Mobile Location without Physical Address

[artardolino]

We use square mobile orders to allow people to place orders on-site using a QR code.  We constantly move around a lot from event to event, so putting in a new location physical address everytime we move around is impracticle and adds management overhead.  We simply want to label our address as "Mobile Orders Table", and people will know where to go to pickup their order, because they order and pickup in the same location.

When we try to change the address to something like "Mobile Orders Table", square complains that its not a valid address.  If we force it in, then it looks great on the website (Pickup at Mobile Orders Table), but then when we try to add/remove items, they don't sync to the webstore. When I contacted support, they said its because the address is invalid.

As a result, this causes mass confusion with customers, because it shows a pickup address which is not where they phyiscally are.

My request is that you remove the address validation so we can make the pickup address/location whatever we want, or give us the ability to name it instead of showing the address in the pickup dropdown on the online square site.   Thank you.

[kacey_k]

Hi there! 😊

I can definitely understand your frustration, especially when your business moves from event to event! Having to constantly update a physical address when customers are already ordering and picking up at the same location seems like an unnecessary extra step.

I think allowing sellers to display a custom pickup location name, such as “Mobile Orders Table,” while keeping a valid address on the backend would be a great solution.

This could benefit food trucks, mobile vendors, pop-up shops, and event-based businesses that don’t operate from one permanent location.

I also think it’s important that any solution keeps inventory and website syncing intact. Sellers shouldn’t have to choose between accurate pickup information and a functioning online store.

I can’t confirm whether Square has plans to introduce this, but I definitely support having more flexibility for mobile businesses. Great feature request! 👏

[Manny_SelSq]

Hey @artardolino 

one thing worth checking: are your QR codes taking customers to a regular Square pickup page? Square also has a self-serve QR ordering option where you can set up named ordering stations, like "Booth 5 at the County Fair" or "Our Booth at the Fall Festival," and add custom instructions.

I'm not sure if you're already using that, but it might be worth a try. Just keep in mind that it doesn't change your actual Square business location, so the address could still show up somewhere during checkout.

I also found a post from January 2022 where someone with a food truck had a similar problem. Their home address was still showing even though they'd set their location to Mobile. So I'd definitely run a test order and see exactly what customers see.

Another simple workaround might be to add custom pickup instructions telling customers where to find you. It won't hide the address, but it could help avoid some confusion.

If you wanted more control, you could also build a custom storefront using Square's Web Payments SDK and Orders API. That would let you customize the whole ordering experience while still using Square for payments and order management. Obviously, that's a much bigger undertaking.

These are pretty hacky ways to work around something Square should really support. Hopefully one of them helps in the meantime, but I agree that Square should just let mobile sellers display a pickup location without having to change their actual business address.

[artardolino]

Unfortunately that won't work for us, as is requires us to upgrade to a paid version of square.  Plus, I'm not sure if multiple people can order from the same ordering station at the same time.

[Manny_SelSq]

@artardolino 

You're right about needing a paid subscription.

But multiple customers can order separately from the same QR code.