Square makes another play at retailers (SQ)

BI Intelligence

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Square announced the launch of Square for Retail, a mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) product that’s specifically designed for the retail sector, according to ZDNet.

Square’s products have always been available, and customizable for retailers, but the new product offers features that benefit retailers in particular, like a better barcode scanning interface, improved inventory offerings, and employee management tools.

The firm is offering the service as a 30-day trial to entice users, and then will charge $60 per month per register, with the option for businesses above a certain size to design a custom pricing package. 

The move indicates that Square rightfully sees the SMB retail sector as its major growth driver in the coming years. As mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) penetration rises — BI Intelligence expects there to be 27.7 million mPOS devices in the US by 2021, up from 3.2 million in 2014 — retailers, as opposed to single sellers, will be the major driver of business for these firms.

That’s because these customers are most likely to desire and use value-added services like working capital or business management offerings, which are fast-becoming the growth driver of Square and other companies. Offering these features specifically packaged to retail customers, at a price point that could generate substantial revenue for Square, is a clear play at these customers, and could be a smart growth move in a competitive market. 

When mobile-point-of-sale (mPOS) devices first entered the market, they were extremely disruptive, because they provided an attractive, accessible, and affordable ways for merchants of all types to begin accepting card payments easily.

Now that consumers expect cards to be accepted everywhere they shop, demand for the devices is as high as ever.

That has pushed mPOS firms to recalibrate their strategies. They're increasingly targeting small retailers, moving beyond the individual sellers that spurred their initial growth. They're also turning to value-added services, like working capital programs, business management tools and software, data services, or e-commerce integration, to make money. And they're turning to value-added services, like working capital programs and business-management tools that carry additional fees that can build new revenue streams for these providers.

The shift to chip-enabled payment cards in the US has been a big driver of business for mPOS firms, because their devices are far less expensive than those offered their legacy competitors. That’s leading new types of sellers to mPOS firms — but it’s coming at a loss, because card readers are a great acquisition channel, but a poor profit generator. Software and services are stepping in to fill the gap.

Jaime Toplin, research associate for BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on mobile point-of-sale that forecasts growth of the mPOS market through 2021 and examines the trends that are pushing merchants to adopt the technology. It looks at how mPOS providers are competing for cost-conscious sellers and details the strategies they're pursuing to capitalize on demand for their solutions. And it explores how legacy POS firms are responding and providing mobile solutions of their own.

Here are some key takeaways from the report:

• Retailers are the key group driving the growth of the mPOS ecosystem.  They do more business than micromerchants, invest in more services, and are likely to be more loyal clients, making them the most lucrative and reliable option for mPOS firms. 
• Hardware upgrades will be a core driver of mPOS usage. Upgrading to EMV is expensive, and as a result, many merchants have opted to avoid making the switch. But as chip cards become more common, the fraud benefits that EMV provides are starting to appeal to merchants. This is driving retailers to mPOS firms, as the solutions they provide are fairly easy to implement, and largely affordable.
• But value-added services will be the biggest contributors to mPOS firms' success. These tools tie merchants closely to the product and keep them loyal, while generating additional sources of revenue for mPOS providers.  

In full, the report:

• Forecasts the number of mPOS devices in circulation in the US through 2021 and assesses drivers behind that growth.
• Explains the sub-sectors of the mPOS ecosystem and determines why retailers are the biggest drivers of growth.
• Assesses the impact of the US EMV shift as a major catalyst for mPOS usage in the US.
• Provides details different channels that mPOS firms are using for growth.
• Evaluates the ways customer acquisition segments of business differ from profit-generating measures.
• And much more.

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