review (2023): Your Complete Guide

Square is one of the best-known companies in the payment processing world.

Alongside brands like PayPal and Stripe, Square has earned a powerful reputation over the years, offering things like simple POS app systems, support for credit card transactions and immersive mobile payments.

One of the best things about Square is that it not only offers some of the best technology and equipment in the merchant market, but it also delivers the tools you need at an affordable price. With solutions to suit almost any budget. From the Square stand to the Square terminal, Square can give today's entrepreneurs a quick and easy way to get their business up and running.

Today, we're going to be looking at one of the main pieces of POS hardware offered by Square, the Square Register. When it comes to credit card processing, this chip card reader, magstripe reader, and pos app gives you everything you need to manage payments in an all-in-one high-performance system.

Square Register is a fully integrated point of sale terminal designed to help businesses begin selling quickly and safely from day one.

As you'll see in this Square Register review, the POS is built to be more powerful, reliable, and speedy than most standard systems, so you can help your organization thrive in any environment.

Square Register Pros and Cons

Pros 👍

• Excellent easy set-up and use
• Cost-effective and budget-friendly
• Packed with rich features
• Access to intelligent software
• Extensible with apps and hardware add-ons
• Great for customers to use too
• Works for iPhone or iPad

Cons 👎

• Fund holds a potential issue
• Customer service isn't always available
• Not as advanced as Square terminal

What is Square Register?

Square describes its register as the “first” fully-integrated solution for out-of-the-box selling. With no need for any additional app downloads or tablets, you can simply set your POS up and start managing tractions in a matter of seconds.

The Register magstripe and chip card reader is a nifty, high-quality hardware device with a large touchscreen that's easy for employees to understand. This solution comes with a fantastic customer-facing screen which allows customers to see what they're buying, which improves your chances of building relationships with your audience based around credibility and trust.

Just like the other Square reader options like the Square terminal and cash register, the Square Register is designed to simplify the way that retail businesses connect with their customers and support card transactions. Aligned with he Square POS app software, this Square credit card processing solution allows business owners to take all kinds of payments as a chip reader, online store, and card processor packed into one. If you're looking for something that can take everything from EMV, to Google pay, Apple Pay, and American Express, this is the tool for you.

Once you show your customer their order on the Square Register and their total cost, they can scan or insert their cards to make a quick purchase through the Square merchant system. The card information provided by your customer is managed through the Square POS software, which also comes with things like inventory tracking, loyalty program options, an online store, and more.

Square seems to be focusing on the Register as their go-to flagship system now. This tool comes with slightly lower processing fees to worry about when compared to the standard iPad POS or Square for Retail solution. Additionally, there's an option to plug additional hardware into your register whenever necessary to improve your checkout experience.

Square Register Pricing and Costs

Budget is always going to be a primary consideration when you're deciding what kind of credit card processing tools to buy for your POS strategy. Square's simple pricing structure is one of the more appealing selling points that it has to offer for today's brands. When it comes to things like monthly fees and transaction fee options, Square is often very affordable, with a flat rate that companies can trust. Square even makes it easier to keep track of your POS app payments with integrations with tools like Quickbooks.

The first thing you need to know is that the cost of the full Square Register is currently $799.00. You'll also benefit from free shipping from the Square brand too – which is very helpful if you're looking to keep costs low.

If you want to spread the cost of your Square Register out over a few months, you can pay $39 per month for the kit, for 24 months. However, terms and conditions do apply.

As with all Square products, you'll also need to be signed up with the Square POS system to use the register, so you can manage and process your payments. Processing is an easy-to-calculate cost of around 2.6% plus $0.10 for every dip, tap or swipe you deal with.

Square says that it will work with vendors in the current marketplace to create custom rates for high-volume businesses. However, you'll need to be earning more than $250k in annual sales to get a deal like this.

👉 The Square Register comes with the following items include:

• Square Register
• Power adapter cable and power adapter
• Accessory hub
• Customer display
• Customer display cable
• Mounting plate and toolkit
• iPhone and iPad access

If you want some additional tools to go alongside your Square Register, like a cash drawer or a scanner, you're going to need to pay extra for those things. You can find a list of accessories that are available with the Register here.

👉 Options include:

• Cash drawers: Starting at $129.00 for printer-driven or $249 for USB
• USB receipt printer: $299.00
• Printer paper: $49 for 25 rolls
• Eero Wi-Fi system: $199 each
• USB bar code scanner: $199 each
• Ethernet printer: $349
• Replacement mounting kits: $9

Square Register: Who's It For?

So, what kind of business will benefit most from the Square register?

Well, essentially any retailer, restaurant or real-world business could make the most of this POS. The great thing about Square register is that it gives you a direct connection to your cloud-based POS system. This means that all of the information you collect on your device is transferred to the cloud, and you can access it wherever you need to.

With a wide wealth of features to explore, there aren't many companies who wouldn't be able to enjoy the benefits of Square Register Almost any kind of retail store will love this tool, as well as quick-service cafes and food businesses too. The Square Point of Sale app combined with a Square reader like the Register is a great way to upgrade just about any business. If you're looking for a Square stand that can manage everything from Discover card and American Express to iPhone and Google payments, this could be it. What's more, for the small business, this Square reader also makes it easier to access your money in a minimal number of business days.

While Square has always been a convenient option for small business owners, the hardware solution offered by Register make it a more viable solution for larger companies too. Square Register is a great fit for almost all sizes of retail operation.

There's an intelligent point-of-sale system included in the form of the immersive Square POS solution. This is where you can manage all aspects of your business from within the Square Register, or an alternative app on your smartphone or desktop. As a processing service for chip cards, EMV, magstripe credit cards and more, Square is one of the best service providers there is. With tools to suit everyone, from inventory tracking to loyalty programs and all-in-one functionality, Square point of sale app has a lot to offer. However, it isn't perfect – the system is lacking in somethings, like phone support or a reliable phone number for people who have been locked out of the POS app for any reason.

👉 Features include:

• Inventory tracking management: It's essential to have an easy way to access and manage your inventory as a store owner. With Square Register, you can check on your products in real-time, access daily stock alerts to know when your products are running low, and export stock levels to a spreadsheet too. You'll also be able to keep track of your taxes with integrations like Quickbooks too.
• Employee management: Through Square Register, business owners can access the full range of employee management features that comes from Square POS. That includes access to employee permissions management, analytics to see which employees are your top sellers, and solutions to track employee clock-in and clock-out times. There's even multi-location management if you're dealing with employees in a range of environments.
• Loyalty tools: There is a charge to pay if you want to access loyalty features for more than 10 visitors per month ($25) and the price goes up for between 51 and 100 loyalty visits too ($35). However, with loyalty features, you can import large customer lists via CSV files and deliver rewards to your most active clients. There's also the option to easily customize the details of your reward strategy too.
• Gift cards: Your Square Register offers the option to take and manage gift cards for your customers. Gift cards are included within the Square app as standard, with the option to create digital cards for free or pay to order physical cards. There's also a system in place where you can view balances within your Square dashboard, and track customer information to see which deals are likely to encourage the biggest sales.
• Reporting: With the Square Register, you can view reports in real-time that highlight what your customers love about your business, and what you need to do to drive more sales. You can access private customer feedback, build a customer directory, and t5rack your sales in real-time. Don't forget to check your tax reporting with Quickbooks too.

You can even hold onto customer card information if they give you their permission, to speed up the number of business days it takes to process a transaction, reduce your transaction fee, and keep credit card payments running smoothly.

Square Register Design

While the appearance of your point of sale system might not seem too important at first, it's worth considering. Whether you're launching an official brick-and-mortar retail store, or you're just managing sales at a pop-up destination, your POS will have a significant impact on your professional image. The great thing about Square Register is that it looks stunning, sophisticated, and unique.

The Square Register was designed to be both sleek and easy to use. Because there are two displays, both the customer and the retailer will be able to see what's happening during the transaction. Merchants get a 13.25-inch display that offers insights into your products, stock, and the deals that you have available. This screen makes it easy to set up orders quickly. On the other hand, the 7-inch customer display can either mount onto the rear of your display or presented separately.

Underneath each display are the magnetic swipe slot and the card reader system for cards with chips. There's also an NFC reader built into the Square Register system. This means that you can get ahead of the curve and start taking contactless payments. Options for contactless payments include Apple Pay and Android Pay too!

To make your Square Register as extensible and customizable as possible, the Square team have also included five USB ports so that you can plug in accessories like scanners and printers. There's also a battery backup system for power cuts, and an offline mode built into the software so that you can keep taking payments even when your network is down.

Processing Payments With Square Register

Probably the most important thing you'll need to consider when you're looking for a POS like Square Register is how easy it is to process your payments. The good thing about Square is that it's always been highly flexible when it comes to accepting different kinds of payment.

Square Register accepts all of the major credit and debit cards that today's consumers use and deposits your money into your business bank account very quickly – often within the next day. Without any annoying monthly fees, Square point of sale can handle everything from Google payments, to acting as your basic chip reader. It even allows you to take payments as a magstripe reader too.

Payment processing is one of the things that Square excels at. Through Square's state-of-the-art processing software, you'll have no problem accepting all forms of payment, including contactless and smartphone payments. Square Register allows consumers to tap, dab, or swipe cards and phones to their heart's content. The payment processing service is excellent, with credit card options to suit everyone. You can even manage the majority of your payments from your iPad, whether you're a coffee shop, pop up store, or one of the many retail businesses using Square.

Additionally, if you need more help with managing and improving your payment processing strategy, you can find a range of extra tools available to access on the Square App marketplace. You'll find dozens of apps to choose from here, including eCommerce software, inventory management tools, and accounting solutions too. There's even an open API for developers also!

Square Register Ease of Use

Square has always considered ease-of-use to be a valuable part of their marketing strategy. The team behind Square knows that today's merchants need a quick and convenient way to manage their payments. While the digital solution for Square payments is incredibly easy to use, the Register hardware seems to make things even easier.

If you need help getting started, you'll even be able to access a quick tutorial when you set up your Square account. The chances are that you'll be able to figure the hardware out for yourself with very little guidance, however. Square allows you to import your inventory and other useful information in bulk using CSV files. Additionally, you can also add pictures of your items that make it easier for you and your employees to search through options.

Square Register comes with a layout that's very easy to use, and the larger screen is great for when you're arranging product orders quickly.

Perhaps the most important thing to note about Square Register when it comes to ease-of-use is that it's not just simple for business owners and merchants to use. This solution is also designed to be easier for your audience to understand too. The customer-facing screen allows customers to see the full details of their purchases, and do their own scanning, swiping and inserting when making payments. This extra customer-facing screen is excellent for cutting down on potential errors and keeping transactions running smoothly.

Customer Service and Support

Square Register might be a great piece of hardware for today's business owners – but no tool is completely foolproof. There's always a chance that something could go wrong, and you might be left with a need to access support from the Square team. The good news? There's plenty of guidance on-hand from the Square team.

Square offers email support and an impressive knowledgebase online where you can troubleshoot some of the most common issues that you might have with your hardware.

If finding the solution to your own problems doesn't work out for you, then Square has a great community forum where you can reach out to other merchants and see whether they're available to help you out too.

The good news is that once you get in touch with a real customer support person through Square, the support team are generally quite knowledgeable and friendly. Most of the time, they'll be happy to walk you through any issues that you might be having.

Additionally, to reduce your risk of any significant customer support issues, Square Register has been designed from the ground up to be a secure, seamless, and reliable system. As well as 24/7 support, you can rely on protection from eligible chargeback issues, a 2-year limited warranty on your hardware and more.

Although most of the customer support from Square is great, it would be better with phone support, or a dedicated phone number for people experiencing problems with their Square reader or payment processing.

Are There Any Downsides to Square Register?

From what we've seen in testimonials from other customers online, most people are very happy with the experience that they get from Square Register. The people who rely on this hardware solution every day have been highly impressed with it's sleek and seamless interface. What's more, reviewers love how Square Register manages to be the perfect combination of simple to use and feature-rich.

If you're looking for a POS system that provides state-of-the-art technology for a low-cost price, then it's hard to go wrong with Square Register. However, this tool isn't perfect. Like any other POS on the market, Square Register has its downsides. For instance, a few people who were working with early versions of the product said that the software suffered from several bugs.

Additionally, a common issue for people using Square Register and other Square solutions is that it's possible for Square to place sudden holds on funds. The reason that Square does this is that it's looking for a way to protect its users against suspicious behavior. However, that also means that it's easy to capture the fraud team's attention if you suddenly have more or fewer sales than usual.

Square Register Review: Verdict

Square Register is a fantastic piece of equipment for any retailer or restaurant looking for a way to take their transactions to the next level. As a valuable integrated part of the Square POS environment, the register provides quick and easy access to all the tools a business leader needs to manage inventory, transactions, customer service, and employees.

The interface on the Square Register is incredibly easy to use for both the sales assistant and the customers, and there are plenty of add-on apps and solutions that you can implement to make your interactions with your clients more effective. Additionally, the Square Register benefits from all the advantages that come with using Square as your payment processing tool, including the ability to accept virtually any form of payment.

Whether you're running a coffee shop, a small business, or a pop-up store, Square Register is a fantastic cash register solution and processing service for all of your needs, with plenty of new Square services to look forward too. New Square features are always rolling out for service providers and retail businesses that need to take card transactions and manage their backend through a simple software solution or an iPad.

While there are a few risks with Square Register and Square point of sale, like the possibility that Square will suddenly put a hold on your funds, or that you won't be able to get hold of customer service when you need to, it's an all-around great choice for today's retailers. If you're looking for an intelligent POS, then you don't need anything else.