Is it possible to run sales thru Square POS for Loyalty and run Square for Retail for inventory?

[homeprogreen]

Is it possible to use Square POS at the sales counter so I have the loyalty program and use Square for retail in the back office so that I have the advanced inventory and reporting ability's? I understand that I would have to pay the 60 a month for Square for retail. I need the advanced features but my customers will definitely be upset if they aren't earning their rewards

[EJ_ · Accepted solution]

Hi there, and welcome to the Seller Community!

You can absolutely use the Square Point of Sale app for your payments while using Square for Retail for inventory. 

While the Square for Retail bundle comes with the Retail app, you're not mandated to use the app if you prefer the functionality of Point of Sale. 

[BEnterprises]

If you use both the Retail app (in brick and mortar location) and the POS app (at an offsite event) does your inventory all update the same way in the Retail app for reporting? Are you able to run a report for both total sales and for the two different payment locations? I would want to be able to see that I sold $1000 in store, $1500 off site, and $2500 total for the day.

[Tom]

Hey @BEnterprises, thanks for bringing this up. 👍

Yes, your transactions at any point of sale will decrease your inventory accordingly. If you're set up with different locations, each one will have a distinct inventory count and you'll be able to use the Transfer Stock option in Inventory Management to transfer inventory between each location. For more details on this, have a look here: Inventory Plus.

Hope this helps clear things up. Please let me know if you have any further questions. 🙂

[BEnterprises]

Thans @Tom, that doesn't quite answer my question though. I was asking about reporting for sales totals for closing a register at end of day. Can I see my reports for sales through the free POS app and reports for sales in Square for Retail as two seperate reports for the same day or does it all come in as the same report for that day. 

Asked differently, I run a report for Saturday 1/6/18. Do I see $2500 total sales. OR do I see $1500 in sales through POS and $1000 in sales thorugh Retail?

I've read through Inventory Plus a number of times but I'll read through it again and make sure I'm understanding it correctly. Thanks!

[Tom]

Thanks for your reply and for taking the time to read through the that article, @BEnterprises. 💯

I'm going to run this by our Retail Support Team for further clarification but, generally speaking, you'll need to sign in to your online Square Dashboard to view the sales from either location or device.

One piece of information I'd like to know is why you need to see a breakdown in sales between each app? Depending on what you need to see, these views may surface the information you're looking for:

• Reporting and Analytics with Multiple Employees and Locations — This option will surface sales attributed to a specific location or employee within your account.

• Track Payments by Device — This option would reflect the sales attributed to each device. For example, if you're signed into Retail on one device and Point of Sale for another, you could label each device and rely on this report to show the breakdown for the day's sales from each app.

Hope this gets us closer to addressing your needs—definitly let me know if there's anything else that's important on this topic and I'll be sure the appropriate team members are aware.

[Tom]

Quick Update: after touching base with the Retail Team, I can confirm that the reports don't splice out sales by application type. The current best option is to view payments by device.

[IRKPA]

Does this Retail for office and POS for in-store sales combination still apply? We are three days from the end of our free trial of Retail after using POS for two years and also would be happy to pay $60/mo. to use Retail in the office to manage inventory but continue with POS for in-store sales. We are a nonprofit that works with two small national parks, including two visitor centers that are open less than six months a year. If we have to pay $60/mo. for each location even if we don't use the Retail app there, we will probably have to look for an alternative to Square altogether.

[frillos]

I've been doing this combination for quite some time and it's working very well! Yes!

[homeprogreen]

@IRKPA Yes it still works. You pay the 60 a month for Retail for back office then run the free POS at the locations

[IRKPA]

Thanks for your quick response! We heard recently from another national park group that people who signed up under that arrangement have been grandfathered. Might that apply to you since you opened this thread in 2017? We may have to contact Square support to know for sure.

[homeprogreen]

@IRKPA no it’s still valid for everyone. As long as you pay the 60 a month you can use the Square for Retail in the back office and the free POS at the retail locations. I jump from the Square for Retail to the free one all of the time because certain features are easier in it. As of right now I am running the Beta app. Doesn’t matter which version you use all of the sales and inventory information will show up in your reports

[frillos]

This is what I'm doing, I don't love the retail app but I need the back office functions. Everything is connected. 

[Token249]

@frillos @Tom 

Can you use a barcode scanner at POS if you are using Square for retail as back office? I have a lot of greeting cards and having to search for each one would be way to time consuming.

Thanks for any response

[homeprogreen]

Yes you can do it that way. The Square Loyalty works with square for retail app also though. I jump back and forth between the apps as needed

[Token249]

Anything you’d change about using Square for Retail in this way? Any inconveniences going back and forth between the two? 

[homeprogreen]

@Token249 Honestly I mostly just run the square for retail app. It works great with both loyalty and the barcode scanner. Really no reason not to in your situation and you’re already paying for it anyway 

[TheMercantile]

Are you saying you’re customers are able to check into their loyalty program on square for retail? I’m only able to see loyalty program under the standard POS and not retail. 

[homeprogreen]

Also the barcode scanners work with both apps also