Transitioning from Square POS to Square Retail

[DivyaWP]

I've hunted the forums and it looks like relate threads have been archived. 

I'm looking at possibly moving from the free square POS over to the free square Retail option. 

However, I'm hoping to find some info and personal experience by people who have done this transition before? My business is run 95% online with 1-2 in person vendor events per month. Looking into the retail app it seems like it is very heavily focused on brick and mortar stores, and not online stores, however I'm trying to find something to better handle inventory, since the basic POS doesn't keep track of COGS or theft/loss/damage. I don't particularly feel like the plus plan is worth the $89/month, but I saw that retail does have a free option that I wanted to look into. 

I just feel like the available comparison charts don't really give the best information on the differences. However I don't want to go changing to retail if it is just going to mess up my website and inventory, only to find that it is wrong for me. 

Give me your reviews on the pros, cons, and wtfs of the retail system please?

[kristen]

👋 Hi @DivyaWP - this is a great question! Let me tag in some Square Champions and see if they have any thoughts they could add. 

@homeprogreen @Candlestore @doc_choc, curious if any of you have opinions on this question. Any tips or insights? Thanks for any help, all! 

[MayaP]

Hi @DivyaWP thanks for sharing! I completely understand wanting to gather as much info as possible before deciding on Square Retail Plus.

If you have any specific questions, I’m happy to answer them. I’ll also tag a few other sellers here who can share their own experiences and insights. @JTPets @Twiggy @BofBArtStudio @bonny @Maegan @Candlestore @SakredJoiArt @JessPoynter 

[DivyaWP]

My main questions are how the invetory tracking differes from the basic POS vs the retail POS, and what reports are available in the retail option. 

Like I mentioned, my business is about 95% online, but I feel like the basic square doesn't really give enough to keep track now that I'm growing as much as I am. 

I'd also be interested to know if there is a better way to track stock for something that doesn't have a set value. I.e. I have a product that I order by the KG, but I then price it and send invoices by the piece. I've just been using the variable option until now. 

[homeprogreen]

Retail is definitely focused more on brick & mortar type setups but it will also handle the hybrid online/ b&m situations very well. If inventory is what you’re looking for then you would want to be using the Retail version. Unfortunately in order to get the advantages of advanced inventory you would have to upgrade to the Retail Plus version. The free version doesn’t include the advanced features. You are able to switch to the free version of Retail and then get the 30 day free trial of Retail Plus so that you can ensure that it will give you the features that you need. If it doesn’t then simply a matter of downgrading back to the free version. You are also able to switch back and forth between the retail version and the regular Square POS app at anytime all you want. Just a matter of logging out of 1 version and logging into the other version 

[JTPets]

Vendor management is a godsend for me. Who sells what for how much!

[MayaP]

I'm glad you are enjoying vendor management! Thanks for replying @JTPets. 

[JTPets]

@MayaP I need it available in the api!

[DivyaWP]

Does the free version of retail allow you to enter COGS? It sounds like the reports for COGS, theft, loss, damage, etc are all part of the premium option, but I'm wondering if the free option has a manual way to do those reports. 

Can someone maybe share some screen shots of an item page and perhaps what the invetory management page looks like?

[homeprogreen · Accepted solution]

The free version will only let you manually enter the number of items you receive and put into inventory. So it will only track inventory items on hand and alert you if you reach your preset restock level. So no COGs report , no vendor information, no purchase orders. You would need to use Retail + for that type of information. Honestly the inventory system built into the Retail Plus is very simple to use and gives you a lot of information about profitability since you will be able to track your profitability over time. The easiest thing to do is to get the free trial and use it. If it’s not what you’re looking for then as long as you downgrade before the 30 days are up then there’s no charge 

[MayaP]

Thank you for chiming in with your feedback! This is a great suggestion!! @homeprogreen 

[MayaP]

Hey @DivyaWP, I hope some of these replies are helpful. You can find more information on retail reports here, just scroll down to the Retail Reports section. I would also take @homeprogreen's suggestion and give the free trial a try. If you want to cancel after 30 days, you can do so from the Dashboard under Account & Settings > Pricing & Subscriptions > Manage.

[doc_choc]

Retail every time especially If you have a large catalogues, track inventory, and need to undertake data analytics etc. For me the reporting tools are brilliant. The ageing inventory and inventory sell through reports help use plan in production.