Square category full merge across POS and Online?

[Madame_and_Yves]

On 11 July Square emailed all customers to notify us that all categories (online + POS) were apparently merging, stating ‘the Square Online categories that transfer to your Square Item Library will now also be displayed in your Square Point of Sale’. I contacted Support by email to clarify, and they stated there will be a full merge and if I want to control what categories appear during checkout for my staff in-person on the POS, I'll need to use the favourites feature and assign the categories they need to use there. 

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..But this Square support article on the same topic states ‘if you choose, you can use the same categories for in-person and online selling. You’ll no longer need to create and manage your online categories separately.’ I’m confused: is this a choice or a forced merge?

Will all categories merge and be visible while checking out on the POS, or will I have the choice and ability to manage what appears there or not? The experience I need my staff to have navigating categories during checkout is far different than the one I need to design for my customers. I want my staff checking out customers on our POS to have one streamlined set of categories to interact with (which they have now before the merge), and I want my online Square Site customers to have a different and more comprehensive set of categories to navigate (which they have now before the merge). 

If there is going to be a Square update to force staff using a POS to weed through identical categories as an online customer during a totally different checkout process/experience, it will be textbook terrible UX and will cut down on my staff's efficiency. Utilising the "favourites" screen seems like a dodgy patch.

I am happy for item details to continue to synch, that's a great feature, but do not want to use the same categories for in person and online selling. I really hope I have this wrong, but don’t see any support articles instructing how to set this up in category management if it is an option. 

[Laurie_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Madame_and_Yves,

Thank you for reaching out with your questions about the upcoming changes.

The process of merging categories for online and in-person sales has been ongoing for some time. Sellers have been able to opt-in to this change on their Dashboard since early April 2024. At the end of June 2024, any remaining accounts that haven't yet merged categories will have this done automatically.

Once this merge occurs, as mentioned in the Support Article, your Square Online site categories that were moved to the Square Item Library will now appear in the Square Point of Sale and Square Appointments apps. You can view them under Checkout > Library, and in the Square Retail Point of Sale app under Checkout > All Items.

Moving forward, all Square Online site categories that move to your Item Library can be managed from Items > Categories in the Square Point of Sale, Square Retail Point of Sale, Square Appointments, and Square Invoices apps.

The main reason for this change is to unify advanced category features across platforms. Previously, these features were limited to the Square Online platform, and didn't support nested categories, category images, or online availability in the point of sale system. If you want to control the visibility of online categories on your point of sale device, you can set up your Favourites screen to show only the categories most used for in-person sales.

I understand this may not be the exact answer you were hoping for, but I hope it clarifies the changes. If you have any further feedback or concerns, I'd be happy to escalate them to our Product Team.

[Madame_and_Yves]

Thank you for your reply Laurie, and confirming I have not yet seen this merge take affect in our POS yet and understand the only workaround patch for this is to use the favourites feature. I would indeed like to escalate this with the product development team, as in an effort to better synch item data for backend-users (which is a great feature we love), they have overlooked the very different customer-user, staff-user and backend-user experience environments required in navigating categories most effectively. The experience I need my staff to have navigating categories during checkout is far different than the one I need to design for my customers. I want my staff checking out customers on our POS to have one streamlined set of categories to interact with (which they have now before the merge), and I want my online Square Site customers to have a different and more comprehensive set of categories to navigate (which they have now before the merge). The extra step of clicking over to the favourites menu for every transaction is tedious for staff, when we have hundreds of transactions a day and they currently are faced with just the categories they need front and center on the main landing of the POS. Staff using a POS to weed through identical categories as an online customer during a totally different checkout process/experience will be textbook terrible UX and will cut down on my staff's efficiency. I urge them to develop a fix for this new roll-out so we can customise the main categories visible to staff and customers separately.

[Laurie_]

Hi @Madame_and_Yves,

I wanted to update you on your feedback regarding the migration of Square Online categories. I’ve discussed your concerns with the team managing this migration.

They’ve informed me that managing channel visibility for categories, including both Square Online and your POS, is a priority and is on their radar. They’re planning to introduce more features and customization options soon.

I understand that waiting for these updates can be frustrating, and while I can’t provide a specific timeline right now, we’ll keep you informed with any announcements as they come. In the meantime, the previously suggested workaround remains the best way to manage category visibility on your POS.