What is the purpose of the Reference ID field in customer profile?

[mikesclub]

Each of my customer/members has a unique ID number, which I use to track their activity within my business. I originally hoped to use the "reference ID" field in the customer profile to record that ID number. But it's not possible to search by that field or to sort by that field. Using Square, the only way for me to find Member #A214 in Square is to already know the name of member #A214. 

So what possible use is the Reference ID field? Can Square give me one example of how someone uses it? What is its intended purpose? I'm sure your programmers put it there for some reason.

And now that I'm finished ranting, why isn't the field searchable? The whole point of a reference number is to find what it refers to. Someone please help.

[JustinC]

Hey there @mikesclub -

Adding Custom fields to profiles gives you more flexibility when collecting customer information, and more control over grouping customers based on the qualities relevant to your businesses.

An example use for a suit shop would be adding measurements to a customer's profile to reference later when they return for another suit. 

You're right though - you can't search or filter Directory by custom fields. However, to view them, click the + in the gray tool bar which expands a drop down list of all the default and custom fields. Click 'Reference ID' 

[mikesclub]

Great info about custom fields. But my question was "what is the purpose of the Reference ID field? I'm sure the programmers had a purpose in mind.

[isabelle]

Hey @mikesclub-

The Reference ID was created to help sellers keep an external CRM sync with Square. In this case, the Reference ID will show up on the customer's profile, CSV reports, and in our API. I hope that helps clear things up. Let me know if you have any questions about this.